Miracles and paradigm shifts: Banned words
Writer Carl Zimmer has posted an “Index of Banned Words” in science writing. Zimmer’s list grew out of one he compiled for his science writing class that has since been expanded by reader suggestions.
Some words and phrases that made the list:
- Missing link
- Seminal
- Impact (verb)
- Demographic leveling
Zimmer clarifies that he doesn’t mean these words should never be used but that writers need to learn to explain science in ways that people can understand:
What I mean is that anyone who wants to learn how to write about science, and to be read by people who aren’t being paid to read, should work hard to learn how to explain science in plain yet elegant English – not by relying on scientific jargon, code-words, or meaningless cliches.
So what words and phrases should be banned – or at least require some thought before using – in health journalism?
(Hat tip to NASW’s “On Science Blogs this Week“)
Drug company-sponsored training draws fire
Gary Schwitzer, a professor in the University of Minnesota School of Journalism & Mass Communication and publisher of HealthNewsReview.org, calls our attention to journalism organizations that accept support from pharmaceutical companies.
Schwitzer reports that, in the latest incident, the National Press Foundation has accepted funding from Pfizer to fund 15 four-day fellowships for
journalists to learn about cancer. Schwitzer read about the fellowships in an e-newsletter he received from the Society of Professional Journalists, something that also gives him pause.
Bob Meyers, president of the National Press Foundation, has responded to Schwitzer’s comments on Jim Romenesko’s blog.
For the record, the Association of Health Care Journalists and the Center for Excellence in Health Care Journalism seek to minimize the possibility and appearance of inappropriate influence from outside parties. Pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies and medical device makers are examples of organizations with with AHCJ will not partner. Read AHCJ’s complete fundraising policies.
Science journalists peer into the future
Six journalists explored “The Future of Science Journalism” during a panel at the Cambridge Science Festival at the MIT Museum.
Panelists included Jill Abramson, managing editor of The New York Times; Philip Hilts, director of the Knight Science Journalism Fellowships; Cristine Russell, a freelance journalist and senior fellow at the Harvard Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; Andrew Revkin, reporter and blogger for The New York Times; Ivan Oransky, managing editor for online at Scientific American and AHCJ board member; and Evan Hadingham, senior science editor for NOVA.
Abramson predicts future journalism may not be on paper but that “journalism will continue to thrive” based on her belief that “there is a human want and need for trustworthy information about the world we live in, information that is tested, investigated, checked again, analyzed and presented in a cogent form.”
Oransky cites Twitter as a way of getting a new generation back into science and discusses the value of engaging with your audience.
Watch the video online.
Report, survey look at health care journalism
Health care journalists cited newsroom cutbacks, lack of time for research and travel and fewer opportunities for training at their news organization as factors making their jobs more challenging than ever, according to a survey released today by AHCJ and the Kaiser Family Foundation.
But health journalists are a hardy bunch.
Nearly three-quarters of health journalists surveyed said the amount of coverage given to health care topics has stayed the same or increased at their news organization and two-thirds said the quality of coverage has been stable or gotten better over the past few years.
The survey also found that a significant percentage of health journalists are adopting new story-telling platforms, such as blogs, video, audio and slide shows for the Web.
The full survey and report were released at a Washington, D.C., discussion about the future of health journalism featuring a panel of experts and health journalists. A webcast of the briefing will be available later today.
Read more and see the survey and a report about the state of the health journalism industry also released today.
Nonprofit, paper team up for project on med school
In a bid to maintain health coverage in communities where newspapers are stretched too thin, The Center for California Health Care Journalism has been hatched by the Annenberg School of Journalism at the University of Southern California and the California HealthCare Foundation to report on issues of concern to Californians.
Michael Parks of USC and the Center for California Health Care Journalism (left), Mike Tharp (center) and Danielle Gaines of the Merced Sun-Star
The foundation felt that coverage of health policy in California was disappearing. It wanted to know if foundations and nonprofits could underwrite quality journalism while keeping it independent. And so it initiated a “proof of concept” in which a small group of journalists does stories, completely independent of the foundation, which funded the pilot project with $239,000 for six months.
The result: “Sowing Hope,” a series in the Merced Sun-Star exploring the quest for a University of California medical school in Merced, a town in California’s San Joaquin Valley. Thanks to the blend of nonprofit and traditional journalism, the newspaper gave its readers an “up-close and extensive look at UC Merced’s hope for a medical school,” according to Sun-Star executive editor Mike Tharp said
The center is part of a growing trend of nonprofits actively reporting health stories. In recent months, the Kaiser Family Foundation announced plans for its own Kaiser Health News. The Kansas Health Institute – supported by foundations – employs writers and editors in its own news service, and the foundation-supported Web site Florida Health News collects stories and does some original health reporting.
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