Panel tells reporters on science stories to accept uncertainty, seek experts

Panelists at a Professional Development Session Jan 14 on “How to Cover Science-Related Issues When Science Isn’t Your Beat,” told the audience to accept uncertainty and seek expert advice.

Accept and embrace uncertainty and complexity when covering science-related topics, veteran science reporter Seth Borenstein advised those attending. Keep in mind that things are not always black and white, even though editors may want stories that present an issue in those contrasts. “Science is by nature imprecise,” he said. Become familiar with the definition of “theory” in scientific terms.

Use data to tell your story, but try to make sense of it by asking many questions, particularly when it comes to scientific studies, he continued. Talk to experts, not policy people; and ask them who disagrees with them so you can talk to those people, too.

Resources for locating experts include professional societies (American Association for the Advancement of Science,for example), strong research universities, the National Academy of Sciences and Google Scholar.

Borenstein, award-winning science reporter for the Associated Press in Washington, said to make sure that a new study that comes your way is actually new, and to scour its footnotes for other experts to contact. Make sure you read it yourself, and don’t rely on an executive summary: look at who funded it, and determine why the results should matter to your readers.

Gretchen Goldman, a lead analyst at the Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), researches the use and misuse of science in public policy. She said some scientists fear that their data will be “eaten up” by reporters, and not fully understood. She cautioned that in reporting on science topics, not every story “is going to have a middle ground.”

Goldman’s work at UCS has resulted in a report card on scientists’ freedom to speak to media at federal agencies. Among recommendations her project makes, “Journalists should call out those agencies that block the free flow of information to the public.”

Kathryn Foxhall, a 40-year journalist and freelance writer and editor on health-related topics, told of roadblocks to talking to federal agency experts directly, but gave pointers on how to reach others when public information officers stand in the way. Online catalogs of authors who are writing books on science topics are helpful, such that of the National Institutes of Health Library, as well as articles published in scientific journals, which are in the National Library of Medicine database PubMed.

Foxhall has been crusading with the Society of Professional Journalists for media access within federal agencies, having organized a letter to the White House signed by 49 groups. An article by her, “Fighting Censorship by PIOs,” is to be published in the "Investigative Reporters and Editors Journal" this year. She recommended that journalists tell scientists who may be restricted in speaking to the media that they really want to speak with them, even if those scientists have to go through a press officer to get permission – “they may become advocates for openness.”