Science and Health Reporting at The New York Times

Belluck will discuss her work at The Times and her popular book ‘Island Practice,’ and the challenges of communicating a clear story about scientific issues when even the experts disagree. She will discuss ways to engage the public in abstract or counter-intuitive topics, by using multimedia, video, and interactive web tools, by writing with humor and metaphor, and by using shoe-leather and investigative reporting to show how science really affects people’s lives. She will talk about navigating political minefields on subjects like embryonic stem cells, the HPV vaccine, abortion, and the morning-after pill, and how to handle the often-controversial intersections of science, public policy and the law.