Webinar: Covering science — some basics for the new year

Date: Jan. 14, 2021
Time: 12:00 am - 12:00 am

Online Media Campus

The WNA Foundation sponsors the cost of registration for Wisconsin Newspaper Association members. A coupon code is required for free registration. Please contact Denise Guttery at denise.guttery@wnanews.com if you need the code.


In this webinar

The Iowa Newspaper Foundation, in conjunction with SciLine—a free, nonprofit service for journalists—is offering a one-hour training webinar for journalists, editors, and others in news publishing who wish to become more comfortable covering science-related topics.

The COVID-19 pandemic has become an all-hands-on-deck story, requiring many in the news business with little or no science backgrounds to embrace the health and science beat. The COVID story will continue to dominate in the new year. But even beyond COVID, many local stories can be strengthened by inclusion of scientific expertise and research-based context.

This training webinar will cover such topics as:

  • How does science work and what are common pitfalls to avoid when covering scientific findings?
  • What are the major types of scientific studies and the inherent weaknesses of each to be aware of?
  • How to extract the essentials from a scientific journal article
  • How to find a scientist source, and best practices for science-related interviews


About the presenter

SciLine is a free, philanthropically funded service for journalists with a singular mission: to help reporters include more research-backed evidence in their news stories. Based at the nonprofit American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington, DC, SciLine hosts several activities including journalist trainings, media briefings, a “matching service” that connects reporters to knowledgeable, articulate scientists, and media training for scientists

» Sign up here

Wisconsin Newspaper Association