Getting It Write

As a science student sometimes I feel caught between absorbing a deluge of classic research and commenting on new research to non-scientist friends and family. It's a tightrope walk that finds its mirror in how people get their science information today. 

Recently, there's been a resurgence in the disagreement over how to present science information and data to the general public. In the interests of grabbing and maintaining their readers' attention, journalists emphasize emotion. In the interests of speaking only truth, scientists emphasize carefully-contextualized facts. One is interesting to read; the other really isn't. The struggle comes in finding a balance between providing accurate information and getting the public to read it.

It's important that someone gets it right. The Washington Post recently published a very good article highlighting the gap between the scientists' and the public's opinion on things like the "Climategate" scandal and evolution.¹ It's a telling look at the history of this problem from an MIT science journalist who co-authored a book on the subject.²

So how does a conscientious science student get her information? While reading the actual studies is always preferable (and builds character), reliable and readable science news sources do exist.

Below are some of my favorites:³

New York Times - Science Section⁴

Ars Technica Science

Wired

TED Blog - Innovative ideas, not just in science

ScienceBlogs - Other commentary from a variety of scientists -- from grad students to tenured professors, men *and* women

NatureBlogs

NCBI ROFL  - For when I start taking scientists and PubMed too seriously ScienceBlogs

DiscoBlog - Discover Magazine's acquisition of NCBI ROFL and blog on quirky science

You may notice that I've included blogs as well as news sites on here. I like reading blogs because they actually *feel* subjective, and this encourages you to really examine the validity of what they're saying in a way that just doesn't occur with larger news groups. While we'd like to believe that reporting at large news organizations like those in the first group is entirely objective, it's ultimately written by a handful of people too. As a science student, the more I can train myself to question assumptions and get at the nuanced truth of the matter, the better my reasoning gets.

In the end, science and journalism aren't really all that different.

Image Credit: Simon Howden, freedigitalphotos.net

References:

¹ Mooney, Chris. "On issues like global warming and evolution, scientists need to speak up." The Washington Post. January 3, 2010. 

² Mooney, C. & Kirshenbaum, S. Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens Our Future. New York: Basic Books, 2009.

³ Disclaimer: this list simply reflects the ideas of a student blogger and in no way represent the views of Nature Education.  Please feel free to add your own suggestions to this list in the comments section, and thanks for reading Student Voices at Scitable!

⁴ Carl Zimmer, in particular, is a favorite of mine and other science bloggers. He also blogs for Discovery, where Chris Mooney and Sheril Kirshenbaum also have a blog.