On Tuesday, Sept. 22, the University’s Master of Arts in Science Writing Program hosted an online Author Talks event featuring science journalist Siri Carpenter and Ferris Jabr. The event was moderated by one of the program’s lecturers, Marianne Amoss.
The discussion centered on Carpenter’s new anthology, The Best Science Stories and How They Work: A Collection with Commentary, published by the University of Chicago Press in July. The collection curated 11 previously published science stories alongside annotations and interviews examining the author’s reporting and writing decisions.
Carpenter, co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Open Notebook, began the event by explaining how close reading shaped her development as a journalist. While transitioning from a psychology doctoral program into science writing, Carpenter studied published articles to understand how writers gathered information and constructed their own stories. Carpenter explained that close reading allows her to examine layers like story structure and language use, breaking a piece down to understand how these choices contribute to the story as a whole.
The anthology features close readings and annotations done by fellow science journalists. Drawing on relationships she developed through The Open Notebook, Carpenter sought annotators who were both interested in the selected stories and could offer thoughtful insight into how the stories were written.
When asked about her path into journalism, Carpenter recalled her interest in science journalism as a career while reading The New York Times’ science section during graduate school. She initially thought that the articles were written by professors in their respective fields. Discovering that the writers made a career of reporting on science motivated her to consider entering the profession.
“It was one of those brainwave moments, where I just knew that if this was a job, that was the job I wanted,” Carpenter wrote to The News-Letter.
Later, Jabr, bestselling author of Becoming Earth and New York Times Magazine contributing writer, introduced an excerpt he wrote about Suzana Herculano-Houzel. Herculano-Houzel is a neuroscientist who obtained brains from a variety of animal species for a research expedition in South Africa to take back to her lab in Rio de Janeiro. Carpenter published findings that redefined the widely accepted count of cells in the human brain.
Jabr explained how introducing the story’s central character and tension at the start of his piece hooks readers. Herculano-Houzel is a pioneer in discovering that the ratio of neurons to glial cells is closer to one-to-one than the classic theory that there are many more glial cells than neurons.
Regarding how Jabr created his article’s structure, he makes a skeletal outline of the major sections and considers how they flow together. He admits that other writers take different approaches including meticulously planning out every detail, or writing without a plan.
Bijal Trivedi, author of Breath from Salt and former senior science editor for National Geographic and The Conversation, annotated Jabr’s piece Mind Blender, pointing out Jabr’s use of food metaphors and suggesting to include more outside expert opinions.
Jabr explained how different publications have specific rules and constraints, for example, in quote length, the number of references and footnotes. He included as many expert opinions as appropriate for The New York Times Magazine.
When Amoss asked the speakers for advice to give the University’s Science Writing students, Jabr emphasized the importance of the profession.
“Scientists and journalists are kind of like the twin enemies of the state because we’re the truth seekers and the fact seekers, and a lot of people in power right now don’t want people like that out there,” Jabr said.
At the end, the program transitioned to its Q&A section. One attendee asked about the role of a science writer in relation to scientists conducting the research. Jabr mentioned the conflict of needing to build up trust with scientists but needing to remain independent.
“They've invited me to see their work or even their homes, and I really like them as people, and I really value their work. At the same time, I have an obligation as a journalist to, you know, report all of the facts and really survey the landscape and the perspectives, and that often means writing about critiques or challenges to that particular person's work,” said Jabr.
Carpenter gave tips on close reads to pay attention to characters, anecdotes and quotes in ledes, and she recommended How to do a Close Read as a resource. She also emphasized the importance of persistence when facing rejection in journalism.
“Get used to rejection and don't see that as confirmation that you're an impostor… having story ideas rejected is so, so normal, and I can't tell you how many journalists I've talked to over the years… [their work] was rejected by the first, you know, six places that they pitched it to, or something,” Carpenter shared.
Furthermore, Carpenter wrote in an email to The News-Letter highlighting the importance of tenacity for aspiring writers.
“Be persistent! Surround yourself with a community of likeminded people, be hungry for editing, and never doubt that the world needs science journalism,” Carpenter wrote.
