Reflecting on science and environmental writing and the Amazon

The top things I learned or was reinforced to acknowledge as a science writer:

1. Pay attention to the money. When a new grant is received then there is probably some kind of progression happening in that field or particular research project. However, conflicts of interest must be paid attention to once writing the article. Who is giving the money? A pharmaceutical company or a nonprofit organization? Who came up with the research topic? Who is writing the report? What connections do the researchers have with any corporations/business ties?

2. Pay attention to the tools. New discoveries are made every day in science and the environment, so in order to help narrow down what is “newsworthy” a reporter must pay attention to new tools and devices used to make that discovery—sometimes the discovery itself is not “newsworthy.” For example, a new way to splice genes or to examine the different proteins would be a story worth covering.

3. Pay attention to the methodology. Conflicts happen every day here, even in peer-reviewed research articles. Understand statistics and the different between causation and correlation because many times it is hard to really isolate one factor as the main cause for something. A writer must look at everything holistically to understand the significance of a study, or lack thereof.

4. Understand embargoes and how strict they are with different science journals. The integrity of the reporter and scientist can be threatened if a journalist breaks an embargo.

5. Understand what “getting both sides of the story” means in science writing. Because many time you’re dealing with hard facts that aren’t subjective and don’t change depending on the scientist, you don’t have to put a creationist theory in every single one of your stories, for example. Though, it is important to know of any critical scientists who can shed more light on a subject. Always have multiple sources and multiple explanations from different scientists who are knowledgeable on the subject.

6. Keep in mind the structure of the story since many people find science too difficult to understand. Remember the AB-BC-CD structure to help you formulate a clean and straightforward article that your readers will understand.

The top things I learned or was reinforced to acknowledge about the Amazon:

1. Deforestation: there are many aspects to this issue in the Amazon that do not seem to be fully explained in most articles I have read. For example, because Brasil is an export-driven country people must realize farmers and ranchers aren’t slashing and burning forests here still simply because they are too stubborn to change their ways. They have no other way to produce an income, and people in developed countries are consuming these things—it’s hardly even the people here supporting such expensive resources. The government also has difficulty in enforcing regulations and environmentally friendly policies because it is more of a socioeconomic issue. They must be able to provide jobs to these farmers and ranchers before being able to tell them they must discontinue their form of income.

2. While there is a disproportionate distributing of wealth here it is much more extreme than the United States. But what is completely different from the United States is that beyond the class differences, there is an uneven distribution of information.

3. What happens when “exotic” products like the açaí berry goes into an international market, and what happens to the available nutrition to the lower classes here when a once cheap and healthy food is shipped everyone else in the world. The price is hiked up and it quickly becomes the rich-man’s food.

4. There are efforts being made here by the military to relocate border-living indigenous people because it for some reason believes they want to secede from the country of Brasil. Anthropologists studying these tribes, however, say differently.

5. Yellow fever and leprosy: considering it’s not even a requirement to get the yellow fever vaccination before traveling here, it came to a surprise to me that there were almost 60 confirmed cases last year. Both of these diseases, as well as many others, are still major problems here even though huge efforts are made to disseminate vaccinations.