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KPLU reporter wins science journalism award
November 21, 2007
KPLU’s Keith Seinfeld, assistant news director and health and science reporter, recently won the 2007 AAAS Science Journalism Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Seinfeld won in the radio category for his piece "The Electric Brain,” which aired Jan. 9 to 11 on KPLU. The thematic series described the electrical properties of the human brain and how scientists are finding new ways to use those properties to treat diseases and injuries.
Independent panels of science journalists judge the nominees and choose the recipients of the awards, which honor excellence for reporting in print, radio, television and online. The judges were impressed by Seinfeld’s clear, concise language and great use of sound in telling about the important research in neuroscience.
“While a drill whines in the background, cutting a hole in the top of a patient’s skull, Keith Seinfeld carries his listeners into the story,” said Jeff Nesmith, a Washington-based science writer for Cox Newspapers. “This kind of radio journalism seizes a listener’s attention while it delivers an understandable account of complicated science.”
Established in 1945, the awards are sponsored by Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development, L.L.C. The winners will receive $3,000 and a plaque at the 2008 AAAS Annual Meeting in Boston in February.
Seinfeld has worked at KPLU since 1996. He took first place in the Western Washington Society of Professional Journalists’ 2007 Excellence in Journalism Competition in the general news category for his story, “Mental Illness Safety Net is Torn.” In 1999, Seinfeld won the national Edward R. Murrow Award for best documentary from the Radio-Television News Directors Association.
Earlier this year, Seinfeld was awarded a Knight Science Journalism Fellowship and is currently studying in Cambridge at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University. The fellowships are designed for self-motivated journalists who hope to improve their coverage of science, technology, medicine or the environment. Seinfeld will return to KPLU in the spring of 2008.
Independent panels of science journalists judge the nominees and choose the recipients of the awards, which honor excellence for reporting in print, radio, television and online. The judges were impressed by Seinfeld’s clear, concise language and great use of sound in telling about the important research in neuroscience.
“While a drill whines in the background, cutting a hole in the top of a patient’s skull, Keith Seinfeld carries his listeners into the story,” said Jeff Nesmith, a Washington-based science writer for Cox Newspapers. “This kind of radio journalism seizes a listener’s attention while it delivers an understandable account of complicated science.”
Established in 1945, the awards are sponsored by Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development, L.L.C. The winners will receive $3,000 and a plaque at the 2008 AAAS Annual Meeting in Boston in February.
Seinfeld has worked at KPLU since 1996. He took first place in the Western Washington Society of Professional Journalists’ 2007 Excellence in Journalism Competition in the general news category for his story, “Mental Illness Safety Net is Torn.” In 1999, Seinfeld won the national Edward R. Murrow Award for best documentary from the Radio-Television News Directors Association.
Earlier this year, Seinfeld was awarded a Knight Science Journalism Fellowship and is currently studying in Cambridge at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University. The fellowships are designed for self-motivated journalists who hope to improve their coverage of science, technology, medicine or the environment. Seinfeld will return to KPLU in the spring of 2008.