science journalism - henrietta lacks reporting - nabj 2013 - david kroll

Science Journalism 101NABJ 2013David J Kroll, PhD

Director of Strategic PositioningNorth Carolina Museum of Natural SciencesAdjunct Associate Professor of EnglishNorth Carolina State University

djkroll@ncsu.edu @davidkroll @naturalsciences

forbes.com/sites/davidkroll

cenblog.org/terra-sigillata

Typically unorthodox career path

http://naturalsciences.org/nature-research-center/david-kroll

http://scientopia.org/blogs/nccurise

Served as scientific manuscript reviewer

But what if I’m not a scientist?

You should still cover science and technology in your publications and outlets

Essential service to Black community and more broadly

http://naturalsciences.org @naturalsciences

Museum photographs courtesy of Nik Swain, NCMNSMore at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/naturalsciences/

“The prominence of the Southern Hemisphere has prompted calls to the museum questioning the accuracy of the globe’s scale. However, it’s not the scale that is incorrect, but our conditioning. Maps and globes shape our perspectives of the planet, and in turn our sense of place on it.”

-- Lisa Sorg, Indy Week, 11 April 2012

http://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/the-daily-planets-geography-lesson-at-the-nc-museum-of-natural-sciences/Content?oid=3004747

Ebony – June 1976

• Henrietta Lacks story with family• Followed Michael Rogers, Rolling Stone• Remainder of issue full of science and

health stories

Ebony, June 1976 - Featured work of legendary plant medicinal chemist, Dr. Norman Farnsworth, University of Illinois at Chicago

Jet – April 1976

Rolling Stone – late March 1976

Critical thinking - science journalism or not

11.13.11 – Neil deGrasse Tyson Reddit AMA

facebook.com/naturalsciences

@naturalsciencestwitter.com/naturalsciences

The magazine screenshots featured in this presentation came from links

provided by the University of Maryland Libraries resource on The

Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks:

http://lib.guides.umd.edu/HeLa

Images shown under “fair use” provisions.