A Tactical Guide to Science Journalism

Deborah Blum is Director of the Knight Science Journalism Program at MIT and publisher of Undark magazine. She is a Pulitzer-prize winning American science journalist, columnist, and author of six books, most recently the 2018 New York Times Notable Book, The Poison Squad. Ashley Smart is Associate Director of the Knight Science Journalism Program at MIT and a senior editor at Undark magazine. He was previously the features editor at Physics Today magazine and a co-founder of the science news blog HBSciU.com. Tom Zeller Jr. is a former Knight Science Journalism Fellow (2013-14) and the editor in chief of Undark Magazine. Previously he spent two decades covering technology, energy policy, climate change, and the environment for a variety of publications, including 12 years as a staff writer and editor at The New York Times.

INTRODUCTION
Deborah Blum, Ashley Smart, and Tom Zeller Jr.
PART 1: Foundations

Chapter 1. How Science Works
Nsikan Akpan

Chapter 2. Finding and Vetting Sources
Azeen Ghorashi

Chapter 3. Journals, Peer Review, and Preprints
Ivan Oransky

Chapter 4. Working With Statistics
Maggie Koerth

Chapter 5. Fact Checking
Brooke Borel


PART 2: The Craft of Storytelling

Chapter 6. A Foundation in News
Alicia Chang

Chapter 7. Story Structure
Deborah Blum

Chapter 8. Audio Storytelling
Elana Gordon

Chapter 9. Film and Video Storytelling
Ian Cheney

Chapter 10, Multimedia Storytelling
Jeffery DelViscio

Chapter 11. Data Storytelling
Charles Seife

Chapter 12. Opinion Writing
Bina Venkataraman

Chapter 13. Magazine Writing
Paige Williams

Chapter 14 Book Writing
Dan Fagin


PART 3: Investigative Journalism

Chapter 15. Investigative Science Journalism
Katherine Eban

Chapter 16. Accessing Public Records
Michael Morisy

Chapter 17. The Art of the Interview
Pallab Ghosh

Chapter 18. Cybersecurity and Protecting Sources
Andrada Fiscutean

Chapter 19. The Public Information Machine
James Glanz


PART 4: Covering Science Beats

Chapter 20. Medicine
Sabriya Rice

Chapter 21. Infectious Diseases
Helen Branswell

Chapter 22. Public Health
Julia Belluz

Chapter 23. Social Sciences
Sujata Gupta

Chapter 24. Science and Justice
Rod McCullom

Chapter 25. Physics
Ashley Smart

Chapter 26. Genetics
Antonio Regalado

Chapter 27. Technology
Megan Molteni

Chapter 28. Space
Nadia Drake

Chapter 29. Climate
Sarah Kaplan

Chapter 30. Conservation and Wildlife
Rachel Nuwer

Chapter 31. Earth Sciences
Betsy Mason

Chapter 32. Mathematics
Jennifer Ouellette

Chapter 33. Science Policy
Dan Vergano

Chapter 34. Artificial Intelligence
Matthew Hutson

Chapter 35. Cybersecurity and National Security
Kim Zetter


PART 5: Metrics, Models, and Marketing

Chapter 36. New Models for Science Media
Thomas Lin

Chapter 37. Measuring Success in Science Journalism
Kate Travis

Chapter 38. Social Media in Science Journalism
Liz Neporent

Chapter 39 Building Trust and Navigating Mistrust
Apoorva Mandavilli

Chapter 40 Marketing Your Stories
Jason Penchoff


PART 6: The Global Picture

Chapter 41. Narrative Reporting Abroad
Martin Enserink

Chapter 42. Reporting in Authoritarian Regimes
Richard Stone

Chapter 43. Collaborative Journalism Across Borders
Iván Carrillo

Chapter 44. Reporting in the Global South
Esther Nakkazi


EPILOGUE
Stay Curious and Question Everything Tom Zeller Jr.

RESOURCES