SCOM1001 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Formal Science, The Canberra Times, Active Voice
28 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Week 8: Workshop 1 (News Writing)
Relationship Between Science and the Media
Symbiotic but often strained
Vastly different timelines and priorities
Vastly different structures and styles
BUT things scientists can do to improve both the relationship and quality of
science news
News Values
Impact
Timeliness
Prominence
Proximity
Currency
Conflict and tension
Novelty
Human interest
Science in the Media
Dedicated science journalists in traditional media outlets a dying breed
Most newspapers and media outlets won’t have dedicated science section
Besides dedicated science communication outlets such as ScienceAlert, I Fucking
Love Science, it can be hard to know where science news ‘belongs’
Basics of Hard News Structure
Inverted/ upside down pyramid
5Ws and 1H
Don’t bury the lede!
1 sentence = 1 paragraph
Document Summary
But things scientists can do to improve both the relationship and quality of science news. Dedicated science journalists in traditional media outlets a dying breed. Most newspapers and media outlets won"t have dedicated science section. Besides dedicated science communication outlets such as sciencealert, i fucking. Love science, it can be hard to know where science news belongs". Don"t get fancy, just say said" or says". Many people love dogs says professor doggo pooch. Passive voice = longwinded, hard to read, boring. Canberra scientists conducted the research vs the research was conducted by scientists from canberra. Select 1 paper from 5 options on wattle. Translate the paper into a hard news story (e. g. for abc science, the canberra. Times or the australian) as well as a 500-word re ection on what you have learned throughout the translation process. Accurate interpretation and translation of the scienti c content (5 marks) Appropriate format, style and tone for your chosen medium (5 marks)
