Revisiting the Basics in Science Reporting

Simon S. Berege

More things to remember

• You should use the same techniques for good

journalism.

• In particular, when reporting science, you

should remember the following:

• Read widely (Update)

• Science and technology advance so quickly

that you must keep up to date. Read articles

on science (Agriculture)

• Read books, ask experts in each field for

advice on the best books, journals and other

research publications for your needs -

• Make contacts

• Get to know as many scientists (researchers)

as you can.

• They can give you advice on subjects you do

not understand and, like any good contact,

they will be a useful source of story ideas.

• Choose people who can give you (a) story

ideas, (b) background information and (c) the

names of people you should ask for further

details.

• Note:

• Technicians and laboratory assistants can be a

very good source of story ideas, but do not

rely on them for the official version of a story.

If they give you a story idea, seek out the

scientist concerned for details.

• Building trust

• Some scientists do not trust journalists. They

may not think you are capable of reporting

their work properly or they may have had a

bad experience with a journalist in the past.

They may have been misquoted or seen errors

in a story.

• You have to show that you can be trusted. It will help if you do some background research of your own before interviewing them, so that you can show you know the basic facts about their field.

• It is not enough to tell them you can be trusted; you have to show it in every story that you write. If you make careless errors or do not keep a promise, you will lose their trust for ever.

• Look for the human angle in your stories.

• The people who will be affected by the

development will often be your readers or

listeners.

• Eg: The farmers who use the new corn will be

of interest to others working in similar areas.

News Sense

• Some reporters actually show their story to

their informants before publishing it. This is

more common in feature articles than in hard

news stories. If you do this, you must make it

clear that they are only being asked to check

the facts. You must not allow them to dictate

how you write the story. They may be the

experts on science or, but you must be the

expert in what is newsworthy.

Maintaining Sources

• It will help if you explain your needs clearly to

your informants before you start interviewing.

You can explain whether this will be a lengthy

feature, a documentary or just a short news

item. You can also explain who your audience

will be and how simple (or complicated) the

information needs to be. This will avoid a lot

of misunderstanding and possible bad

feelings.

• For example, you may interview a botanist about a new type of disease-resistant seed-corn she has developed. She may give you lots and lots of detailed information about it, enough to satisfy the readers of a farming magazine, when all you need are a few basic details for a general news story. Unless you have warned her first, she may be upset about how little of her information you eventually use.

Summary:

• Understand the basic principles of any

scientific field before you can report in

• Reading books and magazines about science

(Topic)

• Taking an interest in scientific developments

(Updates)

• Establishing good contacts with experts who

can help you with information

• Simplicity (You are a bridge between the world of science and your community). Although the aim of scientists is precision, and the aim of journalists is simplicity, there should be no conflict between the two.

• You must be able to express the precise details of science accurately in simple terms (Experts, Dictionaries, Encyclopedia)

• Science is built on accuracy.

• Check the statistics and percentages

• (They should be understandable and matter

to them)

• Get out more. Find other scientists to

comment on the work

• Go for short sentences (Be able to read loud a

sentence in one breath)

• Thank you for your kind attention