State of Science Writing 2022
Hear about the number of science writers in the UK mainstream media, and how the pandemic has affected science journalists globally.
Is science writing in crisis? Or is it in the best health it has ever been, with people recognising its value due to the pandemic? Solid answers to these questions are hard to come by. This event, however, presented two sets of research that illuminate the state of science writing in 2022.
Luisa Massarani, the coordinator for Latin America for SciDev.Net, talks about the “Global Science Journalism Report 2021”, which aimed to investigate the working conditions and practices, professional ethos and future expectations of science journalists around the globe. It includes a section specifically targeted to the perceptions of science journalists about their work during the pandemic of Covid-19.
The report was produced by SciDev.Net, Brazilian Institute of Public Communication of Science and Technology/House of Oswaldo Cruz, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Brazil), London School of Economics (UK) and ISCTE–Lisbon University Institute (Portugal), in partnership with World Federation of Science Journalists.
Then, the ABSW discussed its ongoing work to measure the number of science writers in the UK better. Rebecca Landon, formerly a data analyst at Tribal Group and now a science communication student at the University of the West of England, has built on the methodology developed by former project student Ben Nealon. ABSW chair and freelance science writer Andy Extance has collected data on science and technology articles published by UK mainstream media outlets for most of 2021. Rebecca has now analysed this data and presents her valuable insights at this event.
Watch the recording of the event here!