Goals

Science is one of the most powerful forces of change in the world today. Your instructors and guest speakers—prominent science journalists and scientists—will introduce you to the professional, legal and ethical factors that affect science news and the work of science journalists. We’ll discuss the differences between science journalism and science communication. We’ll look at reporting methods used by print and visual journalists. Readings, case studies and discussions will examine issues of accuracy, scientific uncertainty, balance, controversy, statistics and legal matters for science journalists.

Class format
Classes will typically be a mixture of lecture and discussion, with student presentations toward the end of the semester. The student presentations will be based on your final project, which can be an academic paper, a journalistic story or a multimedia project. If you’d like to produce a multimedia project, you must already have the necessary photo, audio, video and software skills.

Course goals (The big picture)

  • Understand the key issues involved in communicating with the public about science.
  • Develop an understanding of the role and effects of science journalism in a democratic society.
  • Understand the ethical and legal responsibilities of the science journalist.

Course objectives (The nitty-gritty)

  • Critical thinking: Analyze the professional, legal and ethical factors that affect science news and the work of science journalists.
  • Discussion: Join in a lively discussion of each week’s readings.
  • Writing: Write a blog post in response to each week’s readings. In addition, write thoughtful comments on your classmates’ blog posts. You’ll also write a clear, accurate academic paper or journalistic story, or improve your skills in visual storytelling by producing an original, compelling documentary or other multimedia project.
  • Presentation: Summarize and present the main points of your academic paper or journalistic story in a 15-minute oral presentation and discussion.
  • Ethics: Understand  the challenge of providing balanced coverage in a court case where the trial is about science and the reporter believes the science on one side is flawed
  • Theory: Understand the changing role of science journalists in the digital age.