Q&A: Science journalism and public engagement
Whether the public is reading about the Ebola outbreak in Africa or watching YouTube videos on the benefits of the latest diet, it’s clear that reporting on science and technology profoundly shapes modern life. In an effort to propel such reporting to the highest levels, the Knight Science Journalism (KSJ) fellowship program — located within MIT’s School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences — enables top journalists to spend a year at MIT studying science and technology, as well as the political, economic, and cultural contexts in which science and engineering develop. Knight Fellows enrich their understanding so that they can better communicate knowledge to the public; today, more than 320 KSJ alumni work at major news outlets around the globe. In July, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Deborah Blum was named KSJ’s new director, effective July 1, 2015. At the same time, Wade Roush, the former editor-at-large of the innovation news site...