The Connection is the newsletter of the Science and Medical Journalism Program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Hussman School of Journalism and Media.

Meet board member Nancy Shute

Nancy Shute is a senior medical and healthcare writer who blogs for U.S. News & World Report and contributes to NPR, National Geographic, Scientific American and other national publications. In November, she will become president of the National Association of Science Writers (NASW) and will be speaking at the annual conference in New Haven, Conn., Nov. 5-9. Nancy teaches science writing and digital journalism at Johns Hopkins University’s Advanced Academic Programs.

Read her blog “On Parenting.” Follow @nancyshute on Twitter.

Q: How did you become interested in science journalism? What was your career path?

A: While working as a local TV reporter in Boise, Idaho, I quickly realized what a key role environment and science stories played in Western politics. Moving to Washington, D.C., and covering Congress and the Supreme Court convinced me that science is the world’s best beat. I learn something new every day, and have to really stretch to explain complex concepts in clear, engaging language.

Q: What story of yours are you most proud of?

A: I was part of a team that was one of the first to document inadequate medical care and delayed treatment for soldiers injured in Iraq and Afghanistan and the epidemic of traumatic brain injuries. That cover package for US News & World Report won a national Headliner award.

Q: What do you think every student of science and medical journalism should be studying in a grad program?

A: Epidemiology and statistics would be a big help. And since health care spending is fast approaching 20 percent of GDP, how about business reporting or finance? Throw in ethics, first amendment law, hands-on multimedia skills, narrative nonfiction, deadline reporting, blogging, and social media, too. Hope that’s enough to keep you occupied!

Q: Who are your favorite science or medical writers?

A: There are so many great ones! Ivan Oransky is a real pioneer in medical journalism, both as an editor and a blogger. David Dobbs and Maryn McKenna are both accomplished authors and pioneers in the use of social media for journalism. Deborah Blum has morphed from being a Pulitzer-winning investigative reporter to a wizard at engaging science books that appeal to a broad audience; her most recent book was on the history of poisoners. Steve Silverman has a keen nose for the social and financial inequities in science and medicine. And Carl Zimmer never ceases to amaze me with his ability to write lucid, limpid prose in every known form, from books to blogs.

Q: On that note, what's the one science story that you didn't cover that you wish you would have?

A: There are so many! I think we all have moments when we read a great story and think, coulda shoulda woulda. But I don’t fret too much over those. There are many more great stories out there that need our attention.

Q: What sort of role will you have at the National Association of Science Writers? How will that differ from your past role?

A: NASW’s 2,500 members face big challenges in dealing with a revolution in mass media, and a meltdown in the news industry. In the past two years as NASW’s vice president I’ve put a lot of energy into expanding the organization’s professional development support for members who need to know new skills, start a business, or change careers altogether. I aim to continue those efforts, while also working hard to encourage the highest possible standards of ethics and enterprise for science writers.

Q: How is science blogging different from reporting (having done both)? Do stories develop at a different pace?

A: I think blogging is a blast; it’s a real treat to be able to let readers hear your voice, after years of just-the-facts journalism. I still strive to report my blog items heavily, which can make for frenzied deadlines. But I think readers now understand the difference between blog posts and longer-form reported features, and have different expectations of accuracy and completeness for blogs.

Q: What excites you about the future of science journalism?

A: The public’s interest in science has not waned, and there’s a real flowering of interest in science blogs. There are fabulous possibilities for new forms of journalism, and science journalists are well equipped to be pioneers, being the tech-savvy beasts that we are. We have a chance to create our futures, and the future of journalism. What could be more exciting than that?

Q: If you could offer only one piece of advice to the novice science journalist, what would it be?

A: Be rigorous. By that I mean be tough on yourself and on your sources. Many of us go into science journalism because we’re fascinated by science. But it’s easy to succumb to being a fanboy. Even the fluffiest feature needs to be based on solid, skeptical reporting.

Q: Give us a preview of some of the workshops at the upcoming NASW conference.

A: There are plenty of fabulous offerings, including takes on the future of PIOs; productivity hacks for freelancers; scientific literacy; literary science writing, and some really great offerings on social media and video. We’re working on providing live slidecasts for people who can’t make it to New Haven Nov. 5-9. But I hope you’ll be there! We’ll be celebrating NASW’s 75th anniversary, and it won’t be a party without you.

The doctor and the humanitarian:
Meet Dr. Assad Meymandi

Dr. Assad Meymandi is a new board member for the science and medical journalism program. He is a well-known supporter of the arts and humanities in the Triangle area, and is in private practice as a neurologist and psychiatrist. In addition to being an M.D., he has two Ph.D.s, one in biochemistry and one in philosophy. In 2004, Gov. Mike Easley gave Meymandi the highest civilian award in North Carolina, the Order of the Longleaf Pine. Dr. Meymandi began publishing the Wake County Physician more than 15 years ago.

Q: How did you start publishing "Wake County Physician"?

