When a Chinese scientist revealed in November 2018 that twin babies had been born with genes he had edited using CRISPR gene-editing technology, science reporters jumped on the story. In this Storygram, we depart from our usual format to look closely at not one but two stories, one by Marilynn Marchione for The Associated Press and the other by Antonio Regalado for MIT Technology Review, that reported the CRISPR-babies news in the U.S.
Associated Press reporter Marilynn Marchione had exclusive access to the Chinese scientist He Jiankui, who announced in November 2018 that he had helped make the world’s first genetically edited babies using the gene-editing tool CRISPR. Marchione’s story reporting the announcement, “Chinese Researcher Claims First Gene-Edited Babies,” appeared on November 26, 2018. In the Storygram annotation below, I analyze aspects of Marchione’s story that contribute to its excellence, and I talk with Marchione about her experience reporting and writing the piece.
Chinese scientist He Jiankui announced in November 2018 that that he helped make the world’s first genetically edited babies using the gene-editing tool CRISPR. MIT Technology Review reporter Antonio Regalado learned details about the controversial experiment from a Chinese-clinical-trials registry. His story, “Exclusive: Chinese Scientists Are Creating CRISPR Babies,” was published on November 25, 2018. In the Storygram annotation below, I analyze key aspects of Regalado’s story that contribute to its impact.
When a black woman in America goes into labor, which hospital she chooses for her delivery—or where the ambulance takes her, sometimes against her wishes—can determine whether she and her baby will leave the hospital together and alive. Annie Waldman’s investigation into maternal harm at hospitals that disproportionately serve black mothers, part of ProPublica and NPR’s award-winning Lost Mothers series, Annie Waldman “makes the invisible visible, and it does so with data,” writes Tasneem Raja.
The issue of methylmercury pollution rises and falls in news media. In “Life After Mercury Poisoning” for Mosaic, Joshua Sokol introduces readers to the aging victims of the most enduring case of mercury poisoning in the world. Sokol takes a complex scientific subject—the toxicity of methylmercury—and weaves it into the story of the survivors who have spent decades telling their stories. Here’s a look at what makes his piece excellent.
The science surrounding so much about food is complex, confusing, and constantly changing. In her New Republic story “Altered Tastes,” about the up-and-coming science of neurogastronomy, Maria Konnikova asks both “What is delicious?” and “How do we solve our world’s nutrition crisis?” Konnikova focuses her story on the fine-dining chef Heston Blumenthal, who is undertaking the gargantuan task of improving dining and health through the use of science. Here’s a look at what makes her story great.
Physics—including astronomy, cosmology, theory, and the machinations of the universe at the very biggest and very smallest scales—is sometimes relegated to the science-writing sidelines. But in Nicola Twilley’s hands, high-energy physics is gripping, surprising, even funny—and that’s what makes her coverage of the first gravitational-wave detection so interesting. Here, we analyze what makes her story so good.
Suicide. Guns. Mental health. Not exactly light fare. Yet with thorough reporting, careful structure, and a compelling lead character, a story about such serious social issues doesn’t have to read like a white paper or a variant of the same opinion piece on gun deaths you’ve seen 20 times. In her measured and thoughtful piece “Surviving Suicide in Wyoming,” FiveThirtyEight’s Anna Maria Barry-Jester delivers an informative, sensitive, and nuanced look at a difficult issue.
In an award-winning Mail & Guardian story about the challenges of identifying “veld bodies,” or anonymous bodies found in the open grasslands of South Africa, freelance journalist Sarah Wild details the scientific limitations, logistical constraints, human errors, and lack of support that plague a broken network of law enforcement, mortuaries, and government identification systems. Here, Scientific American senior editor for features Jen Schwartz analyzes what makes the story succeed.
It can feel both violating and unnerving to witness a person whose mind is causing them severe suffering, as is the case for people with delusional parasitosis—a false belief of an infestation of insects, mites, or other creepy crawlies. In an award-winning feature, STAT reporter Eric Boodman deftly draws readers into this world. Here, Brooke Borel annotates the story to reveal what makes it so good.
Andrew Grant’s 2013 Science News story about Voyager 1 entering interstellar space seems at first a straightforward news story. But in analyzing the piece, Columbia Journalism School’s Marguerite Holloway and students in her graduate science writing course “realized just how much skill, authority, and knowledge are packed into this piece.” The story won the AGU’s 2014 David Perlman Award for Excellence in Science Journalism. Here, Holloway and her students annotate Grant’s story to reveal what makes it successful.
Many Westerners hold an idealized vision of what Tibet contains: lamas clad in crimson robes, herds of yaks peacefully roaming the land, and colorful temples shrouded in mist. Degraded grasslands and fenced-off grazing zones don’t usually fit into that vision. Writing for Nature, Jane Qiu challenges romanticized notions, explaining how Chinese government policies have hurt the grasslands. Here, journalist Mara Hvistendahl analyzes what makes Qiu’s story successful.
Pitching Errors: How Not to Pitch
Tools: Planner Pad, the Funnel of Focus
Taking Good Notes: Tricks and Tools
How Rebecca Skloot Built The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Trading the Pipette for the Pen: Transitioning from Science to Science Writing
On Being a Science Writer and Managing a Mental Illness
Are You a Writer or an Editor? Part I: The Writers
The Science Byline Counting Project: Where Are the Women—and Where Are They Not?
Navigating Newsrooms as a Minority
How to Talk to Your Facebook Friends about Fake News
Follow Us