We call it the angle or the hook to an article, which is shorthand for an insight that we hope will make the information meaningful to nonspecialist readers. The scientist may deconstruct and reconstruct a system to better understand its form and function, but the reporter seeks to create a narrative line from selected facts. We hang the story on a hook, and the story makes the message memorable. Unfortunately, the story of scientific inquiry is rarely so tidy. Immersed in a continuum of discovery that constantly modifies what is known, scientists seek clarity through examination of details.
Complexity is their truth and, in a sense, anything less than all the known details is misleading.
But even if a journalist could take the time and effort to grasp the whole known truth, it wouldn't be printed, because almost nobody would want to read it. A storyteller who won't stop providing seemingly endless detail soon becomes a bore. So, even before the article is written, the editing process begins. The reporter starts deciding what to describe and what to omit. At The Scientist , we find that collaboration on the story between reporter and researcher is often the answer.