Northwest Science Writers Association

With the birth of “alternative facts” and the recent surge of interest in fact-checking the news, the pressure is high for the media and communicators to get their stories straight. The Society of Professional Journalists Western Washington and the Northwest Science Writers Association presented a panel on May 10 at Town Hall Seattle on getting the facts right in modern news.

In a superheated political environment, does a pro-science position risk being seen as partisan? Members and guests joined us on April 19 at Peddler Brewing Company for an informal conversation with scientists, science writers, and an organizer of Seattle’s March for Science.

Members and guests saw space horror movie “Life” with microbiologist Mark Owen Martin on April 15 at Sundance Cinema in the University District, then dissected the movie at Blue Moon Tavern.

In an era of “fake news” and “alternative facts,” how well can you draw the line on what counts as truth? What role do science writers play in spreading or exposing spurious science? On March 14, UW professors Carl T. Bergstrom and Jevin West shared advice on deciphering the signal from the noise, for yourself and your readers.

On Wednesday, Feb. 8, members and guests dove into two aspects of the craft of storytelling—longform narrative and international reporting—with the 2016 winners of our career development awards, Chris Solomon and Wudan Yan.

This year’s can’t-miss event for science writers in the Pacific Northwest happened on Jan. 5 in Bellevue at one of the world’s biggest, most eclectic invention factories, Intellectual Ventures’ Global Good and Research Laboratory.

Yes, a Hollywood movie with a heroic linguist! Members and guests saw the “The Arrival” on Dec. 10. After the movie, we talked to Richard Wright, chair of of the linguistics department at University of Washington.