Uploaded January 2018 | Updated September 2026, 9 minutes ago
What makes a good science profile, and when is it the right or wrong way to approach a story? We all know that one seemingly easy way to help a reader grasp complex science is to personalize research by telling the story of those doing it. But profiles of scientists are challenging to do well in our increasingly rushed work environment and a tricky format for a journalist. How can a writer make an individual narrative come alive, while going beyond the cliché of the lone scientist as hero or odd genius? Are there tricks to maintaining neutrality when you are spending time with a smart, charismatic researcher or a nasty egomaniac? And how do you select the personal information that advances the scientific story and leave out the irrelevant or trivial?
In this session presented in San Francisco Oct. 26, 2017 at the 10th World Conference of Science Journalists, an experienced panel of science writers discuss the rules of profiling scientists—including veteran Ann Finkbeiner's rules for profiling women scientists—and share their struggles and successes with these potentially controversial stories.
What makes a good science profile, and when is it the right or wrong way to approach a story? We all know that one seemingly easy way to help a reader grasp complex science is to personalize research by telling the story of those doing it. But profiles of scientists are challenging to do well in our increasingly rushed work environment and a tricky format for a journalist. How can a writer make an individual narrative come alive, while going beyond the cliché of the lone scientist as hero or odd genius? Are there tricks to maintaining neutrality when you are spending time with a smart, charismatic researcher or a nasty egomaniac? And how do you select the personal information that advances the scientific story and leave out the irrelevant or trivial?
In this session presented in San Francisco Oct. 26, 2017 at the 10th World Conference of Science Journalists, an experienced panel of science writers discuss the rules of profiling scientists—including veteran Ann Finkbeiner's rules for profiling women scientists—and share their struggles and successes with these potentially controversial stories.
