Monday, April 16, 2001
Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer Deborah Blum visited campus March 30 as part of the Authors on Campus series sponsored by the UGA Libraries. Blum is author of The Monkey Wars, Sex on the Brain and A Field Guide for Science Writers. A 1976 graduate of the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, Blum currently is professor of journalism at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She spoke on “Sex, Lies and Monkeys.” Some highlights:
“Someone has to tell the story of science to the public. . . . Science and technology have become more and more important, and we cover it like we do government because it changes people’s lives. We see science journalists stepping in and telling the story of science. . . . a kind of interesting shift of power as to who presents science to the public. . . .
“Journalism is event driven--we want to report discoveries. Science is an ongoing process, and every report is not a discovery, but we will make it that way. Journalism needs to be news, so we will go right out on the fringes of science and do cutting-edge science, but cutting-edge science is where most mistakes are because it’s right out there on the edge. . . .
“As science writers become more visible, in some cases, than the scientists they cover, people transfer the ‘expert’ label over to the science writer. . . . Good science communication cannot and should not be dumped just in the laps of science journalists. It is also the job of responsible scientists and physicians and the people who do the work and the people who write those prescriptions to communicate science honestly and fairly and clearly to others.”

--Allyson Mann
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