Lipa students learn science storytelling basics

By Ryan Spencer P. Secadron, DOST-STII

“Effective storytelling is key to science writing,” this was how Ingrid Espinosa, a science communication practitioner sums up her lecture to student journalists from Lipa City Colleges (LCC) in Lipa City, Batangas.

Espinosa shared that whether browsing science alerts, doing investigative projects in school, or observing local communities, storytelling is always easy to understand, entertaining, memorable, and relevant.

Additionally, she also highlighted that human interest, recency, locality, surprise, the power elite, follow-ups, shareability/relatability, controversy, novelty, and bad/good news are what shape news stories.

The lecture was part of the Science Journo Ako (SJA) science communication caravan held in Lipa City, Batangas held last November. The SJA is a science communication advocacy of the Department of Science and Technology through its Science and Technology Information Institute. The program aims to expand science communication at the grassroots to capacitate young communicators to dive deeper into science and technology by creating awareness and communicating its benefits to the public.

She offered additional tips, such as focusing on positive notes and offering solutions, emphasizing the balance of compelling factors with accuracy, and the use of case studies to support data.

“The structure of a news story should be an inverted pyramid. Make sure to include quotations, further explanation, and the context of the topic,” Espinosa said.

Additionally, Espinosa provided tips for student interviews: “It’s important to do your research and plan. Don’t be afraid to ask simple questions. Summarize to confirm, recheck quotes, and keep questions short and easy to understand.”

As part of the participants’ immersion, Espinosa prepared a mini press conference for the students, allowing them to ask questions about Buddybetes, an application that helps manage blood sugar.

She commended the students for their active participation and ability to apply the interviewing techniques.

One participant asked whether quotations should be direct or paraphrased. Espinosa responded that direct quotations should be used when the statement is noteworthy and “magandang pakinggan” (pleasant to hear) in one sentence. Paraphrase when the quote is used for an explanation.

Another participant inquired about the ideal length of a news article. Espinosa explained that news articles are typically 300 to 500 words long, while feature articles range from 500 to 800. “Anything beyond that is considered a long-form article,” Espinosa emphisized.

When asked if there is a pattern in feature writing, Espinosa clarified that features do not follow the inverted pyramid structure of news articles and are usually free-flowing. “You can tease a bit more and be playful,” she said.

Lastly, Espinosa reminded the students to consider various factors when writing articles, including diversity, background, power, interest, sensitivity, SOGIE (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Expression), and stigma, as these aspects may affect readers’ reactions.

She also reminded the participants to answer the questions, “Who is my audience?” and “What do I want them to do/feel?”

Espinosa was one of the three resource speakers that included Rosemarie Señora, Science Research Specialist I who discussed mobile photography and photojournalism, and Allan Mauro Marfal, Information Officer III both of the DOST-STII who lectured on the topic social media content creation.

The second day of the event included a site visit, where participants gathered data and interviewed the beneficiaries of DOST Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program  in Lipa, learning about the technologies, products, and services offered by these firms, which they could use to write science articles and produce photos and reels for the workshop.