Science journalism hall of fame
sara abdulla
Thursday, 05 April 2007 13:50 UTC
OK folks, an uplifting question for spring. What would you vote your top 2 pieces of science journalism over the past five years. Ulterior motive admission: I teach science writing and am always looking for exemplars to foist on students. My votes go to 1) Joshua Davis’ gripping Wired story a couple of years back on a US bot-building contest 2) John Lanchester’s scorching LRB climate change piece. Yours?
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Replies
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Hi Sara,
For something that is a wonderful example of cherry picking, have a look at an article by Björn Lomberg in The Guardian. It’s beautifully written and a good one for the students to compare against what the IPCC actually did report on climate change. I wrote a response but wouldn’t dare rank that as a classic!
All the best,
Chris
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I confess I tend to have a read and dispose approach to magazine/newspaper science writing, in part because of the ready availability of online archives, so I tend to notice great articles less than I do great books.
Is there a prize for science articles equivalent to the Aventis (now Royal Society) Prize for Science Books? That can be a good starting point for discussion, by looking at what’s right and wrong with the list (see http://www.popularscience.co.uk/royalsoc2007.htm for what’s on the book list and the books I think should be!)
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Sorry, that link should have read www.popularscience.co.uk/royalsoc2007.htm
Brian
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Prizes for great pieces of science journalism? There are lots. The highest profile are the ABSW Awards and the NASW Awards. The lists of winners are indeed useful.
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