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What was it like being an intern at natgeo? How did you apply?
It was AMAZING! I even got to go to a magical island of ponies. I applied to a very strangely-titled job that I believe was calledĀ āFox Undergraduate Communications Internship,ā even though it was actually a Nat Geo journalism internship for grad or undergrad students, grad preferred.Ā
Every year the internships are a little different, but this unofficial, unconfirmed guide may help you if youāre looking.
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Another one! Do you ever encounter barriers with scientists' egoes when interviewing them? Here in Brazil we have this culture in academia where scientists attempt at making themselves the least available as possible (appaling as this may sound). How do you handle that? How do you make sure you ask everything you need without sounding too (lacking a better word) ignorant? Do you ever worry about not grasping enough of a subject to interview someone about it?
Personally Iāve actually never had trouble with scientistsā egos, just the fact that they are normal people with lives who wonāt be able to get back to me under a deadline of 1-3 hours. If I donāt know a topic well, I tell the interviewee that I donāt know it well. If I do know it well, I tell them to pretend I donāt know it well. That way I get quotes that are better to a general audience.
Mainstream, nonscientific news outlets frequently publish articles about current scientific news that either completely misinterpret the research being discussed or simplify it into inaccuracy. As a science communicator, do you feel it is worth your time (or the time of others) to attempt to correct these mistakes?
Yes. I still feel very strongly that accurate journalism is exceptionally important. Iām a little more sympathetic to outlets that do poor/mediocre science journalism now, as Iāve learned that itās really difficult to include all the nuance of science in a headline, and overworked/underpaid writers struggle with their editors to decide on something that is both accurate and clickable. Itās really hard to write a good, original article on a topic you know little about in two or three hours!
But truth is important enough that we shouldnāt really tolerate misleading or chronically bad journalism. People make important decisions based on little more than headlines all the time, and writing needs to be trustworthy and accurate.Ā
What is the strangest science story you've ever written?
I guess for normal people, my article about a woman who took her amputated leg homeĀ was pretty weird. But since I published that a few other places have referenced it or written something similar.Ā Ā
Did you start with non-writing journalism? How did you make the transition between multi media and plain old writing? What's your favorite kind of non-written journalism?
nope, I started with written! I try to expand into multimedia, right now thatās more of a hobby. Iād really like to try to do more with 360 and drone footage, and other emerging things.
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Are you freelance or affiliated, or both? Your abt page says you work part time with PBS so as an aspiring freelance sj I'm a bit curious about that
Whoops, that must be outdated! I worked at Newsweek for nearly a year after working (full time, but on contract) at PBS Newshour. Now Iām freelance and looking for more work, which is why I now have time to answer a bunch of asks. If you know someone hiring, hereās my portfolio!
Hi! I'm a journalist as well and, coincidentally enough,I just finished a trainee programme on science/health journalism at a newspaper (here in Brazil, where I'm from). I saw that you have a BA in Journalism as well as the master's. Do you feel like doing the MS made you improve in becoming a science journalist? I have a BA in J as well and sometimes I feel like I lack the deeper kind of knowledge you may get from majoring in bio, chem or physics, for example, bc journalism was rly easy!
I think the MS helped my skills, but the education wasnāt worth the $65k in debt. The education wasnāt really my intention anyway, especially as I already had a journalism degree. I did the program more to get my foot in the door because there was nothing at the time that set me apart from other people with journalism degrees, in a highly competitive field. There was no way Iād be in this field now if I had decided to forgo the degree when I got the acceptance letter.Ā
There were people with my same job title at Newsweek who didnāt have grad school and were able to do the job just as well. But many newsrooms (and employers in general) sort of just hire off a whisper network, and if werenāt for the connections I made during and after the Masterās, I would have not got that job.Ā
