Association of British Science Writers

On a cold weekend in January science bloggers, writers, journalists and scientists congregated at the Research Triangle Park in North Carolina to discuss skills, the future of online science journalism, and, of course, to network. Christine Ottery picks out the highlights and coverage from Science Online 2010.  

The World Federation of Science Journalists (WFSJ) has published its January 2010 Bulletin (PDF, 1.28MB)

The extremely positive feedback from last year’s World Conference of Science Journalists shows a clear desire and need for science journalists to discuss issues affecting the profession. With this in mind, the Association of British Science Writers is organising a one-day meeting jointly with the Royal Society in London. The UK Conference of Science Journalists is expected to take place on Friday 23 July (TBC).

If you would like to register your interest in this meeting, either as a participant or sponsorship partner or exhibitor there is a short form to fill out here.

You may also register your interest in the 2010 science writing awards which will be open to British and Irish journalists. Entries will be accepted for material published in 2009, and awards categories will be announced soon.

 

Where and When?

ABSW AGM, January 2010. London Research Institute, at 44 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, WC2A 3PX. Tuesday, 26 January 2010, 6:15pm - 8:30pm

Agenda

• Apologies
• Minutes of the 2008 AGM
• Chair's report for 2009
• Election of Chair, Treasurer, Executive Committee
• Presentation of 2009 accounts, Martin Ince
• Adoption of accounts
• Appointment of Auditors
• Constitutional changes & adoption of code of conduct
• Report from new chair
• UKSJC, Julie Clayton
• Matters arising, website, job posting policy ABSW-L
• Appointment and endorsement of life members

 

In the spring of 1997, I found myself in Strasbourg at the first meeting of Euroscience. I'm a young research student, disillusioned with academia, and I've been paid to come and moan about how miserable life is for postgraduates. During a break, I wandered over to a balcony to drink my nasty black euro-coffee. Somehow I ended up chatting to a bearded man who turned out to be a journalist.

Check out two new books by members: Bouncing Bomb Man: The Science of Sir Barnes Wallis by Iain Murray, and An Introduction to Ionic Liquids by Michael Freemantle.

A skeptic's view of recent events...

Sir Isaac Newton is being used to sell something called an anti-gravity handle. Sigh.

 

Cancer is rarely out of the media spotlight, but for cancer scientists and research organisations this can be a double-edged sword. From dubious 'breakthroughs' to hysterical campaigns, many feel that cancer coverage sometimes just isn't good enough. A recent conference held at the British Library posed the question, is cancer research 'lost in translation'?

When university departments are closing and your subject seems to have lost even its mad-scientist cachet, how do you regain public and media interest? Brian Emsley knows...

I remembery vividly hearing Susan Greenfield on BBC Radio 4's In the Psychiatrist's Chair back in 2000. I was painting my living room and didn't really have an opinion about her at that time. I'd read her book The Human Brain: A Guided Tour and, although I didn't absolutely adore it, I thought it was pretty good. So if anything I was pre-disposed to like her...

Cures, breakthroughs and wonder drugs—who can science journalists trust and how skeptical should we be? Wendy Grossman offers some advice….

The Royal Institution of Great Britain's decision to make Baroness Susan Greenfield's redundant generated a backlash of commentary ranging from accusations of incompetence to sympathy for a victim of bad judgement and confusion over what the RI does, really.

The BBC is to conduct a review of its science-related output following claims of bias in reporting issues such as climate change, genetically-modified food and the MMR vaccine.

There is a ‘serious threat’ to the quality and independence of science reporting, according to a Government advisory group on science and the media.

The group was set up by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) to examine media coverage of science. Although many ABSW members had reservations over the membership and purpose of the group, the recommendations put forward in an ABSW submission seem to have been broadly accepted and the ABSW is cited throughout the group's report.

Chair Natasha Loder looks back on the ABSW's achievements and her first six months in charge.

Jack Straw, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, has announced a formal review of libel legislation in England and Wales after mounting pressure from various campaigns. A working group consisting of lawyers, academics and newspaper editors will review the legislation and propose any reforms they see as necessary.

The leak of confidential e-mails from the University of East Anglia's Climate Research Unit (UEA) dropped a bomb on the climate change agenda just weeks before the COP15 summit in Copenhagen, Denmark. Media outlets all over the world picked up the debris.

FOR: Sunny Bains, outgoing Editor of The Science Reporter

There are two incompatible ways of looking at the world. One is the scientific way: you ask questions about how the world works, hypothesise, and then make observations/perform experiments to support, contradict and/or refine your ideas. The other is to accept a world-view imposed by a cleric or ancient book: religion. Of course, this is a massive over-simplification when applied to a world of complicated people...

AGAINST: Michael Hanlon, Science Editor of The Daily Mail

All anthropological evidence points to religion being hardwired into the human psyche. No truly atheist societies have ever emerged (when supernatural gods are absent, such as in North Korea, deified humans are called in as substitutes). Indeed, some scientists have argued that proto-religious behaviour can be glimpsed in chimpanzees and there is no reason to suppose that our extinct hominid cousins would not have possessed what we could call a ‘spiritual’ side...

Conference reviews are a fact of life, but can be more interesting for the writer than the reader if not thought through carefully. Sunny Bains explains...