A: Sixteen years ago Wake County Medical Society (WCMS) had a three-page newsletter recording in-house happenings ... such as election of officers, projected medical programs, etc. With over 2000 physicians as members of WCMS, I thought there is an opportunity to showcase the talents, resources and possibilities of such, using Shakespearean language, an “abundant and bountiful beneficence …” I started the publication of a magazine which we called simply Wake County Physician. I am the founding editor and editor-in-chief, assisted by a very impressive board of handpicked people within and without the ranks of medicine. From three pages we are up to nearly 60 pages. As the magazine has evolved, we changed the masthead to a publication celebrating medicine, the arts, intellect, ideas and curiosity. I have endowed a UNC Chair of Psychiatry, and am in the process of endowing a second chair not for medicine, not for business, not for the humanities and the arts but for “Chair of Ideas and Curiosity.” We continue to honor our commitment to our readers. The magazine has a worldwide distribution as reflected in the letters to the editor, excerpts of which are published in each issue.

Q: Why is a doctor a unique authority on issues like higher education or the economic crisis in America?

A: I somehow shy away from the neurotic word of authority. “Authority” connotes hubris and an unwelcome dictatorial stance. Also, I disagree with the notion that a doctor is an authority on anything. However, a physician, having gone through the rigorous training of  14 years post-high school education while learning about the science and art of medicine, is in position to absorb more ... We are given the gift of intellect and the capacity to learn, and that makes a doctor a prime candidate to sensitively appreciate what is human and what is so good about music and the arts.

Q: Historically there has been a long line of writer-doctors or artist-doctors, why do you think this is? Is there something doctors know about the human experience that makes them great artists?

A: This question reminds me of Chekov, Walker Percy and many other physician-writers. I think the answer to this question lies in the reply to your second question. A physician has the capacity to be a scientist, a theologian, a spiritual advocate, an art connoisseur and a “spiritual humanist.” It is a God-given gift to be a physician and to continue to learn, grow and altruistically give of one’s self and one’s gifts.

Dr. Meymandi was profiled in the column “I’m a Psychaitrist” in the June 2010 issue of Psychiatry.

Also, to read a recent edition of the Wake County Physician, go to: www.wakedocs.org.

Updates from our second-year master's students:
My summer at CNN

By Carrie Gann

For 12 weeks this summer, I worked as an intern in the medical bureau at CNN at the network’s headquarters in Atlanta. I did my share of the typical intern duties, like opening mail, hunting for tapes in the CNN library and logging hours of interviews.

But more often, I had the opportunity to see how talented producers and reporters transform leads and story ideas into informative, compelling television news. I was even able to contribute to the process myself – doing man-on-the-street interviews and shooting b-roll with videographers, pitching story ideas to my editor, and writing for the medical bureau’s blog, “The Chart.”

During my time on staff, medical correspondents Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Elizabeth Cohen covered the Gulf oil spill and the FDA’s hearings on Avandia, interviewed Dr. Jack Kevorkian about euthanasia and Sean Penn about Haiti, and aired packages on “female Viagra” and an educational boot camp for neurosurgeons. Certainly CNN has the vast resources needed to support this kind of reporting.

But with each story, I noticed how all of the packages, live shots and special segments they produce adhere to the same basic principles that drive good television medical news – principles that I have learned in UNC’s medical journalism program. The medical bureau’s producers strive for accurate, comprehensive reporting and rely upon good writing and compelling video to tell their stories. In fact, I was often struck by how my education here in the journalism school allowed me to understand and appreciate the good reporting and critique the not-so-good reporting at CNN.

I was grateful to have such a fantastic opportunity to see how a large, respected news outlet like CNN reports the latest news in a field that changes so rapidly. I learned many lessons from kind, dedicated professionals that will help me in my own career. Not to mention, I was happy to be in the first class of paid interns in CNN’s history.

Updates from our second-year master's students:
From the depths of the mind to a squishy Earth

By Anne Frances Johnson

I stayed local this summer to explore the wonderful world of freelance. It was an exciting journey.

My first project was a 7-minute video about psychoanalysis, which earned me the NC Psychoanalytic Foundation’s award in medical journalism. It was a fun challenge to turn the table on a bunch of psychoanalysts — by getting them to talk, instead of listen — and then put it together into a video primer.

I then split my time between UNC Health Care and the Renaissance Computing Institute, organizations in areas of science so disparate you could fly a planet between them. One day I’d be interviewing a brain surgeon about a fancy new way to clip aneurisms; the next, I’d be trying to figure out what “dark fiber” does for researchers trying to build a better Internet. A slew of press releases and web pages later, I knew tiny, tasty bits about a lot of cutting-edge science.

To cap things off, I edited a report about geodesy for the National Academy of Sciences. Geo-what, you say? It’s the science that makes things like GPS and satellites work by giving us super-precise measurements of where things are on the Earth. Did you know that the Earth isn’t really solid at all, and that the ground in the middle of continents moves up and down in tides, just like water but less extreme? So keeping track of where things are is actually a lot harder than you’d think — hence, we need geodesists.

In sum, it was a dream of a summer. I’m not only brimming with factoids about grey matter and the Earth’s gooey center, I feel I’ve grown as a science communicator. One more year at UNC, and it’ll be time to launch into the field of science writing — full speed ahead!

Click here to reach Anne's website.