Re: Educating Journalists

["DAVE GILMORE" <DGILMORE@navajo.astate.edu>]

>  Those Radsafers with positions in universities that have journalism
> > programs could perhaps lobby the journalism faculty for that emphasis in the selection
> 
> That's a great idea.  Would all of the campus RSO's on RADSAFE be
> willing to comply with Karin's suggestion?   Al Tschaeche xat@inel.gov

I was inspired.  I wrote the following to the Dean of the College of 
Communications which includes the Dept. of Journalism and Printing 
and  Dept. of Radio/Television.  I hope this isn't a waste of Radsafe 
space.  Notes: 1. I'm a microbiologist, not an HP, so my slant is 
fairly broad, and 2. I know the Dean and the Chair of 
Radio/Television personally, which explains the informality of the 
letter.

Russ,
I'd like to pass a thought on to you that I think deserves some 
consideration.  I subscribe to an internet listserver called RADSAFE 
which is a forum for those involved in radiation protection. In case 
you were not aware, I am the University Radiation Safety Officer.  
Items appearing on Radsafe range from the theoretical to the 
practical to the editorial. Subscribers include university types, 
medical types, and many within the nuclear power industry.  A recent 
thread has been that journalists over the last 25 years have been 
"educated" on how bad radiation is, and that the other side of the 
coin is not known, understood, or appreciated.  A recent posting told 
of a daughter who studied journalism (in the UK) after earning a 
degree in science, and apparently is the only student in her class 
with any background in science at all.
    Science permeates our lives, with nuclear power, diseases, and 
pollution having important and often misunderstood effects on the 
average person.  An inspection of the ASU Bulletin reveals that a 
minor is required of students in the College of Communications.  How 
many students currently minor in a science?  Is anything done to 
promote such an option or remind students of the opportunity?  Many 
aspects of science feared by the public at large, from radiation to 
genetic engineering, are feared from ignorance, and todays 
journalists don't seem to possess the required knowledge to allay 
unwarranted fears by educating in the course of their reporting.  The 
explosion of scientific knowledge and its direct and indirect effect 
on the public are likely to continue.  There will be a  corresponding 
need to have journalists who can inform the public in the face of 
constant change, who will eschew sensationalism based on ignorance 
and provide scientifically valid information to a needful public.
    Thank you for the opportunity to share my opinions.

David F. Gilmore
Assistant Professor of Environmental Biology    0  0 
P.O. Box 599, Dept. of Biological Sciences       __    "have a day" 
Arkansas State University 
State University, AR 72467
dgilmore@navajo.astate.edu
ph  501-972-3082    fax 501-972-2638