Science Journalism

1. SCIENCE REPORTING: REACHING AND
ENGAGING AUDIENCES
NOV 22, 2022
SADIQUE UDDIN
SPECIALIST, PROJECT MANAGEMENT & COMMUNICATION

2. 1.One of the main stories in this
disinformation campaign focused on a
theory that the virus was a biological
weapon developed by hostile countries.
Case Study
 Coronavirus
 5G Internet
 GMO in Bangladesh

3. GOAL
The purpose is to give the journalists an overview to learn and work on
in-depth reporting by immersing themselves in the research environment
and interacting with scientists and scholars.
1.Under reported topics
2.Infodemic, fake news, disinformation
3.Weak science journalism
4.Digital disruption
5.Journalists under pressure
6.Society’s expectation that researchers communicate better
WHY ?

4. 1.Science is the engine of prosperity.
Science is Everyday
2.Science can fuel/fire our imagination!
3.Science is humankind's greatest
enterprise
We need Science, more and better science,
not for its technology, not for leisure, not
even for health or longevity, but for the
hope of wisdom which our kind of culture
must acquire for its survival – Lewis
Thomas

5. Spotting a
science
story worth
covering
How do I
find the
story ? How do I
know it is
worth
covering?
1.How
should I
write the
story?
1.How
should
science be
presented
in the
story?
1.What
voices
should be
at the
center of
the story?
1.Is the
public part
of the
story?
1.Who is
the story’s
target
audience?
1.What
information
should the
story
include?

6. Models of Science Journalism
•Treats science as
relatively limited
•Values non-scientific
knowledge
•Prioritizes interaction
with the tar- get
audience
•Presents science as
integrated with society
•Calls for
“democratization” of
science
•Aims to stimulate public
opinion
•Translates science
•Fills gaps in the
audience’s knowledge
•Transmits information
from scientists to the
public
•Aimed at a particular
audience
•Presents information
differently depending on
location and background
•Transmits information
from scientists to the
public
Contextual
Model
Science
Literacy
Lay
Expertise
Model
Public
Participation
Model

7. ISSUES THAT GENERALLY FALL
WITHIN SCIENCE JOURNALISM’S
PURVIEW
1)Results of scientific innovations
2)Summarizing scientific papers and articles
3)Points of intersection between science and
other issues (education, work, retirement,
society, security, etc.)
4)Debates within the scientific community on
key issues The history and development of
science itself
5)The history and development of science
itself

8. • Scientists
• Academia
• Youth & Students
• Policy Makers
• Private sectors &
Investors
• End users
• Mass people
Everyone Bridging Gap
• Scientific Journals
• Books and
Publications
• Online Media
• Mass Media
SCIENCE JOURNALISM: WHO IS THE AUDIENCE?

9. A
SCIENCE
JOURNALIST’S
SKILLS:
1.The ability to research and
investigate
2.The capacity to communicate
simultaneously with both the
general public and the scientific
community
3.Analytical skills
4.An interest in science
5.Rigor and precision
6.Neutrality and objectivity
7.An understanding of scientific
writing

10. THE 3 KEY STRANDS/STREAMS
OF EFFECTIVE SCIENCE
COMMUNICATION
Trustworthiness – based on
evidence-based, scientifically rigorous
information
Presentation and style – based on
clear and coherent reporting which
grabs the audience’s attention and
recognises their concerns
Connection with people’s concerns
within their communities and in society
generally – audiences respond to
information that directly relates to their
real life experiences

11. • Scientific
• Factual
• Balanced
• Transparent
Credibility
and scientific rigour
• Clear
• Coherent and Contextual
• Spellbinding
• Interacting with the audience
Presentation
and style
• Purposeful and Targeted
• Impactful
• Relatable
• Responsible
Connection
with the society

12. Research papers published in peer-
reviewed journals had to undergo a
long revision – two or more
independent reviewers usually read
and comment before publication.
KEY ISSUES TO PAYATTENTION : PEER REVIEW
Is the study peer-reviewed?

13. Are the data discussed in the
publication up-to-date? Are there any
other articles providing more recent
data or analysis?
KEY ISSUES TO PAYATTENTION : BEST PRACTICES
Identifying and Prioritizig Data

14. Is it representative? Which groups
are included/excluded? Do the data
match the conclusions drawn by the
author(s)?
KEY ISSUES TO PAYATTENTION : SAMPLE SIZE
What is the sample size?

