Back then, I think we imagined that maybe we’d do a dozen or so interviews, probably not much more. That was the seed of the idea for The Open Notebook. It wasn’t long before it occurred to us that if we were going to do these interviews, maybe we should put them on the Internet somewhere so that other people could also benefit from them. (Plus, it was a totally justifiable, productive form of procrastination). We thought that maybe if we did a bunch of those interviews, we would learn from them and become better writers ourselves. Out of those conversations, the idea emerged to do some interviews with writers, to learn the stories behind specific stories that we liked. Often times we’d find ourselves talking about some story that we had just read and admired, and we’d wonder how the writer did such-and-such thing: how they got the idea to structure the story the way they did, or how they got access to certain documents, and so on. Once a week or so, we’d get on the phone and talk about what we were each working on – ideas that we wanted to pitch to editors, stories that we were struggling with, adventures in procrastination, stuff like that. What motivated you to start The Open Notebook?īack around 2009, I had become friends with another journalist, Jeanne Erdmann, and the two of us had set ourselves up as “accountability partners”. Siri Carpenter co-founded The Open Notebook to shed light on the practice of science journalism. When we moved here to Madison in 2002, I became a freelancer, and I’ve been self-employed as a reporter and editor for most of my career (with an interlude as an editor at Discover magazine). Two years later, my husband and I had our first child, and we decided that we wanted to move back to Madison, Wisconsin, to be closer to our families. After I graduated, I got my first “real” job, at the APA Monitor on Psychology, which is published by the American Psychological Association. During my last two summers of grad school, I was lucky to get two fantastic internships, one through the American Association for the Advancement of Science Mass Media Science & Engineering Fellowship program, working at the Richmond Times-Dispatch in Virginia, and one at Science News magazine, in Washington, DC. I was working on my PhD in social psychology when I realised there was such a thing as science writing, and I immediately knew that’s what I wanted to do. connel/Ĭould you give us an introduction to your professional background? Research Outreach were privileged to speak to her about her background, the work of the organisation, and the myriad elements which make for great science journalism. Siri Carpenter co-founded The Open Notebook as a means of sharing the tricks and tools which contribute to a strong piece of scientific writing. It requires a unique blend of creative flair and technical prowess to keep an audience informed and engaged. However, it can be remarkably difficult to communicate science to an audience who may have no scientific background. More and more researchers are recognising the importance of verifiable and accurate science outreach as a means of countering the tide of scientific misinformation. Research Outreach spoke to Siri Carpenter, co-founder and editor-in-chief of the organisation, about the challenges and rewards of this most interesting form of journalism. The Open Notebook has therefore set itself a critical task: to ensure science, health and environmental journalists have the requisite skills and assistance to convey their message. What is less frequently discussed is the unique skillset that is required to undertake this vital form of translation: ensuring that the complexity of cutting-edge research is communicated in such a way that it remains exciting, accurate, and digestible. The importance of quality science journalism has been widely recognised throughout the long months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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