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Is This Science Journalism? Nah. Then What Is It?

Rethink Canada

Journalism may not be the right word for this. It's a kind of reporting. What you see here is true, and carefully edited.

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Rethink Canada

It's not art, though the images are sharp and concentrated.

/ Rethink Canada
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Rethink Canada

It's more than advertising, (though that's its purpose) because it is telling you something abstract and true about the world, like a lesson.

It's not education. It's too sassy, too clever. Too beautiful.

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Rethink Canada

Here's what it is: it's ad agency Rethink Canada's poster campaign for Science World, a not-for-profit science and technology center in British Columbia. It's an invitation to come and visit.

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Rethink Canada

Here's what it also is: In a cluttered, noisy world with so many distractions, it's yet another way to stop people in the middle of their day and make them say, "Really?" Science intimidates people. Yet we're all curious. The sly goal here is to poke folks with a good question, and then say, "You want to know the answer?" We who are doing this, we reporters, we animators, we science teachers, we bloggers, we artists, we museum managers, we research scientists, we copywriters — we don't do what we do to speak to the Already Informed. We are doing this to tap ordinary, everyday people on their heads, people who might not have the time or the inclination, and say to them, "spend a few minutes over here, mulling this ..."

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Rethink Canada

If we do it right, they'll come to us, hang out, and come again.

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Rethink Canada

That's the goal. That's all we want.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Robert Krulwich
Robert Krulwich works on radio, podcasts, video, the blogosphere. He has been called "the most inventive network reporter in television" by TV Guide.
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