Quick Dips

Science Writing Awards

Several awards have been made to science journalists recently. The Ministry for the Environment gave Philippa Stevenson of National Farming News a journalism award for a series of clear, well-researched articles on pesticides.

The Skeptics Association gave out four awards at their annual conference. David Cohen of the Evening Post and Mark Sainsbury of the "Holmes" programme were praised for their items on a spurious earthquake prediction. Russ Francis and Dave Wilson, writing for the Gulf News and the Listener respectively, gained awards for light-hearted looks at New Age topics and astrology.

The association's Bent Spoon Award for gullible reporting went to all the news media which treated the Nelson homeopath's earthquake prediction seriously.