Julia Belluz

Julia Belluz is a Canadian journalist who specializes in health and science reporting. She is the senior health correspondent for American news website Vox, as of August 2020. Belluz is known for her reporting on various public health issues, including the anti-vaccine movement, the COVID-19 pandemic, and medical pseudoscience. Her Maclean's blog, "Science-ish" and her "Show Me the Evidence" series on Vox both do deep dives into the science behind common health claims. Belluz has also reported on celebrities who give unsubstantiated health advice, such as Dr. Oz, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Alex Jones.

Julia Belluz
NationalityCanadian [1]
EducationRyerson School of Journalism

MSc London School of Economics

MIT Knight Science Fellow
OccupationJournalist
Years active2008–present
OrganizationVox
Websitejuliabelluz.com

Education

Julia Belluz graduated from the Ryerson School of Journalism in 2007.[2] She went on to earn an MSc from the London School of Economics, followed by an internship for the Times of London.[2][3] In 2013–2014, she was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a program designed to allow science journalists to study alongside scientists.[4][3][2][5] Belluz's study focused on the relationship between science and policy.[6] Of the program, Belluz said, "It’s important to not only understand the science you’re reporting on but also the culture of science."[4]

Career

In 2009, after a year of working at newspapers and magazines in London, Belluz moved back to Canada for an entry level reporter job at Maclean's.[2] During her time at Maclean's, Belluz created the blog Science-ish "in response to bewildering and contradictory claims ... that float around in the popular discourse."[6] The blog evaluated scientific claims related to health and nutrition.[7][8]

Belluz went on to work at Vox, where she became senior health correspondent.[9] At Vox, she has written about significant health topics, such as measles outbreaks in anti-vaccination communities,[10] maternal mortality in the United States,[11] the Ebola and COVID-19 pandemics,[12][13] and other nutritional claims. Belluz has also been known for examining questionable health claims from celebrities such as Dr. Oz,[14] Gwyneth Paltrow,[15] and Alex Jones.[16][3] Her "Show Me the Evidence" series on Vox takes a deep dive into the science behind health claims surrounding nutrition, medicine, exercise, and more.[3][17] In Belluz's words, "by emphasizing magic pills and miracle treatments, we also lose focus on the more mundane things that actually matter to health — like education, equality, and the environment."[18]

Additionally, Belluz's work has been published in BMJ, the Chicago Tribune, the Economist and Economist's Intelligent Life magazine, the Globe and Mail, the LA Times, the National Post, ProPublica, Slate, and the Times of London.[3][9] She has also spoken at various universities and conferences about health journalism and contributed a chapter titled "The New Health Journalism" in the book To Save Humanity: What Matters Most for a Healthy Future."[19]

Awards
Julia Belluz receives 2016 Balles Award at CSICon

Julia Belluz has won various awards, including:

  • 2007: Belluz received Canada's National Magazine Award for Best Student Writer for her profile of journalist Ian Brown.[6]
  • 2013: Canada's National Magazine Awards gave Belluz the Gold award for Best Blog for her blog "Science-ish."[20][21][6]
  • 2016: The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry awarded Belluz the Balles Prize in Critical Thinking for "deftly debunking unscientific and outrageous medical claims, and for taking on the gurus of pseudoscience and quackery." Executive director of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry Barry Karr said "Julia Belluz beats them at their own game. In her outstanding work at Vox, she combines the tools of digital storytelling with a unique, passionate voice and good old-fashioned fact-based reporting (imagine that!), dispelling myths and sparking genuine critical thinking in the minds of her many readers ... The public needs allies when faced with a deluge of unscientific, dangerous, and costly claims about health and medicine. She’s among the strongest allies they have, and that’s why we’re proud to be giving her this award."[22][9]
  • 2017: The American Society for Nutrition gave Belluz the award for Nutrition Science Media.[23][3][9]
  • 2019: Belluz was a finalist for the 2019 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Communications Award for online content. Belluz, and her colleagues, Eliza Barclay, Brigid McCarthy, and Gina Barton, were nominated for their Vox article, "The Mysteries of Weight Loss."[24]

References
  1. "Participants: Julia Belluz". World Science Forum Budapest. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
  2. Phillips, Stefanie. "Grads at Work: Julia Belluz". Ryerson University. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  3. "About". Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  4. "Community Profiles: Julia Belluz". MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  5. "Canadian Journalist Julia Belluz Named Knight Science Journalism Fellow". J-Source. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
  6. "Off the Page, with journalist and blogger Julia Belluz". National Magazine Awards. November 28, 2013. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  7. Belluz, Julia (June 20, 2011). "Welcome to Science-ish". Maclean's. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  8. Schwitzer, Gary (May 8, 2013). "Science-ish Blog: Gwyneth Paltrow's New Cookbook Borders on Quack Science". MedPage Today. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  9. "Julia Belluz". Vox. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  10. Belluz, Julia (March 20, 2019). "Why the Washington measles outbreak is mostly affecting one specific group". Vox. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  11. Belluz, Julia (December 4, 2017). "California decided it was tired of women bleeding to death in childbirth". Vox. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  12. Belluz, Julia (June 13, 2019). "Ebola just spread into Uganda. It may soon become an emergency". Vox. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  13. Belluz, Julia (March 13, 2020). "Italy's coronavirus crisis could be America's". Vox. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  14. Belluz, Julia (April 16, 2015). "The making of Dr. Oz". Vox. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  15. Belluz, Julia (July 27, 2018). "Is Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop pseudoscience winning?". Vox. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  16. Belluz, Julia (July 27, 2018). "I watched Alex Jones give his viewers health advice. Here's what I learned". Vox. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  17. Belluz, Julia. "Show Me the Evidence". Vox. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  18. Belluz, Julia (February 23, 2016). "Why reporting on health and science is a good way to lose friends and alienate people". Vox. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  19. Frenk, Julio; Hoffman, Steven J., eds. (2015). To Save Humanity: What Matters Most for a Healthy Future. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  20. "National Magazine Awards Archive". National Magazine Awards. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  21. "National Magazine Awards Foundation announces the Winners of the 36th National Magazine Awards". Cision. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  22. "Skeptics to Honor Vox's Julia Belluz with Critical Thinking Award". Center for Inquiry. August 23, 2016. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  23. "American Society for Nutrition Awards Recipients" (PDF). American Society for Nutrition. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  24. "'She Has Her Mother's Laugh' Wins Best Book Award From Academies; NPR, Science News, ProPublica, and GroundTruth Project/PBS Frontline Also Take Top Prizes". National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. August 15, 2019. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
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