[ASC-list] ASC-list Digest, Vol 104, Issue 15

[Arwen Cross]

Hi,

I'd like to share a blog post from SciLogs which relates to Jo and Sarah's
discussion of journalism compared to communicating for an institution. The
author Matt Shipman argues that sharing news from one institution is not
the same as journalism because good journalism should always include
viewpoints from independent experts on the topic.

http://www.scilogs.com/communication_breakdown/sharing-news-is-not-the-same-thing-as-journalism/

Regards,
Arwen
------------------------------
Arwen Cross Ph.D.
Grad. Dip. SciComm
0488 729 655
------------------------------


On Tue, Jul 9, 2013 at 10:09 PM, <asc-list-request at lists.asc.asn.au> wrote:

>
> Today's Topics:
>
>    1. Re: further to recent list conversations (Sarah Keenihan)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Tue, 9 Jul 2013 21:32:44 +0930
> From: Sarah Keenihan <sarahkeenihan at gmail.com>
> To: Joanne Finlay <jrfinlay at optusnet.com.au>
> Cc: "asc-list at lists.asc.asn.au regular list"
>         <asc-list at lists.asc.asn.au>
> Subject: Re: [ASC-list] further to recent list conversations
> Message-ID: <B34A47A8-7EA7-409A-8B95-42E6CDFF9284 at gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252"
>
> Hi Jo,
>
> Thanks for the reply.
>
> Yes, ethics is a great point. I agree that writers do need to balance
> meeting the needs of clients with writing ethically about science. Knowing
> the scientists you work with is really important I guess...and talking to
> to as many scientists and writers as possible in order to see the 'big
> picture, get other perspectives and ask the right questions'. And not
> bowing to the marketing needs of institutions.
>
> Bye for now,
>
> Sarah
>
>
> Sarah Keenihan
> PhD | BMedSci | GradDipSciComm
>
> Reading, writing and interpreting science. And other stuff.
>
> 0419 976 834 | @sciencesarah | http://sciencesarah.wordpress.com/
>
> Special Project: Science For Life.365
> http://scienceforlife365.wordpress.com |
> http://www.facebook.com/scienceforlife365
>
>
>
> On 09/07/2013, at 9:17 PM, Joanne Finlay wrote:
>
> > Hi Sarah
> >
> > I think the questions you raise are really important.
> >
> > I am curious though about your presumption that writing as a
> communicator for a science institutions requires taking a 'somewhat biased'
> position.
> >
> >> Can one person effectively swap from writing as a journalist (for
> example, for a newspaper) to writing as a communicator (for example, for a
> science institution)?
> >>              i.e. is switching from relatively unbiased to somewhat
> biased writing a comfortable transition?
> >
> > I have always taken the view that science communicators can and should
> honestly and accurately report the science, no matter who we work for. The
> hard part is in ensuring the institution or spokesperson you are writing
> for doesn't claim more credit for the science than is their due. In my view
> it is possible to do this, and although difficult not impossible to keep
> all parties happy. That's where being ethical as a science communicator
> comes in.
> >
> > All sounds like good ASC conference fodder.
> >
> > Cheers
> >
> > Jo Finlay
> > Journalist, writer and science communicator
> >
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://www.lists.sublimeip.com/pipermail/asc-list/attachments/20130710/13531950/attachment.htm>