Stempra newsletter - Autumn 2010
From the Chair
Katrina Nevin-Ridley asks whether we should be rating scientists or journalists on their willingness to engage with one another. Are manufactured rows damaging or helpful in raising awareness of a wider communication problem?
News:
Upcoming events
New members
Sci Comm news
Eurochat
Obituary:
Stephen White, a genuine pioneer of science communications and one of Stempra's great founding members.
Features:
Publicising non-peer reviewed research
As
press officers we must ensure scientists understand all
the risks of communicating research, including how, when and where they should be talking about it. Includes the smash hits 'When tweets go wrong' and 'How was I supposed to know he was a journalist?'
Science in the new Parliament
Mark Henderson, science editor of The Times, writes about how science in Parliament has changed since the elections in May. Has the loss of the science 'big hitters' relaxed the pressure on Government to protect our future? And what of the new breed of angry scientists fighting for their livelihoods?
Event Reports:
Political Science
Stempra members got together to discuss what happens when you put science and research under the threat of budget cuts. We invited Dr Evan Harris, Mark Henderson and Imran Khan to share their views on what would happen to the 'holy grail' of evidence based policy and the political melee taking place before 20 October 2010; comprehensive spending review day.
UK libel laws
I'd better be careful what I say about Simon Singh as he has a following of thousands supporting his cause. Campaigning against the UK's 'unjust' libel laws, Singh and Sense About Science needs your help to protect free speech here and abroad. Read on and get involved.
Networking in the Scottish sunshine
Apparently we managed to convince some meteorologists to smile on Edinburgh just one day in August, making for a very pleasant meet-up arranged by those North of the border.
Interview:
Simon Singh, author and journalist
Few people could withstand the emotional and financial pressure of a two year libel case, and even fewer would chose to take it on as a cause. But fortunately there's Simon Singh, without whom we wouldn't have a thriving and powerful lobby for the reform of our libel laws. Simon give Stempra newsletter an insight into his fight for political recognition.
Imran Khan, director of the Campaign for Science & Engineering
What do young over-achievers like Imran Khan do with their days? To give you a clue, here's one of his recent tweets, he's a good boy really - @imrantime: Just got back from BIS. David Willetts wanted to know who exactly from #scienceisvital had been causing all this trouble for Govt...
Last Word:
Cuts and public relations
Last Word has been keeping an ear to the ground, listening for murmurs of disquiet among the science public relations community. And what have we heard? Plenty. Plenty of food for thought. Why not share your thoughts with other members on the Stempra e-list.
This newsletter is edited by Laura Nelson and Ruth Francis, with help from Simon Levey
and Ed Sykes. For feedback, comments or suggestions of topics to
cover, please contact newsletter@stempra.org.uk |
