news values climate change

The news media is often accused of sensationalism, especially around science issues. A really interesting example of this recently was the IPPR report accusing the media of "climate porn".

But if sensationalism is all the consequence of news values, are the media excused? I think climate change is an interesting case study in this. The IPPR say the sensationalism over climate change is dangerous because the public think it's too late to do anything. But then maybe we need things exaggerated to scare us into small changes. And it's not as if scientific opinion is especially settled over how close we are to environmental armageddon.

Is there a place for sensationalism? If so where? Warning: one of the press release assignments last year was marked down quite severely for being "too sensationalist" (not by me, but you have been warned).

p.s. apologies about the WebCT problems. We've been assured that students just need to advice here and here, and if there are still problems contact IS.

Do violent video games make you a violent person?

And just in case you have any extra time this week, you might want to check out the BBC news coverage of a new video game, 'Bully', here. This hit the shops a couple of weeks ago and was considered controversial enough to have at least two TV interviews with the game's hapless spokesman - if you search the BBC site you might still find these online.


The fuss is because the game, set in a school, shows bullied kids fighting back with violence. Some - including bullying charities and support groups - are worried it could encourage violent behaviour in schools.

We'll be talking about the tricky subject of media effects a bit more next week. For now it's worth pondering what you think about violence in video games and the effects it has. Are games like Bully video nasties or just tongue in cheek fun?

Class 4: the media and the transformation of knowledge

In today's double session we looked at how scientific information changes as it moves between different kinds of publication. We started by looking at some extracts from places like Science, the BBC website, or the Science Museum's Antenna. Amazingly, we could spot what was from where - so good are we at picking up on the internal cues and signals that tell us whether something is textbook or news.

We had a brief overview of Fahnestock's analysis of the changes between scientific paper and 'popularisation': a shift in genre from forensic to epideictic; appeals to 'wonder' and 'application'; and an increase in certainty and in uniqueness. We also discussed news values - factors that media scholars think journalists use to decide what is newsworthy. After some analysis of newspaper cuttings, it looks like values such as negativity, relevance, personalisation, facticity, and threshold are importantant for science stories.

Good papers to read to support today's topics are Fahnestock 1986 (on WebCT) and Hilgartner 1990.

And finally we gave out Assignment 1, due next Monday 6th November. Students are to produce a press release based on one of the four science stories on WebCT. If you read the instructions carefully and remember what we've talked about in terms of newsworthiness and journalistic style, you'l be fine...

Comment or email us if you have any problems!

Being a humanities student

For those of you who aren't used to/are panicking at the thought of being a humanities student (reading outside of class! Essays! Words not numbers!), we have a book recommendation that could help you out. (This was meant to go on the reading list as suggested reading, but got left out for one reason or another.) Check out The Arts Good Study Guide, by Ellie Chambers and Andrew Northedge and published by the OU Press. This has got some really clear and readable advice on things like how to read productively (in science you can get away with reading just the abstract and discussion; in the humanities that's not always such a great idea...) and how to write essays. We especially recommend chapters 4 and 5 before you write your essay (Assignment 4) - if you're not used to having to argue your case it's very helpful on things like structure and style. And even better, there are copies in Imperial Library (Central Library level 5, reference 371.3 CHA).

Of course, news language is a different kettle of fish entirely. The best way to get good at that before you write your own press releases for Assignment 1 is simply to read lots and lots of news...

Class 3: intro to press releases

The central point of today's session was that to write a good press release you need to consider what would make a good news story. Reading through the advice from Tim Radford I handed out last week should help, as will some of the content Sarah's discussing next week.

In terms of the more "nuts and bolts" issues we covered today, you should remember the "pyramidal format" (i.e. that you can cut a news story from the bottom up) and the need to clearly state the "what, why, who where, when and how" of the story as soon as possible. We also did an activity with a news story I had added words to, aiming to edit it back into decent news language (you can read the proper full version here).

Next week, Sarah will handout the first assignment, which is due the following week and asks you to write a press release. I handed out a few example press releases in class, it's worth looking at some before you write your own. UCL have a good press release archive. It's also worth googling science-rich universities and checking out AlphaGalileo. This has a database of research news from all over Europe, but (unless you are a journalist) you won't be able to access "notes for editors" or embargoed press releases.

Any questions - leave a comment or email me.

more books

I love looking at people's bookshelves! So here is one of mine for you to have a look at as well. You'll notice that it's not strictly all science books - the Francis Wheen and Italo Calvino are both pushing the definition somewhat. (Although I seem to remember that Wheen does take a potshot at social constructionists of science.) Italo Calvino's Cosmicomics, though not the book on display in the picture, could be described as a science book - there's certainly some hard astrophysics in there, which is used as the inspiration for some very fun (if at times weird) fiction.

And further to Alice's post on what is, apparently, the best science book ever, I have to say that I'm with the voters on this one. The Periodic Table is fantastic - although it does seem to be one of those love-it-or-hate-it things. I think it's beautifully and elegantly written, incredibly moving, and - as a bonus - contains some great stuff on the carbon cycle and what it means to be a scientist. Others think it's boring and pretentious... The Wrench, also by Primo Levi, is very much on the same themes; all about being in love with the material world and our mastery over it.

books

I'm showing something quite personal here: the science section of my bookcase. Non fiction above, fiction at the bottom (children's books have their own set of shelves). It's reasonably small - I try to keep the number of books I actually own down, I move too often. Every now and again I look through the books I own, and ask myself "do I want to keep this?".

