IEEE-USA S&E Mass Media Fellows Program
IEEE-USA Mass Media Fellows Program in
IEEE Media
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"Mass Media 101: The AAAS Mass Media
Fellowship," Sourish Basu, IEEE
Potentials, p. 7, Nov./Dec. 2007
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"Reflections of an engineer/science
writer," Abby Vogel, IEEE
Potentials, pgs. 6-7, Nov./Dec.
2007
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"Love
to Write? Try for a Writing
Fellowship," Nancy Salim, The
Institute Online, November 2007
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Full-page ad in Nov./Dec. 2007 issue
of IEEE Potentials
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Since 2000, IEEE-USA has sponsored an
engineering student in the American Association
for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Mass Media Science and Engineering Fellows
Program. The program is designed to
strengthen the connections among scientists,
engineers and journalists by placing advanced
science and engineering students in newsrooms
across the country. The program, begun in 1974,
has placed more than 500 fellows with news
magazines, newspapers, TV networks and local
organizations.
The Program
IEEE-USA Mass Media Fellows work for 10 weeks in
the summer as reporters, researchers and
production assistants in mass media
organizations nationwide. Fellows collaborate
with media professionals to enhance coverage of
science- and engineering- related issues in the
media in order to improve public understanding
and appreciation of science and technology.
Through the program, fellows observe and
participate in the process by which events and
ideas become news; improve their communication
skills by learning to describe complex technical
subjects in a manner understandable to the lay
public; and increase their understanding of
editorial decision making and the way in which
information is effectively disseminated.
Fellowship applicants must be U.S. members of
the IEEE and must be enrolled college or
university juniors or seniors or graduate or
post-graduate students in the natural, physical,
health, engineering or social sciences. IEEE-USA
underwrites the expenses for the IEEE-USA
fellow.
IEEE-USA's Mass Media Fellows
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2006
For the first time, in 2006, IEEE-USA
sponsored two Mass Media Fellows, both IEEE
Student Members: Charles Emrich, with his
doctorate in biophysics from the University of
California, Berkeley; and Miriah Meyer, Ph.D.
Candidate, Computer Science, University of Utah,
Salt Lake City. Emrich and Meyer completed their
10-week summer assignments, respectively, at the
Sacramento Bee and The Chicago
Tribune.
According to Emrich, "Over the course of the
Fellowship, I grew to see myself as a crucial
cog in the machinery that gets science and
engineering news to the public. Newspaper
science/engineering has to be pretty simplified,
but I relished the hard stories such as the one
I wrote about spectroscopy of water, or another
about how glowing chickens might be the future
of cancer treatment….Almost as important, the
Assistant Managing Editor threw me a funny story
about the physics of Superman, which led to
another about geysers of Diet coke, and
culminated with a story pegged to the movie,
Snakes on a Plane. They were all 'jokey'
stories that brought a levity that I feel is
sorely lacing from science/engineering, and
allowed me to get my 'voice' into the paper."
According to Meyer, "Each story I worked on
brought the surprise that people — smart,
interesting, respected people — wanted to talk
to me and tell me all about their work. I had
the opportunity to interview the U.S. Surgeon
General, Greg Louganis, and the 'Hottest Hacker
on Earth.' I was invited to tour numerous
research labs, and got the inside scoop on
suspicions of drug research being used illegally
by competitive cyclists. The simple phrase, 'I'm
a reporter with The Chicago Tribune,
was the best tool a science and engineering
'pickpocket' could ever have…I also learned what
truly makes for an interesting story in the
scope of the general public, knowledge that I
find to be humbling for the scientist within
me….I think this perspective will help me to be
a more effective advocate of science, whether it
is as a researcher or writer."
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Abby Vogel |
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2005
In 2005, IEEE Student Member Abby Vogel
completed a 10-week summer assignment at
the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Vogel, IEEE-USA's sixth Mass Media
Fellow, was a graduate student at the
University of Maryland. Read a sampling
of her contributions:
In W.Va, the spin on wind farms is
positive (11 July)
Making shuttles safer (7 July)
Shell tells a tale of survival (30 June)
Great shakes (23 June) |
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Sarah Harris |
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2004
IEEE Student Member Sarah Harris concluded a 10-week assignment
in the summer of 2004 as
IEEE-USA's fifth Mass Media Fellow. Harris,
who was pursuing her Ph.D. in electrical
engineering at Stanford University, worked
at WOSU-AM in Columbus, Ohio, assisting with
radio reporting on science, technology,
engineering and math.
Listen to some of Harris' recorded segments
(MP3s):
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Joy Ku |
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2003 IEEE Member Joy Ku was
IEEE-USA's fourth Mass Media Fellow. In 2003, she worked on science,
engineering and technology (SET) related
stories at WNBC-TV in New York City. Ku is
a Ph.D. candidate in electrical engineering at Stanford
University, where she is researching image processing and
visualization of medical images, as well as 3-D ultrasound. Ku
received her BSEE from U.C. Berkeley before receiving her MSEE from
Stanford. |
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Robert
Barnett |
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2002
In 2002, IEEE-USA's third Mass Media
Fellow, IEEE Member Robert Barnett,
spent 10 weeks in New York City at
Popular
Science, the world’s largest science and technology
magazine, while working on his MSEE at
Clemson University. Barnett, who also received his BSEE in electrical
engineering from Clemson, formerly served as managing editor of the
university’s newspaper
The
Tiger. His unique blend of engineering and editorial
experience made him particularly well suited for the job. Read some
of Rob's writing in Popular Science online. (Sample
1) (Sample
2) |
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Mariama
Orange |
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2001 In 2001,
Mariama
Orange, a Ph.D. candidate in electrical engineering at Howard
University, in Washington, D.C., was IEEE-USA's second Mass Media
Fellow. Orange completed a 10-week assignment with
Scientific
American in New York City, where she worked as a news intern
"trolling" for stories, checking facts, researching and
compiling datapoints, and writing occasional
briefs and
stories. |
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Elan Ruskin |
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2000
IEEE-USA's first Mass Media Fellow,
Elan
Ruskin, was a Junior at the University of Pennsylvania majoring
in computer science engineering when he completed his 10-week
assignment at the
St.
Louis Post-Dispatch. As a cub reporter, Ruskin wrote news
briefs and feature stories covering a broad range of science and
technology issues. After receiving his BSEE from Penn, Ruskin
earned a Master of Entertainment from Carnegie Mellon University's
Entertainment Technology Center. |
How
to Apply
For
information on becoming an IEEE-USA Mass Media Fellow, contact
AAAS
at +1 202 326 6670 or IEEE-USA Communications Director Pender M.
McCarter at +1 202 785 0017.
Last Update:
20 November 2007
Staff Contact: Pender M. McCarter,
p.mccarter@ieee.org |
