California: CFWIJ Saddened By The Passing Of Science Journalist Sharon Begley

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Location: California
Date: January 18, 2021

Renowned science journalist Sharon Begley passed away at the age of 64. The Coalition For Women In Journalism condoles the loss of an influential figure to the world of health and science reporting. According to STAT News, where Sharon was a senior writer, she was battling cancer.

Last year, she was also at the forefront of reporting the Covid-19 crisis. In one of her works, she compared the number of deaths caused by the Coronavirus to those from other health conditions. Over the course of her 43-year-career, Sharon wrote for a variety of publications, including Newsweek, Wall Street Journal, Reuters and STAT.

Sharon was born in 1956 to a couple who had met at a journalism school at the University of Missouri. When she went to pursue a degree at Yale, where she majored in combined sciences. She simplified complex scientific ideas into comprehensible information, disseminated through her articles and books. The talented journalist won several awards for her work.

While remembering Sharon, a colleague of hers, Helen Branswell, writes, “Sharon was a marvel to watch at work. Quiet, reserved, but with a killer wit that she only occasionally let others see. She loved gossip, but I think she listened more than she dished; co-workers were always finding their ways to her desk to share news, or ask advice. They trusted her.”

An NY Times reporter, Rebecca Robbins, writes "I so admired Sharon for her wit, her gift with words, and her ability to make complex sentences accessible. But most of all I admired her unfailing kindness. I will miss her so much."

STAT News Director of Photography Alissa Ambrose writes, "Her brilliance, her patience, and her generosity with kind words, and advice. We were so lucky to have her at STAT these last five years, she made us all better and I already miss her so much."

CFWIJ offers our sincere condolences to Sharon’s friends, family and the many people she inspired with her writing.

 

The CFWIJ strongly condemns the police brutality against journalists. We demand the immediate return of the press cards seized from the security forces. Policies to intimidate journalists should be abandoned, and journalism should be practiced under the criteria of freedom of the press.

If you have been harassed or abused in any way, and please report the incident by using the following form.

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