EVOLUTION OF THE SCIENCE PAGES
| By David Lore, Licking County Pro-Active Citizens - Mar 30th, 2009 at 11:46 am EDT |
| Also listed in: Appalachian Populists | Interfaith Peace Coalition | Licking County Pro-Active Citizens (www.licopac.org) | Perry County Democratic Forum |
You may have noticed that the Tuesday science pages (2) in the Dispatch have been downsized this month to one page, now running Sundays in the Insight section.
Some of us find this disappointing, since there will be less space for science coverage and fewer columnists contributing on topics such as astronomy, medicine and the earth and biological sciences.
But considering all the aggressive downsizing going on at the Dispatch these days, I am glad to see at least one weekly science page survive.
As a former Dispatch reporter, I was involved in the start-up of the newspaper's science page in September, 1984.
"If Columbus is to have a high-technology future, we need to do a better, more intensive job of reporting the hard sciences, the technology, the future," announced then-Dispatch editor Luke Feck.
The early 1980s was the golden age of newspaper science coverage, and the Dispatch jumped in aggressively, at first publishing a 12-page stand-alone section. By the 1990s, however, most of these science sections across the country disappeared or were converted to health-medical pages because of a lack of advertiser interest. By 1992, only 30 newspapers continued the practice, the Dispatch among them.
Evolution, however, rules, even when it comes to science journalism.
The Dispatch science pages were initially published on Sundays. But beginning in 2002, the feature was moved inside the regular news sections each Tuesday.
Now the scaled-down science page is moving back to the Sunday editions (in Insight), which at least increases its potential readership.
While I hope the Dispatch finds itself able to maintain this niche for science coverage, saving space is not nearly so critical as preserving the quality of the science reporting - and, of course, preserving the newspaper itself.
The recent lay-off of 45 reporters and editors at the Dispatch, including many newsroom veterans, is discouraging in this regard since it means that more and more coverage will depend on stories downloaded from the wires and syndicates. That, in terms of science, probably means fewer stories about Ohio doctors and scientists and engineers and their local projects and initiatives. Not the way for Columbus to realize Feck's dream of "a high technology future."
Some of us find this disappointing, since there will be less space for science coverage and fewer columnists contributing on topics such as astronomy, medicine and the earth and biological sciences.
But considering all the aggressive downsizing going on at the Dispatch these days, I am glad to see at least one weekly science page survive.
As a former Dispatch reporter, I was involved in the start-up of the newspaper's science page in September, 1984.
"If Columbus is to have a high-technology future, we need to do a better, more intensive job of reporting the hard sciences, the technology, the future," announced then-Dispatch editor Luke Feck.
The early 1980s was the golden age of newspaper science coverage, and the Dispatch jumped in aggressively, at first publishing a 12-page stand-alone section. By the 1990s, however, most of these science sections across the country disappeared or were converted to health-medical pages because of a lack of advertiser interest. By 1992, only 30 newspapers continued the practice, the Dispatch among them.
Evolution, however, rules, even when it comes to science journalism.
The Dispatch science pages were initially published on Sundays. But beginning in 2002, the feature was moved inside the regular news sections each Tuesday.
Now the scaled-down science page is moving back to the Sunday editions (in Insight), which at least increases its potential readership.
While I hope the Dispatch finds itself able to maintain this niche for science coverage, saving space is not nearly so critical as preserving the quality of the science reporting - and, of course, preserving the newspaper itself.
The recent lay-off of 45 reporters and editors at the Dispatch, including many newsroom veterans, is discouraging in this regard since it means that more and more coverage will depend on stories downloaded from the wires and syndicates. That, in terms of science, probably means fewer stories about Ohio doctors and scientists and engineers and their local projects and initiatives. Not the way for Columbus to realize Feck's dream of "a high technology future."
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