The British Association for the Advancement of Science coordinates a program that hopes to remove some of this ignorance. Instead of allowing scientists to study the media as sociologists have done for years, or just complain about science coverage, why not give some scientists the chance to be media people and see how they make out? Like many human activities, from driving a car to adjusting the pH of a solution, it is difficult to appreciate subtle aspects of something unless you have done it yourself.
That’s how last autumn I ended up hanging around the London offices of one of Britain’s serious newspapers, the Guardian. I spent most of my time watching and talking, trying to condense years of newspaper experience into a few weeks. I also tried to write a few news stories. An assiduous newspaper reader, I had accepted the patchy, confused science coverage with its concentration ...
