Recent replies to "I say writing, you say communicating..."

Reply from Frank Norman

Frank Norman — Wed, 23 May 2007 10:19:33 -0000

Coming to this discussion rather late, as a result of searching to see if there is a PEST forum on here (surprisingly I couldn’t find one).

Do you think it would help to bridge the divide between scientists and science communicators if the major science weeklies covered the world of science outreach a bit more?

Reply from Scott Keir

Scott Keir — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 00:01:59 -0000

The science communication community is a pretty disparate bunch, and it is a fairly new field, compared with science journalists.

From where I sit, there are some quite strong single-subject groups and associations, where they all just talk to one another – the Group for Education in Museums, the Association of British Science Writers, the British Interactives Group etc. But people from all these camps join in some of the events/activities/theories of the overarching “science communication” umbrella.

I don’t know if science journos do this less than others – though my gut feeling is yes. I suspect that this has something to do with their field being quite mature and quite large – and quite difficult to keep on top of. So perhaps there’s a feeling that they don’t need to interact with the engagement movement. And when the engagement movement tries to interact with journalists, it often seems to be with guidelines, which are so popular. Who’s misunderstanding whom?

Reply from Daniel Glaser

Daniel Glaser — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 15:53:14 -0000

The year I was on the Aventis panel, five of the six shortlisted authors were professional writers, so Jennifer has a point I think.

We’ve been thinking here at Wellcome about the career trajectories that include media. Maybe the pressures/disciplines of being a hack, especially on a daily, preclude other more diverting pastimes? And could the rest of us keep up with the drinking?

Reply from Brian Clegg

Brian Clegg — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 17:49:08 -0000

It may be that I’m involved with PEST/PUS type stuff and didn’t even realize it – I’ve done events at the Dana Centre and the RI, plus do a lot of talks at schools: what I meant is I’m not involved in committees and conferences (I have to say I HATE conferences!)

Reply from Henry Gee

Henry Gee — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 09:39:14 -0000

Hmmm…. perhaps it’s the same as the divide that will forever sunder Editorial from marketing. Different mind-sets.

Reply from sara abdulla

sara abdulla — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 19:53:30 -0000

Henry – nice example. Jenny – that sounds like meat food for a new topic, go start it girl & take the flak! But I’m still intrigued by the issue that (generally) the career science hacks are a breed apart from the career science communicators. The latter group number folk who program science events, folks who curate science exhibitions, folk who stage science shows for kids, folk who analyse the impact of all of the above and folk who teach courses in all of above. The communicators drink together, conference together, swap jobs etc etc. The hacks meanwhile tap away oblivious. I’m charicaturing, obviously, but it makes me smile, thats all!

Reply from Jennifer Rohn

Jennifer Rohn — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 18:34:32 -0000

And then we’re back to the question of whether science communication should be left to the dedicated professionals. Active scientists might not have enough time to devote, or let’s face it, the requisite communication skills.

Reply from Henry Gee

Henry Gee — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 10:23:07 -0000

Brian—so whose fault is that? Shouldn’t it be the business of science writers to get involved in PEST/PUS activities, if only in self-interest? Some of the more grass-rootsy PEST/PUS initiatives thrive (even, I dare say, exist) on science writers promoting books: I am thinking of the wonderful Cafe Scientifique movement.

Reply from Brian Clegg

Brian Clegg — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 09:01:15 -0000

Henry – I think Sara has a point, certainly from the popular science book writing community (admittedly, technically only a partial overlap with ‘journalists’) – a lot of us are professional writers who happen to write about science, rather than part of the science community.

Reply from Henry Gee

Henry Gee — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 10:39:18 -0000

I have been discussing this and related topics with the Cambridge Science Festival . However, I am not sure that the dichotomy is quite as sharp as you make out, Sara—can you give examples of leading science writers who have little to do with PUS/PEST activities? In any case, much can be achieved if we all recognize that writing is just another form of communication, and communicators can achieve much by working together (yuk! how earnest I seem!) For example, when it became clear to me (as the relevant Nature editor) that Nature was going to publish the ‘hobbit’ (Homo floresiensis) paper in 2004, Nature’s publisher Peter Collins convened a ‘hobbit task force’ whose aim was to maximize exposure. As well as me (as editor and science writer) and other writers from our news and web team, it included our press team, and people from marketing and advertising. The result of this concerted campaign (I’d say ‘synergistic’, but I won’t … hot dang, I have) was long and sustained media coverage and (I suspect) increased web traffic, subscriptions and so on. A purist science writer would say that we had tainted our art with commercialism, and if they did, I’d say ‘knickers’—the coverage netted prizes for our science writers as well as increased exposure for the journal and the researchers, and sold newspapers. Everyone was happy. And what’s wrong with that?

Reply from Jennifer Rohn

Jennifer Rohn — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 14:14:39 -0000

Perhaps this disconnect stems from the fact that PEST causes often come across as earnestly pedagogical and not newsworthy enough for mass-market appeal. There’s a big difference between a headline like “blueberries cure Alzheimers” and a museum running an exhibition on the science of earwax or whatever. The two camps are not really trying to acheive the same thing – I’m not even sure they should. But if the two camps should be talking, something like the upcoming NESTA speed networking event might help.