Reasons for keeping a book are often practical and/ or personal (they were gifts, I've annotated a copy for study, I think it'll be useful in future...) but in some ways it is also indicative of what I happen to think makes a good science book.

The question of what makes a "good" science book was addressed at an RI/ Imperial college event last night. And the winner is *drum roll* Primo Levi's The Periodic Table.

Personally, I don't think the Periodic Table is a science book, but I acknowledge I'm using a reasonably limiting definition (it doesn't say anything about science, or tell us any science). This doesn't make it a bad book, it's just not, for me, a "science book".

You can follow the debate (and add other suggestions of books you like) on Jon Turney's blog. Seeing as student blogging doesn't start till November, if anyone else wants to flash their science books, email me pictures.

technology vs. business

I was watching BBC news this morning and saw a story about the next big thing in DVD players (have a look at the video or some BBC user comments). Apparently there's going to be a format battle between Sony and Toshiba's new types of high resolution DVD players: similar to the BetaMax VHS stand-off twenty odd years ago (I can't remember it either...). New discs are incompatible and the systems extremely expensive.

Well, that's all well and good and maybe useful to those people who don't mind spending a grand to watch movies in exquisite clarity. But what interested me was that it was their business correspondant who presented and led the package (even though it's on their technology webpages). The emphasis was on the consumer and what it meant for them, and as a result you didn't get much of the science of the new systems at all. (Which is fair enough by me - I think 7.30am is pushing it for laser technology.) I'm guessing you saw a fair bit of this kind of thing when you looked at science in newspapers yesterday - science stories being presented via a completely different, non-scientific, angle. Because, ultimately, I don't need to know how a new technology - or medicine, or whatever - works to decide whether to buy it/support it or not. I just need to know what it means to me.

Is this good or bad? Should the media be telling people how stuff works? And how does this kind of thing affect the boundary work that science does?

podcasts part 2

Another podcast for you to check out is from Demos's science and society people. This is a chat with Kathy Sykes, who is one of the relatively few people to have a full time, academic post in public engagement (you'll also recognise her from TV). I thought it was pretty interesting - but had appalling music...

And on podcasts in general...I have to admit the Demos one was one of the first I've listened to. Not having an iPod I have to occupy myself with my own thoughts on the tube rather than somebody else's, and I'm unconvinced that I'm missing out. I'm interested - do people really listen to these on a regular basis? I.e. are they as big as they're hyped to be? Is everyone around me on the tube really listening to chat about science rather than the Arctic Monkeys?

Class 2: What is science? Anatomy of a newspaper

In this session we got our fingers dirty with newsprint and did a mini "content analysis" of science reporting in the British press.

Our rather rough piece of social research was inspired by a "proper" investigation, the Science Museum Media Monitor (details of this can be found on pages 118-119 of the reading). We finished up with a brief overview of formal definitions of science, information on this is in the handout.

The reading for next week is a short piece by Tim Radford, which gives some basic advice on how to approach science writing. Radford himself will be appearing at Imperial college on thursday, in a special event on popular science books - details here. This should be an interesting event and recommended to com'n sci students. You can read more about it on Jon Turney's science book blog.

We also introduced assignment four, if anyone has any questions about that, please email me (again, the handout is on WebCT).

podcast competition

Last week's Guardian Science podcast mentioned a competition. Prize: you get to go to the Guardian offices and sit in on the podcast recording.

They want people to suggest an idea for a "package" for the podcast (I think they mean a feature, i.e. a topic for investigation and debate) and also a short paragraph about what they would add to the show if they sat in on it. You can email (science@guardian.co.uk) or Skype (gu_studio) them to enter.

Plus, if you get the chance do listen to their "special extra" interview with Steve Jones - it'll be useful for next week.

Does anyone listen to science podcasts? Myself, I find the Guardian one a bit laddish and the New Scientist "scipod" very cheesy. Both have interesting content and TERRIBLE jingles. Any other recommendations? I keep meaning to listen to the Naked Scientists who've been around radio for years and seem to have found a great way of increasing their audience with the podcast.

Class 1: Introducing Communicating Science

Well, we've started! Our first class was 9th October at lunchtime and I think we got off to a good start. After some introductions (of Alice and Sarah) and some admin (the course notes and reading list are both online in WebCT, to which all students should now have access), we played a card game. Not poker (there was no gambling involved), but a kind of swap shop of statements about science, the public, and the media. We quickly discovered that we already disagree about some things. The statement 'Scientists may be experts in one field, but citizens can be experts too' seemed particularly contentious, with some loving it and others hating it. This is definitely an idea we'll be coming back to!

Then there was just time for a quick story. It was a tale of two reports and one department: the 1985 Royal Society report 'The public understanding of science' (which started off this latest wave of interest in communicating science); Imperial's very own Science Communication Group, started in 1991 by John Durant as part of the PUS movement; and the 2000 House of Lord's Third Report on Science and Society. Not a snappy title, but a key moment in the shift towards 'dialogue' in science communication. On which more soon...

Next week we start our survey of news media. Don't forget to do the reading for the second session before the class!

And finally, a quick QUESTION that we didn't have time for in class today: What do students want to get out of the course? We'd be interested to know so comment and tell us your thoughts...

hello

This blog has been set up for the "Communicating Science: the public and the media" undergraduate module at Imperial College, London. In the next few weeks you'll start to find comments, reviews and news from both course leaders and students.

Coursenotes are online here (links to PDF).

All comments are welcome, but they will be screened.