Science Journalism
Those who report on science have never been better prepared to do so, according to Los Angeles Times science and technology writer Robert Lee Hotz, whose insights open our section on science journalism. But as Hotz also observes, the challenges these reporters confront have never been larger: Newsroom cutbacks mean the reporters “are stretched to cover increasingly complex science stories ….” And their task is made harder by the dearth of impartial sources, forcing them “to look as hard at the scientists as we look at the science itself.” – Melissa Ludtke, Editor
With more newspapers now using graphics to display information, John Maxwell Hamilton, dean of the Manship School of Mass Communications at Louisiana State University, along with several colleagues, examined how accurately USA Today—a leader in the graphics revolution—reported information in its frontpage Snapshots. Their article describes what they found.
Russell Frank, who teaches journalism at Penn State University, looks at the various ways in which newspapers that publish narrative articles explain reporting and storytelling techniques to their readers. Despite these attempts at accountability, Frank writes, “the ultimate message … is: trust us, our reporter has done the legwork, it all checks out.” But Frank wonders if readers should always be so trusting.
“The printed word virtually defines our society,” writes Ralph Hancox, who is a visiting professor emeritus at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Vancouver. Yet the printed word comes at high price. It is, Hancox notes, “arguably the most egregiously wasteful and obsolete industrial process of our time.” He describes the devastation of natural resources and accumulation of waste that is part of the process of printing news.
Russell Frank, who teaches journalism at Penn State University, looks at the various ways in which newspapers that publish narrative articles explain reporting and storytelling techniques to their readers. Despite these attempts at accountability, Frank writes, “the ultimate message … is: trust us, our reporter has done the legwork, it all checks out.” But Frank wonders if readers should always be so trusting.
“The printed word virtually defines our society,” writes Ralph Hancox, who is a visiting professor emeritus at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Vancouver. Yet the printed word comes at high price. It is, Hancox notes, “arguably the most egregiously wasteful and obsolete industrial process of our time.” He describes the devastation of natural resources and accumulation of waste that is part of the process of printing news.
