Hello Readers
There are certain things that do not mix. Oil and water,
Derrick Rose and good health and Trump and good behaviour are just a few
examples. But science and journalism should not be one of those things. After
reading this article
I had to really stop and think. It is shocking that only 1 per cent of news
stories is to do with science. Disclaimer; yes, this article is from last year
but any news story from three years previous can be considered recent. The
Seahawks crushing the Broncos feels recent and that was several Superbowls ago.
First off the fact that America is ignorant should surprise
nobody. Take a little comfort in the fact that you are not alone in that. It
also makes sense that people would not necessarily link the abstract art of
journalism with the material, factual world of science. But they are the
perfect partners in many ways. For example, journalists can show a lot of
angles on a certain fact or paper.
Journalists can look a story many different ways and
together can come up with a story. It is like the five blind men touching an
elephant. They each touched something different but when they came together they
had an elephant. Just one angle never gives the whole picture, but five do.
That’s why journalism can be so useful.
Science articles can also clearly explain some of the
trickier concepts. In this day and age it needs to. Scientists and those in the
know can be condescending and also explain in terms people don’t understand.
Statistics is a good example- they often struggle to write
well and are often, though not always, glorified math writers. Science writers
are more important than they are, more crucial. And yet in many circles stat
writers are seen as the future. Why? They only show, they do not explain and do
not give solutions. There should be a lot more jobs than there currently are.
The problem is that science journalism is new, emerging.
Will it be Peyton Manning or Johnny Manziel? Nobody can tell yet. It may well
be something that could help give back some vitality to our field. Journalists
themselves do not know these jobs exist.
Furthermore, when the article says “To their credit, both
institutions were eager to participate, keen to interact with the journalists
they seldom see.” It shows that science institutions like New York’s Museum of
Natural History and Washington’s Smithsonian are up for interactions with
journalisms. It doesn't get bigger, perhaps even world-wide, than those two learning
centres.
Basically the key to this right now is development. Make
sure science journalism is common knowledge, is on people’s radar and we can begin
to give it an increasingly key role. Museums and journalists are happy to
partner up and people need to be aware. All these things fit together
perfectly. Let’s make it happen.
That’s all folks.
Galileo
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