by
(Posted August 8, 1997 · Issue
14; archived September 5, 1997)
Today, nationwide, it is getting harder to find the daily newspaper's science section. It is getting harder because the science section is no longer in the daily paper or, at least, is in fewer of them. At least that was the trend when the last census of such specialized sections was completed eighteen months ago. We can't give you a more up-to-date survey. There is none because there is no money to pay for one.
The census was provided by Media Resource Services. MediaResource, as it prefers to be known, is a helpful organization putting journalists in touch with experts qualified to discuss any topic a reporter might want to cover. Before 1995, polls tracking the number of newspapers with science sections were conducted by the Scientists' Institute for Public Information (SIPI). In 1994, SIPI itself suffered the fate of many of the nation's newspaper science sections: It went out of business for lack of funds. MediaResource, formerly a SIPI program, survived the demise of its parent organization after its sponsorship was assumed by the scientific society Sigma Xi, which publishes American Scientist.
The results of the 1995 poll looked grim, and
were perhaps
surprising to writers and readers who may have sensed that science coverage
in
newspapers was greater than in the past. The poll indicated that science
coverage
was far more widespread in the 1980s than today. In 1989, nearly 100
newspapers across
the country printed stand-alone science sections, although few of them,
besides the
New York Times, attracted enough
advertising
revenue to produce a profit.
The poll was the fifth taken over a period of 11 years. The first survey, in 1984, reported approximately 26 stand-alone science sections in American newspapers. Such specialized sections flourished after the introduction of the popular and successful Science Times section in the New York Times. Other print media reflected a general burst of interest in science during the 1980s. Magazine such as Science '85, Discover, Science Digest, and Scientific American did well along with the newspaper science sections. The trend continued until 1989, when the number of newspapers with science sections reached 95. But after a recession the number of papers with science sections plummeted. By 1992 it was down 50%. Results of the latest poll suggest that as of 18 months ago, the number of newspapers with science sections had dropped to around 35, a decrease of more than 20% since 1992. Other findings of the 1995 survey revealed a trend of focusing more on "health and fitness" and less on science, and a trend for science sections to be included in other parts of the newspaper rather than as individual sections.
MediaResource interviews of newspaper editors and
publishers
indicated that few of the science sections were profitable. So why would
anyone bother publishing them in the first place?
"There were other motivations. The sections benefited the public and lent 'class' to the paper," the editors and publishers told Fred Jerome, cofounder of SIPI and today a senior consultant to MediaResource's sponsor Sigma Xi.
Some observers suggested that perhaps just as many science stories were being printed but were appearing in different sections of newspapers. But that didn't seem to be the case either. "We found that newspapers are not carrying as many wire stories as they used to because of problems of space," Claudia Samuals of MediaResource said of the poll results back in 1995. The cost of paper was then especially high. Newspapers responded by slimming down.
The downward trend in the number of science sections appeared to reflect, therefore, less science coverage in general. Jerome believed it was one indicator of how science was being covered in the land a year an a half ago.
But this trend did not necessarily reflect a lack
of interest
by the reading public in science-related topics. A poll by Lewis Harris
indicated that
the public does want science coverage and not just "fitness,"
according to
Jerome.
"If somebody would like to provide some funding, we could do a more thorough update which could be useful," Jerome said. It would require a very small amount of money, he added.
One experienced science writer suggests the trend
may have turned,
although he bases his opinion on his own impressions. In March of this
year, Jon Franklin,
Professor of Creative Writing
at the University of Oregon, delivered a lecture entitled
"The End of Science
Writing."
He expressed the opinion that science news is not now on the wane.
"Broadly defined," Franklin said, "it takes up an increasing
percentage of the news columns. A few days ago I read through my local paper
as
a reality check, and it was full of science news. Social science, space
science,
a story on salmon ecology, another on medicine. Science is pervasive in our
civic
life . . . in our lives, generally. But a smaller and smaller percentage of
this
science journalism is being written by science writers, or even science
reporters.
Much of it, as a result, is grossly inaccurate if not in fact then in tone,
play,
and context."
Other polls might explain this. Franklin cites one taken at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism (of all places): "57% of the student journalists believed in ESP, 57% believed in dowsing, 47% in aura reading, and 25% in the lost continent of Atlantis." Another poll indicated, according to Franklin, that "two-thirds of newspaper managing editors thought humans and dinosaurs lived at the same time, and that there was a 'dark' side of the Moon, upon which light never fell."
We could use those lost science sections.
Dean A. Haycock is a journalist who writes science articles for many magazines and newspapers. He received his Ph.D. in neuroscience from Brown University.
Wadsworth Biology Resource Center - provides useful biology-related information online. Their Science Magazines and News Sites section lists not only media links, but science organizations.
Science magazine's inScight - provides daily science news, as does Science Daily, a rich source of science news summaries and relevant links.
EurekAlert - a service provided by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Offers "free electronic access to the latest research findings in science, medicine, technology, health, and the social sciences."
For a list of online newspapers visit EurekAlert's Science Media page. It provides links to sites such as The Nando Times, which covers all areas of news including health and science; the Los Angeles Times science page; and approximately 90 other newspapers.