Science and Environmental Communication

PHOTO: Scientists and journalists have many things in common, including a fascination with nature. Here, members of the Society of Environmental Journalists tour the laboratories of the Scripps Oceanographic Institute. (Photo by Bill Kovarik, 2005).

Fall 2009:

University of Western Ontario

Graduate level course in the Theory and Practice of Science and Environmental Communication

Scholarship in the context of environmental history and public understanding of science will be the initial major focus of the course, but a second focus will involve practice in researching, interviewing, visualizing and writing scientific and environmental topics for general audiences.

There is a persuasive argument to be made that more should be done to train journalists in scientific issue analysis and writing, given the increasing importance of these issues today.

Perhaps the most chlling warning about the need for public understanding of science came from the late Carl Sagan, who said:

"I have a foreboding of ... a service and information economy ... when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical facilities in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what's true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness. The dumbing down of America is most evident in the slow decay of substantive content in the enormously influential media ..". -- Carl Sagan, The Demon Haunted World, Random House, 1995

Textbooks

REQUIRED: Bob Wyss, Covering the Environment: How journalists work the green beat (New York: Routledge, 2008)
RECOMMENDED: Jon Franklin, Writing For Story: Craft Secrets of Dramatic Nonfiction
OPTIONAL: Mark Neuzil and Bill Kovarik, Mass Media and Environmental Conflict (Sage, 1996)

ALSO
Readings in Communication Theory (various journal articles)
Professional commentary on media, science and society

Overview

This class will consist of a lecture and writing laboratory session, along with meetings for individuals and teams.

This is an interdisciplinary course where students will work together on journalistic, non-fiction narrative and expository writing involving a variety of environmental subjects. Guests speakers at the seminar will include journalists, scientists and scholars in this area. Critical analysis of issues and broad historical perspectives will be emphasized along with research, interviewing and writing skills. Each student will be required to write five original news or feature articles. Publication in a variety of formats will be encouraged.

The class will also take advantage of conferences and events that, by virtue of optimal proximity, could help engage students in the learning process. In October of 2009, for example, the annual conference of the Society of Environmental Journalists will take place at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

All class members will write for the class, alone and in teams. Research, interviewing and writing exercises are described below. A minimum number of news articles and one major research assignment will be decided in thde first week of class.

Goals for the professor and the students

For the professor:
- To create a supportive climate for writers who will be working in this crucial area
- To help scientists understand the writing process and to encourage writers to understand the scientific process
- To understand and appreciate the issues students are dealing with in their professional lives and to find routes toward optimal growth
For the students:
General goals:
- To understand the general field of science and environment non-fiction writing
- To understand the roles of those who interpret science for the public
- To understand non-fiction genres of writing with styles ranging from exposition to literary narrative to investigative journalism.
Specific goals: To increase skill in science & environment writing
- Research scientific and environmental issues
- Evaluate the public impact of scientific research
- Locate authoritative and primary sources
- Write about a research project for the mass media
- Profile scientists and their work
- Fathom permits and other public documents
- Explain environmental controversy to the public.
- Illustrate and visualize scientific materials for the public

Assignments and grading

Reading assignments - review professional science and environment writing and lead discussions; (10%), partly on a class wiki
Research reports concerning biographical, theoretical or historical information as a
contribution to the classroom learning environment; (10%)
Interviews recorded and partlyi transcribed or podcast (10%)
Written articles assessed with standard journalistic and literary criteria such as grammar, logic, creativity, scope of subject, insight into the subject, appropriate writing style and (where appropriate) respect for privacy and reputation. Some assessments or feedback about your articles may be requested by the scientists or other sources interviewed for the articles. The articles will include:

Environmental News / Information (expository - inverted pyramid lead)
Personal or research group feature profile (non-fiction/ literary journalism)
Nature / Outdoor writing (non-fiction literary description)
Fourth non-fiction article (contract grade for A)
Editorial / opinion (optional)

Major research / writing project of your choice (30%)

Policies regarding submissions

* All articles are non-fiction and intentended for mass media (newspapers, magazines, radio, television, web, podcast, etc).
* It is understood that all submissions for the class will be made public.
* All information must be original and accurate and published with the informed consent of sources.
* All information published must be on the record. No off-the-record or unattributed information will be acceptable.
* Students retain copyright, but must assign reproduction rights to the class website unless prevented from doing so by assigning copyright through contract with a commercial mass media publication.

Addiitonal policies

* Attendance policy: Attendance will be recorded but allowance will be made for the normal course of events. We assume that students signing up for an elective course actually are interested in the course. Overall, absense of more than 20 percent of the class will result in questions concerning the students commitment and possible grade reductions.
* Late policy: Late completion of projects will result in reduction of grade by one letter grade per week.
* Disabilities policy: We are glad to work with all students to accomodate disabilities on a non-discriminatory basis. Students with special needs may be required to clear accomodations through the disabilities resource office of the university.
* Honor Code: By accepting admission to this university, each student makes a commitment to understand, support and abide by the University Honor Code without compromise or exception.
* Plagiarism -- Students who directly copy entire bodies of work from anyone else, without attribution, will not pass the class and will also be reported to the Dean of Students office. Other ethical lapses to be dealt with as appropriate may range from sloppy uses of quotes (as in the case of John C. Merrill) to more significant problems that do not border on outright malpractice.