15. How does this study compare with
others that have been published
before? How does it add to or
contradict existing scientific views?
KEY ISSUES TO PAYATTENTION : CONTRIBUTION
Effectiveness of Sceintific
Innovation

16. What do you know about the author(s)?
Are they leading authors in the field?
What aretheir backgrounds? If there is
more than one author in the list, the order
matters. The first name usually means this
person was highly involved while the last
one was in charge of the group.
KEY ISSUES TO PAYATTENTION : AUTHOR/S
Who conducted the study?

17. Each study has its own strengths
and also limitations, - what are they?
Usually they are mentioned and
clearly discussed in the article, but
you might want to double check the
sample size, methods, theoretical
approach or other aspects of the
study.
KEY ISSUES TO PAYATTENTION : RESEARCH LIMITATIONS
What are the limitations of the study?
SCIENCE IS NOT A
SILVER BULLET

18. Are there any possible conflicts of
interest to consider?
KEY ISSUES TO PAYATTENTION : PAID
Who paid for the study and research
and are there any ideological
connections?

19. WHERE CAN I GET THE NEWS ?
BARI
BRRI
BJRI
BINA
BSRI
BLRI
BFRI
BFRI (Forest)
BTRI
SRDI
IRRI
IFRI
FAO
WFP
BRAC
ICDDR’b
NIB
MoA
DAE
MoP
AFS
BTI
USDA ISAAA
USAID

20. REPUTABLE INSTITUTIONS AND THEIR
INITIATIVES, PROJECTS
PRESTIGIOUS JOURNALS
Boyce Thompson isntitute | https://btiscience.org
ISAAA | https://www.isaaa.org
Allaince for Sceince |
https://allianceforscience.cornell.edu
World Health Organization | https://www.who.int/
The Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change |
https://www.ipcc.ch/
The World Economic Forum |
https://www.weforum.org
EurekaAlert! | www.eurekaalert.org
Harvard News | https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/
Knight Science Journalism @MIT|
https://ksj.mit.edu/resource/data-journalism-
tools/databases/
Nature | http://press.nature.com
Science | https://www.sciencemag.org/
New England Journal of Medicine |
https://www.nejm.org/
The Lancet | https://www.thelancet.com/
Science Communication |
https://journals.sagepub.com/home/scx

21. OPEN-ACCESS AND/OR SUBSCRIPTION
BASED DATABASES
WORLD LEADING SCIENTISTS, EXPERTS
AND OTHER INFLUENCERS IN THE FIELD
World Bank Open Data |
https://data.worldbank.org/
WHO The Global Health Observatory |
https://www.who.int/data/gho/
Google Public Data Explorer |
https://www.google.com/publicdata/directory
Registry of Open Data on AWS (RODA) |
https://registry.opendata.aws/
European Union Open Data Portal |
https://data.europa.eu/euodp/en/home
FiveThirtyEight | https://data.fivethirtyeight.com/
Data.gov | https://www.data.gov/
Google Scholar | https://scholar.google.com/
PubMed | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
ResearchGate | https://www.researchgate.net/
LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/

22. WELL KNOWN AND TRUSTWORTHY RESEARCH
CENTRES
OTHER MEDIA OUTLETS
Pew Research Center | https://www.pewresearch.org/
Eurobarometer | https://www.europarl.europa.eu/at-your-
service/en/be-heard/eurobarometer
BBC Science Focus Magazine |
https://www.sciencefocus.com/
Research Features | https://researchfeatures.com/articles/
Science Media Center |
https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/
Science Writing News Roundup |
https://sciencewriting.substack.com/
Scientific American | https://www.scientificamerican.com/
Forbes | https://www.forbes.com
Smithsonian magazine | https://www.smithsonianmag.com/
The Economist | https://www.economist.com/
BLOG: SciComm Book Reviews Public Understanding of
Science | https://medium.com/scicomm-book-reviews
Science News | https://www.sciencenews.org/

23. VERIFY YOUR INFORMATION, INCLUDING TECHNOLOGY-BASED
SOLUTIONS OR TRADITIONAL CHANNELS
 EUROPEAN DIGITAL MEDIA OBSERVATORY
 VERIFICATION HANDBOOK FOR DISINFROMATION AND MEDIA
MANIPULATION
 VERFICATION HANDBOOK: A DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO VERIFYING DIGITAL
CONTENT FOR EMERGENCY COVERAGE
 FACTCHECK.ORG
 POYNTNER INSTITUTE
 POLITIFACT.COM
 WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION’S MYTH BUSTERS
 TEEN FACT CHECKING NETWORK (TFCN)
 RETRACTION WATCH
 USE E-MAILS AND THE TELEPHONE TO FACT-CHECK
 OTHER TRADITIONAL FACT-CHECK RESOURCES

25. www.farmingfuturebd.com

26. THANK YOU