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Science and Technology Writing is an essential guide for those wishing to become better prepared to communicate about science and technology in the public arena, whether as a technical source, journalist, freelancer, editor, or public information officer. This ground-breaking text covers everything from hard news and feature writing to the narrative form and other genres of creative non-fiction such as the profile, review, and essay.
Tensions have existed between sources and communicators over issues such as accuracy, balance, and completeness of media reports on science and technology. Enhancing the quality of media coverage of technical developments will require stakeholders to understand each other's cultures, priorities, and constraints. Science and Technology Writing addresses these groups simultaneously in a common forum and promotes the kind of understanding that will be needed in order to improve the quality of media coverage and help the public make sense of the technical developments affecting our world.
List of contents
List of Figures.
Preface.
Introduction.
1. The Communication Players and Process.
2. Newsworthiness.
3. Public Information Officers.
4. Writing the News Article.
5. Story Frames.
6. Reporting & Interviewing.
7. Display & Production.
8. Ethical & Legal Issues.
9. Accuracy in Science News Reporting.
10. Case Studies in Media Coverage of Science & Technology.
11. Creative Nonfiction Writing.
12. The Narrative Form.
13. The Writing Journal.
14. Query Letters.
15. Building a Portfolio.
16. Resources for Science & Technology Communicators.
Conclusion.
References.
Index
About the author
Deborah Illman is NSF Discovery Corps Senior Fellow in the Dept. of Communication, University of Washington. She is co-author of the first textbook in the field of chemometrics--applying multivariate mathematics and statistics to solving chemical problems (John Wiley Interscience, 1986). She has also published three books for general audiences on subjects in science, technology, and innovation.
Summary
This textbook is an essential guide for those wishing to become better prepared to communicate about science and technology in the public arena, whether as a technical source, journalist, freelancer, editor, or public information officer.
