Susanne Rust, science reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, told SEJ Bootcampers that reporting on science is not hard to do. It takes practice. She warned a group of new and seasoned environmental journalists that the best way to understand the science is to immerse themselves in it.
Susanne was one of my favorite Tuesday speakers. She outlined how she and two colleagues put together an investigative story on Bisphenol A, which was one of many published as part of a series of articles.
Susanne said that after her first draft was rejected by an editor because the story didn't provide any clear answers for readers, she went back to the drawing board and analyzed 258 journal articles.
While the federal government questioned whether BPA caused health problems in humans, Susanne and her team got back to basics. She did the research. After two to three weeks of study, she concluded that in 9 out of 10 cases, BPA is harmful.
See Susanne's stories.
http://blogs.jsonline.com/dogged/archive/tags/Rust/default.aspx
The organic compound BPA has since been replaced in many products.
Do the research, it's worth it to your readers.
Just like Miss Susanne, I too believe that reporting science is not that hard. Whenever I have trouble understanding or figuring out something. I just remember all the fun I had learning science from the TV show Magic School Bus. It always puts me in a good mood to retrace my childhood and the fun I had learning from the show. One day I hope my writing can instill that kind of excitement into everyone who reads it.
Posted by: Mason | October 15, 2008 at 04:12 PM