Volume 24, Issue 4 - Writing for Lay Audiences
Elements of storytelling in medical journalism
Author: Sonya Collins
Abstract
Medical journalists marry the techniques of technical medical writing and storytelling in their work. They need a high-level understanding of the science behind the story, but they must also skilfully employ techniques that draw in readers who may feel the topic is too complex for them. Journalists do this by hooking readers with the stories of the real people affected by the science and painting verbal pictures of hard-to-grasp concepts.
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References
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- Skloot R. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. New York: Crown; 2010.
- Study: 270,000 tons of plastic floating in oceans. AP Online; 2014 Dec 10 [cited 2015 Aug 17]. Available from: http://www.wtsp.com/story/news/2014/12/10/study-270000-tons-of-plastic-in-oceans/20231325/
- Trends in Teen Pregnancy and Childbearing. The Office of Adolescent Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; updated 2015 May 29 [cited 2015 Aug 17]. Available from: http://www.hhs.gov/ash/oah/adolescent-health-topics/reproductive-health/teen-pregnancy/trends.html
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Articles
Writing for lay audiences
President's Message
Writing for lay audiences: A challenge for scientists
Patient education accessibility
Legislation and the lay audience: Challenges of communicating benefit and risk in the light of new regulations
Medical writing for two audiences – The RMP public summary
Layperson summaries of clinical trial results: Useful resources in the vacuum of regulatory guidance
Package leaflets for medication in the EU: The possibility of integrating patients’ perspectives in a regulated genre?
What do writers need to know about user testing?
Medical journalism: Another way to write about science
Elements of storytelling in medical journalism
A stroll through the medical blogosphere
Writing narrative style literature reviews
News from the EMA
Profile: An interview with Laura Carolina Collada Ali: On the peculiarities of working for independent research organisations
The Webscout
In the Bookstores
Regulatory Writing
Lingua Franca and Beyond
Gained in Translation
English Grammar and Style
Out On Our Own
Member Login
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Editoral Board
Editor-in-Chief:
- Phillip Leventhal (4Clinics, Lyon, France)
Co-Editor:
Managing Editor
- Victoria White (Tampa, Florida, USA) Email: MEW@emwa.org
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Associate Editors:
- Anuradha Alahari (PAREXEL International, Paris, France)
- Raquel Billiones (Clinipace, Zurich, Switzerland)
- Barbara Grossman (Hawkeye Medical Limited, Berkshire, UK)
- Joselita T Salita (Freelance, Bremen, Germany)
- Nathan Susnik (Hanover Medical School, Hanover, Germany)
- Clare (Chi-Chih) Chang
- Jonathan Pitt
Section Editors:
- Alison McIntosh (ICON Clinical Research, Hampshire, UK)
- Wendy Kingdom (Wendy Kingdom Ltd., Dulverton, UK)
- Lisa Chamberlain-James (Trilogy Writing and Consulting, Norfolk, UK)
- Maria Koltowska-Haggstrom (Proper Medical Writing Warsaw, Poland)
- Laura Collada Ali (Teksema, Cogne, Italy)
- Hervé Maisonneuve (Freelance, Lyon, France)
- Satyen Shenoy (Describe Scientific Writing & Communications, Cologne, Germany)
- Claire Gudex (Klinisk Institut, Odense, Denmark)
- Sam Hamilton (Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK)
- Anu Alahari
- Evguenia Alechine
- Kelly Goodwin Burri
- Stephen Gilliver
- Amy Whereat
Ad-hoc Editors:
- Amy Whereat (SpeaktheSpeech Consulting, Asnieres sur Seine, France)
Editor Emeritus:
- Elise Langdon-Neuner (Medical University of Vienna, Austria)