Reporters and editors need to adopt a new perspective when covering science, according to journalism professor K.C. Cole. Prof. Cole is the author of "Weird Science: Why Editors Must Dare to be Dumb," in the July/August issue of the Columbia Journalism Review. In a time when solutions to global problems require an educated public, she argues that editors are afraid to print what they don’t understand, hindering scientific progress in the process. "My theory is that editors of newspapers and other major periodicals are not just ordinary folk," Cole writes. "They tend to be very accomplished people. They’re used to being the smartest guys in the room. So science makes them squirm. And because they can’t bear to feel dumb, science coverage suffers." A former science writer and columnist for the Los Angeles Times, Cole is an award-winning author and radio commentator. Her latest book is Mind Over Matter: Conversations with the Cosmos.
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