Know and Write Science

The article by Dave Munger in SEED Magazine tells us three things: know your audience, clearly present your message, and check if your message is understood by your audience. Science articles have fewer readerships now, but are surviving with the use of blogs. I read blogs of my interests. Most of the time, I don’t encounter blogs featuring science-related topics. And if ever I come across one, I hit the close button or look for another blog. This is because some science articles are too scientific that laypeople like me don’t quickly grasp.

Science journalism is dying. The attempt to revive it is through, again, blogging. But the question of “who’s blogging?” is a matter of concern for me. If I read blog articles about science, I need to make sure that the things written there are true. That’s why I think scienceblogs.com and other sites monitoring their bloggers are doing well. Readers build a trust on the bloggers.

But despite these attempts, surveys show that scientists think the public is less informed about science. They think the media isn’t doing a good job. The same survey though shows that the public is well-informed about science. I think the point here is whether the means of conveying the messages by scientists is effective or not, whether the public is receptive of such means.

One way to attract more readers is by having shorter articles because quantity is not equal to quality. As Roy Peter Clark lists in his article, we should practice these tips to write a good concise story: plan before writing, practice writing short, build the story, write as if you’re telling a story, use hourglass structure, and know your focus.

And if science articles/stories are written clearly, short, and simple, I may actually read them regardless of how scientific they are.