Student science writers from around the world have created a set of 52 stories from the World Conference of Science Journalists 2017, spanning most of the meeting’s sessions and creating a valuable reference archive for journalists in the U.S. and abroad. The reports, along with bios of the authors, are online at the WCSJ2017 Student... Read More
By Amelia Jaycen SAN FRANCISCO—Saul Perlmutter, a Nobel Prize–winning astrophysicist and cosmologist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, has spent a lot of his time ascertaining how quickly the universe is expanding. But he is also concerned with some down-to-earth issues, like the state of human interactions. As he watched public discussions unfold in the last... Read More
By Carolyn M. Wilke SAN FRANCISCO—Is fact-checking the future of journalism? That question, at once disturbing for our society and promising for the increased role science journalists might play in combating fake news, drove a panel discussion among four experts on 30 October at the World Conference of Science Journalists 2017. The panelists, all experienced... Read More
SAN FRANCISCO—Science podcasts are more popular than ever. Producing them takes time, technical savvy, and a deep passion to engage listeners with material that is both informative and fun. How does one start a science podcast and build a dedicated audience? Those topics drew an enthusiastic crowd on 27 October at the World Conference of... Read More
By Liz Kimbrough SAN FRANCISCO—When South African student journalist Sibusiso Biyela sat down to write about the launch of the MeerKAT telescope in both English and Zulu, he thought it would be simple. The English version rolled out smoothly. But when he began to translate into Zulu, his native language, he found he would have... Read More
Curious to see some highlights from the first few hours of sessions here in San Francisco? You can check out the Twitter hashtag #WCSJStudents, where our global cohort of student travel fellows is covering the World Conference of Science Journalists live. Here are some selected tweets the students sent from sessions on Thursday afternoon and... Read More
By Kimberly Hickok SAN FRANCISCO—Women have made great strides in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. But in non-Western countries, huge gender gaps remain in both representation and opportunity. That reality drove a vigorous discussion during a special luncheon sponsored by 23andMe and Johnson & Johnson Innovation on 27 October at the World... Read More
By Jennifer Leman Despite flames, rains and the rolling waves of a shaking Earth, a journalist must report the news. Natural disasters like wildfires, hurricanes and earthquakes are among the most challenging topics a journalist will cover. Such field reporting is physically, mentally and emotionally draining—not to mention hazardous. In a 29 October plenary session... Read More
Text and graphics by Andjela Djuraskovic SAN FRANCISCO—Free software, data and some patience. According to Alberto Cairo, that is all you need to create your first visual representation of information. With research showing that images are more memorable than text-based information, data visualization allows writers to turn pages of complex statistical findings into attention-grabbing images.... Read More
By Jia Naqvi SAN FRANCISCO—An apple a day keeps the doctor away—that is, if you can afford apples or if you have access to a place that provides or sells them. Myriad social, economic and demographic factors, all beyond the control of the individual, can affect how vulnerable we are to ill health or injury.... Read More
By Laura G. Shields SAN FRANCISCO—Collaborate, collaborate, collaborate. That’s one core piece of advice echoed by all speakers in a session about cross-border journalism on 28 October at the World Conference of Science Journalists 2017. “Science itself is really international, and science journalists should reflect this as much as they can,” said Helen Briggs, a... Read More
