The Possible Futures of Science Journalism
Good science policy depends upon good science journalism. As Chris Mooney has pointed out, the federal government alone spent $142 billion on research and development last year. But “informed citizens deserve to understand more about what they’re getting from that investment,” he wrote.
CJR’s Observatory recently rounded up two useful discussions on the fragmenting state of science reporting in the United States.
Curtis Brainard tuned into the “Future of Science and Environmental Journalism” panel at the Wilson Center here in DC that explored the business-minded cuts that have diminished or eliminated science reporting staffs at mainstream news outlets. Though some cuts seems stranger than others; he notes that Aviation Week & Space Technology closed its Cape Canaveral office in the last year (NASA’s budget in FY2008 was $12.2 billion).
Cristine Russell reported on the more dire-sounding “Science Journalism in Crisis?” event at the AAAS conference, but she and Brainard both mention the migration of science journalism from major U.S. newspapers to niche online outlets. At AAAS, this phenomenon was coupled with an influx of foreign reporters:
The number of science reporters and journalists-in-training from far-flung parts of the world—the Middle East, Africa, Asia and South America, as well as Canada, the U.K., Germany, Sweden and other parts of Europe—has expanded at AAAS. At the same time, the presence of working American science reporters from major newspapers and magazines has declined over time, their ranks often replaced by a diverse group of freelancers and digital journalists who write, blog, and Twitter for a variety of startup and established news and information Web sites.
The Wilson Center event captured a slate of ideas for more citizen-centric science reporting that meets the local needs of individuals for environmental and technology news. Panelist Jan Scaffer, who directs the Knight Foundation-funded J-Lab at American University, is a champion of such “civic-media networks.” Inspired by her ideas, AU professor and science communication expert Matt Nisbet suggests in a recent column that the Obama administration should support collaborations between universities, museums, local media, and communities to produce and distribute science and environmental news.
The idea that nonprofit orgs may be the future of high-quality journalism in general is not new, but the suggestion that existing public media is a solid foundation on which to rebuild science journalism is worth considering, as any NOVA watcher or Science Friday listener can attest.
What do readers think the next iterations of effective science journalism will look like?
Image: flickr.com/mybloodyself
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