Media under the microscope

Like all careers, science journalism attracts its fair share of documents. This is just a selection of  reports, articles, talks and so on that have appeared in recent years.

Personal views brings together a number of personal views on aspects of science writing. Some come from practitioners, others are from researchers who have thought about the subject.

Royal Society

The Royal Society is the UK's leading scientific organisation. (Well, that's how it likes to see itself.)  As the home of the COPUS, it also worries about science in public.

In recent years the RS has taken growing interest in how the media handle science. this interest has manifested itself in a pair of documents aimed at  writers and editors.

Guidelines on science and health communication

"This document, prepared by the Social Issues Research Centre in partnership with the Royal Society and the Royal Institution of Great Britain, contains two sets of guidelines. One set is aimed at print and broadcast journalists, the other is intended for science and health professionals. They have been produced to promote a better relationship between the media and scientists, and a better understanding of each other's work."

Guidance for Editors

Among other things, the Royal Society has produced a set of guidelines for editors dealing with science stories. Their appearance here should not be seen as any sort of endorsement of these guidelines by the ABSW.

The guidelines appear in a larger document, "Scientists and the media". The main part of the document is a set of "Guidelines for scientists working with the media". You can download a pdf file of the whole document from the Royal Society.

House of Lords

Science and Society

The House Of Lords endorsed the views of the Royal Society when, in March 2000, the Select Committee on Science and Technology of the House or Lords issued a report on Science and Society. Much of this report will entertain, and perhaps even inform, science writers, especially the chapter Science And The Media.

DTI

The Government's response

The Government agrees with the Royal Society, and the House of Lords Select Committee. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) says so in: The Government Response to the House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology Third Report: SCIENCE AND SOCIETY (For what their Lordships say, see above)

It says:

"The Government also supports the Royal Society’s new guidelines for editors and for scientists working with the media and commends them to the media and the science communities.

WCSJ

An international declaration

In July 1999, the World Conference on Science Journalism (WCSJ) followed on from a major UNESCO conference in Budapest. One outcome was a declaration on the role of science journalists in society.

First Amendment Center

The subtitle of Worlds Apart makes it essential reader for science writers: "How the distance between science and journalism threatens America's future". By Jim Hartz and Rick Chappell, PhD, the document comes from First Amendment Center.

This report has a habit of moving around on their web site. Anyone who wants a copy can ask them, or contact Michael Kenward, who may have a copy on his hard disk.

Wolfendale Committee

A report from a committee shared by Sir Arnold Wolfendale's on "science in public".

The report may now be slightly out of date, but it still contains some valuable thinking on the subject, as does the "evidence" that the ABSW submitted to Sir Arnold and his colleagues. The evidence appears here in its original form and as it was published in the May 1995 issue of The Science Reporter, the newsletter of the Association of British Science Writers.
The ABSW was one of the organisations that gave evidence to the committee.

If you know of a document that you would like added to this list, send a copy, or a link. to the web minder (see left). As a writer, you will, of course, check that the copyright holder is happy to allow this use of their words.