SEMINARS

Best Practices: Covering Science in Cyberspace

March 11 - March 14, 2007
Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California

About the Seminar

Best Practices: Covering Science in Cyberspace Blog

Read blog contributions from prominent science journalists and science communicators who participated in this special conference. Visit the blog created during the seminar.

Two dozen prominent science journalists and science communicators were invited to participate in this special conference with three goals: 1) Identify the critical issues facing science journalists in the digital age; 2) identify innovative forms of multimedia story-telling and presentation of complex issues online; and 3) identify “best practices” for coverage of science issues on digital platforms. Among the topics discussed were:

Defining exactly what is “science;
Revealing untold science stories and determining why they have not been told;
Exploring

Resources

Presentation materials and slide decks used during the seminar.

“Communicating Science,” FACSNET
“Framing Science” blogged by Matthew C. Nisbet, Scienceblogs by Seed Media Group
“Helter Skelter No More: An Evolving Guidebook for Online Ethics,” The Poynter Institute
“Weird Science: Why editors must dare to be dumb.” by K.C. Cole (CJR)
Tech Tools for Your Presentation

Full Resource List

Agenda

March 11, 2007, 6:30 PM - 7:00 PM

Welcome Reception

McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurant, 533 W. 5th Street, Los Angeles

Presentation by:

March 11, 2007, 7:00 PM - 9:30 PM

Opening Dinner and Keynote Address

Welcome and introductions.

Vikki Porter, Director, Knight Digital Media Center, USC Annenberg School for Communication
K.C. Cole, Visiting Professor/Science Journalism, USC Annenberg School of Journalism
Michael Parks, Director, USC Annenberg School of Journalism

Conference plans

Vikki Porter

Keynote address - “When Science and Policy Converge”

Presentation by:

Donald Kennedy, editor-in-chief, Science Magazine, and president emeritus, Stanford University

March 12, 2007, 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM

What is Science, Anyway?

(And why do journalists have such a hard time getting editors and gatekeepers to understand it?)

What constitutes a discovery? What does “wrong” mean - or “true”? Dealing with uncertainty.

Opening discussants:
• Michael Lemonick, freelance journalist, writer “Eye on Science” blog, Time.com
• Alexandra Witze, Senior News and Features Editor, Nature

Presentation by: