Sandwalk/Larry Moran on science communication that matters

Read Larry Moran's blogpost Communicating Science to Society - in short, we need less news and more explainers. Excerpt:

"What we need is not more splash about the latest Nature paper... What we need is more articles on what evolution is and why it's so important. If science writers were really in the business of communicating science to the public then that's what they would be writing about. That, and topics like; what is DNA, how do genes work, what's in your genome, what causes speciation, why bacteria are important etc. etc.

The public needs to know the basics and they need to appreciate excitement of understanding what life is all about. They need Biology 101, not some senior level course that focuses on the latest research.

Just once, I'd like ... the science journalists [to] admit that they have been remarkably unsuccessful at educating the general public about science. Instead of telling us how to fit into the current failed system, I'd like them to ask us how they can change the way they write about science in order to advance science literacy."

(And for "evolution", read "climate change.")