The Houston Chronicle

"My goal is to raise the level of debate on my existing blog…."

The Beat: A reported blog about science.

The Reporter Eric Berger, science writer for the Houston Chronicle

Description: Eric writes….

Your suggestion to create a social network connected with a beat
comes at a fortuitous time, as my editors and I have had discussions
about how to do just that.

As the newspaper’s science writer, I am interested in creating a
network to discuss, explain and popularize science, which I consider
important at a time when science lies at the heart of numerous
political issues, from global warming to embryonic stem cells. My goal
is to raise the level of debate on my existing blog by adding
considerably more commentary from practicing scientists, and giving
scientists a non-threatening place to interact with the general public.
Most existing science blogs are either composed of mostly scientists,
or mostly lay people. I’d like to provide a meeting place for both. I
would work hard to make it a friendly place, devoid as much as possible
of inflammatory political discussions.

The general idea is to identify eight or 10 themes — such as global
warming, space exploration, hurricanes and nanotechnology — and
recruit a group of experts from each area. Those scientists (and
possibly well-informed lay people) would both write their own content
from time to time, but perhaps just as importantly, provide guidance
and commentary on the news of the day that falls within their general
expertise. The key is attracting the right scientists, motivating them,
and creating and sustaining significant public interest.

The primary platform will be a reegineered version of my SciGuy blog,
but I can envision the scientists each having a blog or some Web space
for their own area of expertise. All of this would be interconnected.
The center of gravity of my beat coverage would shift to the Web, and
we would develop creative formats for displaying this networked content
in the newspaper.

If all this sounds like your social network, that’s because the
ideas are quite similar. There are few templates for such an idea, so
we’re open to experimenting and trying to get a good fit. I have been
blogging for about 2 1/2 years now, and my editors have still more
experience than I.

In short, we’re in.

The Houston Chronicle’s Team: (1. Dwight Silverman, online news editor
(2. Sylvia Wood, deputy city editor
(3. Eric Berger, Chron.com’s sciguy.