Cover of Science News magazine based on Ken’s cover story—“Science and the Parascience Cults”—about the formation of CSICOP (May 29, 1976 issue).
When I joined the staff of Science News magazine in Washington early in my career as a science journalist, someone handed me a nicely printed sheet of hints on writing science. On the back of this sheet was a small-type, two-column section, “Stories That Should Be Handled with Care.” It was written around 1950, or perhaps even earlier, by Watson Davis, then the director of Science Service and editor of what was then called Science News Letter. Davis was a pioneering science journalist. He and his predecessors and colleagues at Science Service and at several respected major newspapers and magazines had helped invent the profession of science journalism in the United States. (Science News Letter became Science News in March 1966. In 2006, Science Service became the Society for Science and the Public, now often shortened to Society for Science. In 2008, Science News moved f rom weekly to biweekly publication. Throughout 2021–2022, Science News and its publisher celebrated their one hundredth anniversary, a rare event in magazine publishing.)
The “Stories That Should Be Handled with Care” section began, Stories on this list should, in general, not be used, at least until they are thoroughly checked and investigated by several competent specialists in the subject. They are not forbidden stories, for some of the impossible things of today may become possible tomorrow, but scientific discoveries rarely come nowadays from accident or inspiration. They are usually the result of systematic research by many investigators.