Matter of Fact – August 13, 2025

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Every Wednesday, Matter of Fact brings you localizable story ideas, data, advice, and resources to help you cover current news using scientific evidence and expertise. This is the August 13, 2025 edition.

In this issue: immigration, western wildfires, solar funding cuts, and mRNA vaccine research.

Covering immigration arrests or changes in local immigrant communities?

It might not be your first instinct to reach for scientific research when covering immigration, but there’s a great deal of rigorously collected data and evidence available to deepen your immigration stories. SciLine’s guide to covering immigration with evidence offers a range of data resources, research insights, and ways to localize national stories. We have included localized datasets on deportations and detentions, as well as clear summaries of research on health disparities, educational trajectories, and economic impacts of immigrant communities.

When scientists are reluctant to speak with reporters

Interviewing a scientist can quickly add vital context to just about any story, and SciLine’s expert matching service can help connect you with just the right expertise. But as many U.S. scientists face research funding cuts and tightening press policies from their institutions, stakes can be high for those considering going on the record. SciLine has compiled some steps to take when a scientist declines an interview, including other avenues for finding an expert source and alternative ways to source evidence.

“Solar For All” funding cut impacts local projects: Here’s context

Announced cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency’s “Solar For All” program leaves grants to dozens of state agencies in doubt. As you report on the status of local projects, review the EPA’s fast facts on the impacts that were projected for the program and the National Renewable Energy Lab’s last solar industry update. Learn about the extent of solar energy production in your state from Solar Energy Local.

Expert help in covering wildfire season

SciLine offers experts’ insights about wildfire smoke and air quality, as well as strategies to protect buildings, infrastructure, and land. And grab digestible facts on how climate change contributes to wildfire trends. All our footage, quotes, and information are freely available for journalists to use in their reporting.

Story angles on mRNA research funding cuts

The Association of Health Care Journalists has listed out story angles to pursue on cuts to funding for research on mRNA vaccines, such as potential effects on vaccine skepticism and on flu cases. STAT provides useful background on National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya’s rationale for the cuts.

The local angle:

• From Washington, the Associated Press cut through political cross-talk about crime in D.C. by using violent crime data from Washington’s Metropolitan Police over recent years. The numbers clarify where politicians’ claims conflict with the evidence.
• In light of recent federal tariff changes, WDET interviewed a supply chain management professor to clarify, based on research, what price changes Detroit residents can expect.
• KTVB spoke with an atmospheric researcher and a meteorologist to explain not just immediate health effects of wildfire smoke in the air above Idaho, but also the long-lasting effects of these pollutants in the atmosphere.

If you’re looking for scientific expertise to add context to your story, you can request an expert or find our other services here. And click the brag button below to submit your own work to be considered for next week’s newsletter.

SUBMIT YOUR WORK

What we’re reading:

• Following the shooting at the Roybal campus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) union says vaccine misinformation worsened risks for staff, according to FOX 5 Atlanta.
• Undark Magazine documents chilling effects in scientific journals following federal restrictions on DEI-related work.

This week at SciLine:

• Tariffs 101: Journalists can register to attend our media briefing on the local impacts of tariffs on August 14 (1-2 p.m. ET). A panel of researchers will discuss effects on local businesses, domestic jobs, agricultural exports, and prices for consumers, and then take reporter questions.
• NEW RESOURCE! SciLine TV bundle: TV reporters, soundbites and VOSOT scripts are now available for our expert interviews on: EPA’s endangerment finding, SNAP (food stamps) and health, and urban heat islands. Raw video and logs with timecodes are available on request.
• A new SciLine team member! Beth Peck has joined SciLine to lead fundraising. Her background includes time as the publisher of nonprofit local news site East Lansing Info and as regional director of development for Michigan State University. “Beth’s experience and passion for scientific discovery and the power of local journalism to inform communities is perfectly suited to helping us build resources to scale the reach of our work,” said Matt DeRienzo, SciLine’s director. She lives in Michigan with her husband and three children.

Questions? Suggestions? Contact us at sciline@aaas.org.

Warmly,

Elena Renken, journalism projects & multimedia manager

SciLine is a free service for journalists and scientists based at the nonprofit American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest multidisciplinary scientific society. Editorially independent, nonpartisan, and funded by philanthropies, SciLine has the singular mission of enhancing the amount and quality of scientific evidence in news stories.

SciLine prepares this message with the goal of sharing science-based information with local media outlets and reporters. Unless otherwise noted, SciLine has no relationship to the non-SciLine sources referenced, or their institutions. Requests to connect with a scientist will be fulfilled in accordance with eligibility requirements.

Questions? Contact us at sciline@aaas.org.