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Posted on behalf of Adam Smith by Khalil A. Cassimally. – Science stories do not deserve a place in the news they must earnit. They are not even essential to magazines, websites or podcasts.In fact, no story deserves, in principle, to be covered. That snot the point of the media. Since moving into science reporting last September, I ve realisedthat everything in the media must be fought for column space,bandwidth, jobs, access and, yes, science coverage. The media doesnot automatically include anything or anyone. As a junior sciencejournalist, I have experienced the media s coldness with regard tomy work and even myself during a nine-month experiment offreelancing, interning and pitching. The media is a free market of ideas, much like the real world. Itsrole is to reflect the exchange of ideas happening in real time.This is grounded in news, which has the responsibility ofshowcasing the real world in its real state. That is why sciencedoes not de facto deserve a place a competitive media has no timeto indulge in any single topic. Science must earn its place in themedia by showing how it contributes to our understanding of theworld. And, indeed, science that is relevant and useful to audiences doesmake the cut. Science coverage abounds. Some of it is so good thatit gets people talking in wider society and politics. In fact, ifyou listen to a few influential people, it becomes increasinglyapparent that science is not only retaining its foothold in themedia, it is setting out to climb a new mountain altogether. A book, just published in the UK and which is causing unrestrictedexcitement amongst science communicators, might just about inspirea new generation of optimistic science supporters. The Geek Manifesto is not half as corny as its title would suggest. Written by MarkHenderson, former science editor of the Times , the book acknowledges several instances in which fans of science,rationalism and evidence (the geeks of the title) haveinfluenced policy makers to great public benefit. One exampleincludes the grass-roots support network that sprung up aroundscience writer Simon Singh in his libel fight with the British ChiropracticAssociation . Singh won his case. And the geeks won a place for libel reform onthe legislative agenda. Henderson combines such isolated successes in a call to arms forgeeks everywhere. He argues that they can use their respect ofscience and the scientific method to shape policy, save lives andimprove the media. We, science journalists, are a part of this geek movement. That snot because we like writing about new genetics insights or spaceexploration. I reject the notion that journalists are sciencecommunicators whose role is merely to translate science intoEnglish and pour it into the head of the passerby who happens topick up a newspaper. Many scientists I ve met seem to have thisexpectation, but it is elitist and misguided. Rather, we are members of the geek lobby because we are justanother kind of scientist. Most journalists are as fastidious aboutfacts as scientists are. They know what is based on evidence andwhat is not. A journalist may have a lower standard than ascientist for sure, a different definition of evidence, but thepoint is this: I will not write something that has not been felt orobserved. And my objective in doing this is to feed curiosity withdiscovery. If I find that one of the principle characters in a feature about awhizz-bang new science I m writing has an undeclared conflict ofinterest, I ll follow the evidence and expose it. Would this storydamage the image of science? Probably, but I shouldn t care and Idon t. I am not a champion of science for science s sake. I am ascience journalist who aims to keep people talking about sciencesimply because it is relevant. That objectivity is the key criterion on which I ll judge my workas I continue to build my career. Henderson touches on it in The Geek Manifesto , but that is all. I think it needs to be discussed more. I hope tosee junior science journalists running with the notion that we canscrutinise and question science, and that this process ought toplay a part in the public discussion. I strongly believe that thisis the philosophy we should embrace and put into practice. To that end, I back Henderson s call for a geek movement. Themovement is not a new political party or even a defined lobbygroup. It is the employment of science by the public andpolicymakers. Mirroring my stance as a journalist, the movement asI see it is not interested in embedding science just becausescience is interesting, but because science takes the rationalapproach we would like to see across society. I want to play a part in achieving that goal, which is why lastSeptember I left my old job to begin covering science. I throwmyself into freelance projects, unpaid internships and a master s in science journalism . And I can draw three conclusions from this experiment . First,this job is damn hard. Second, the experiment was the best I coulddesign as it has helped me to understand the challenge ahead of me.And finally, I enjoy covering this meta discussion as much as thelatest tiny step forward in science. Reaching these conclusions hasleft me with a clear aspiration: to produce journalism that widensdiscussion about science and what we do with it. To put this realisation to use, I ve been writing a series called Talking Science to Power for the Guardian . The series is in many ways the practice of lessons learnt duringmy experiment and my interpretation of The Geek Manifesto. And it is how I d hope to establish a place for myself in thisfierce new world. Adam Smith adamesmith.co.uk @AdamCommentism Image credits: The Geek Manifesto/Random House Group; Newsroom/Juerg Vollmer. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as China Rfid Reader Writer , China Rfid Business Cards, and more. For more , please visit Rfid Smart Cards today!
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