Why does science journalism matter?

From The Brilliant, 31 January 2024:

In 2023, Australia’s pre-eminent journalism awards – the Walkleys – included two new categories that had science journalists cheering: ‘specialist and beat reporting’ and ‘explanatory reporting’.

It wasn’t the slam-dunk that science journalists – and particularly those who report on climate change –were hoping for. We’d hoped for a new ‘science journalism’ category to sit alongside sport, business and community reporting. But the two new categories at least opened the door to acknowledging the skills involved in science reporting – which includes health, climate, environment and technology – and its importance for society.

Science journalism has long struggled to get recognition as a speciality within journalism. Science journalists are often bundled together with science communicators, viewed as cheerleaders and champions of science, serving its interests.

But first and foremost, science journalists are journalists. We report on science for the same reasons that sports journalists report on sport, or political journalists report on politics: because we’re fascinated by it, by the people in it, by the context in which it operates, and by the effects and impacts it has on our lives. Read more.