Science Training for Journalists: An Essential Tool in the Post-Specialist Era of Journalism

Abstract

A majority of US adults are concerned about a rise in misinformation regarding current issues and events. The spread of inaccurate information via social media and other sources has coincided with a massive transition in the news industry. Smaller newsrooms now have fewer journalists, and their responsibilities have shifted toward producing more stories, more quickly, while contributing to their outlets' blogs and social media feeds. Lean newsroom budgets also eliminated in-house professional development for journalists, making external training programs an essential vehicle for reporters and editors to gain new content knowledge, sources, and skills in a constantly evolving news landscape. The loss of specialized beat reporters in many newsrooms since the mid-2000s has made training especially critical for journalists covering complex, science-based topics such as climate change and public health. In the USA, relatively few organizations offer science training opportunities for journalists, but the need and demand for these programs are growing as newsrooms increasingly rely on generalist reporters to cover a wide range of scientific topics. This perspective summarizes the challenges that non-specialist reporters face in covering science-based stories and describes a successful training model for improving science and environmental news coverage to yield reporting that is not only accurate but also offers the nuance and context that characterizes meaningful journalism.

Sources of climate change information used by newspaper journalists in Tanzania

“…When asked whether or not they had received any formal training on climate change issues, less than half (45%) of the respondents admitted to having attended such training sessions (Table 3). According to Menezes (2018) and Shanahan (2011), training on climate change is necessary because it enhances journalists’ ability to identify new sources, content, knowledge and skills with regard to climate change. These findings imply that despite the fact that the newspaper journalists had good level of experience in the field of journalism, they reported on climate change information in their newspapers without having had specialized training – something that may affect the quality of the climate change information published in their newspapers.…”

The SciCommDiversity Travel Fellowship: The Challenge of Creating a Sustainable Intervention

“…Furthermore, it was beyond the scope of the current report to conduct a social science study of the experience of the fellows. We leave that to future work drawing upon the theory and studies in science communication such as those about training (Schmidt, 2017;Menezes, 2018;Newman, 2020) as well as DE&I especially in higher education (Smith, 2009) and STEM (National Academies of Sciences Engineering and Medicine, 2011; Segarra et al, 2020). The fellowship online application consists of a questionnaire collecting contact information, career stage, personal/professional demographic characteristics, and a curriculum vitae that includes citations to their published writing portfolio.…”

Science & Journalism: Bridging the Gaps Through Specialty Training

“…This shift toward context-focused journalism, also known as knowledge-based journalism, focuses on core foundational knowledge and a realignment with community needs (Donsbach 2014;Mensing 2010;Nisbet and Fahy 2015). Unsurprisingly, journalists have expressed a desire for more science training (Appiah et al 2015;Detjen et al 2000) and since the mid-2000s, more journalists have undergone science training opportunities learning how to cover complex topics like climate change and public health (Menezes 2018). Professional training has become an important tool because it fosters an environment where journalists can understand why a particular storytelling telling format or tool works best, and how to connect people with the stories they tell whether it be at the local or global level (Henriquez 2018;Tulloch and Manchon 2018).…”

“…According to research using the concept of self-efficacy, if journalists feel more confident in their ability to find and understand scientific material, they would be more likely to engage in that behavior and do so more regularly. Other documented benefits of specialized training for journalists include helping with formulating and honing journalists' communication skills (Menezes 2018).…”

“…Given the drastic changes in the expectations and professional responsibilities of science journalists in recent history (see Guenther 2019 for a full review), science training programs have emerged across the country in an effort to provide additional professional development opportunities for journalists who cover science, health, and environmental topics. These training programs aim to equip journalists with opportunities to gain science and environmental knowledge, skills, and sources (Menezes 2018). One such training is offered by SciLine, an editorially independent service based at the American Association for the Advancement of Science.…”