This week I’m in Los Angeles for a series of workshops on science journalism, organised by the Knight New Media Center at the University of Southern California.
The focus for this event is reporting science on the web. The aim is to come up with best practices for covering science online. Things kicked off Sunday night with dinner and a speech by Donald Kennedy, editor-in-chief of Science.
Among the topics Kennedy talked about was ideas for changing the print edition in the light of the internet. In his view, the web was an archival facility, where Science could put up papers in full and additional material.
What was interesting was that he said the print product as the vehicle for experimentation, rather than the internet. Print has to change and evolve in the light of digital journalism.
But surely the internet is a natural forum to experiment and innovative? It is far more than just a repository of content. Science should be exploring how to use the potential of the net to make science more accessible and reach a wider audience.
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