The Essence of Online Science Journalism

Essence
of
Online
Science Journalism
CSWA 2010
Miriam Boon

Online Journalism
New Media
Journalism
Online Journalism
multimedia
flexible size/length
thus, curation is essential
non-linear
interactive

Core aspects of
online journalism?
multimedia: Any non-interactive multimedia couldrun as easily on TV or radio. The ability to combine with text, is new, though.
flexible size/length: This is new, but could end updrowningthe reader. Requires careful curation, but thatnearly negates thedifference. On its own, this justdrowns the reader uselessly.
non-linear: Can be done off-line, but it is unavoidable online.
interactive: Can be done off-line, but it is unavoidable online.

Non-Linear
An example of non-linear in print, which has implied structure, but could be read in any order. Online, readers will pop over to other sites to check facts, look up words, etc. whether you like it or not.
Diagram from September 27, 2004 issue of Time. By Joe Lertola and Ed Gabel.
http://www.joelertola.com/grfx/grfx_new/chrt_hurricane.html

Interactive
You can do interactive content in print, but it works much better online. And again, whether you build it in or not, readers will interact with your work by commenting on it elsewhere, looking for more information elsewhere, etc. Build it in yourself and they’ll do this with you, rather than in spite of you.

Science Writing
Examples of characteristics more essential to science journalism than traditional journalism:
Journalism
Science Writing
Topics are often tough to explain
Information often available injournals, which are increasingly accessible to the public
Usually incremental
Global beat
For more characteristics, or to suggest your own:http://newsciencemedia.wetpaint.com/page/What%27s+characteristic+about+science+media%3F

Online
Science Writing
New Media
There are lots of peopleworking on finding newmedia tools that willaddress essential issues faced in mainstream online journalism.
But there are Issues/characteristics that are far more important to science journalism than traditional journalism and thus may be neglected by those people. That’s where we should be focusing our attention.
Journalism
Science Writing

Today’s Example
Use flexible size and curation
Embrace interactivity and non-linearity
Assist explanation of complex topics
Support statements to encourage reader trust
Contextualizing via embedded information

Embedded Info
Allows for different knowledge levels
Provides background and context
Allows a reader-driven experience, providing more depth in those areas the reader chooses to explore
Allows the writer to support statements without interrupting the flow of the writing

Methods
Links throughout the story
The problem: readers have to flip back and forth,often losing sight of the original story
Mouse over or click for a pop-up
The problem: traditional pop-ups are blocked, and non- traditional pop-ups appear over the text the reader is tryingto clarify
A solution I attempted in 2009:
Use a dedicated column with a spot for references, and a spotfor glossary terms, activated by mouse over

D. I. Y.
MJ project: PCOS and metformin
The problem? To do this, I had to hack some existing javascript, and then insert the following html codethroughout the website:
<span class="refFact" onmouseover="javascript:showRef(‘exampleReference)"> This is a reference in the body of the text.</span>
<div class="refPopup" id=“exampleReference>
<p><a href="http://www.examplereference.com”target="_blank"> Paper name. Example Journal. 2006 May;12(5):526-31.</a> </p>
</div>

http://www.apture.com
Free, or you can pay for a custom version
Works with most major open source website back-ends
Example: Dan’s Wild Wild Science Journal
Possible to use (sort of) free with other back-ends
Example: International Science Grid This Week

Contact me
Twitter: @milara
Personal website
Blog: The Open Source Press
international Science Grid This Week
Work email: miriam.boon@isgtw.org
Personal email: miriam@miriamboon.com

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The Essence of Online Science Journalism

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