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NEWS FROM AFARby Jim Cornell The Seattle venue for the 2004 AAAS meeting is expected to attract an unusual number of reporters from Pacific Rim countries. This growing representation of foreign news media at the AAAS annual meeting has been noted by many observers, and certainly by the AAAS itself, which even hosts a premeeting reception for overseas press. This year, the AAAS has introduced another program that should not only increase the attendance of foreign journalists at its annual gathering, but also respond to a real need among science writers in the developing world. A new fellowship for science writers from developing countries will bring a small but select group of reporters to the annual meeting where they will be introduced to new information-gathering methods, global information sources, professional standards, and, of course, the latest research news. The aim, according to the AAAS, is to promote best practices in those regions identified by the United Nations as “developing” and where journalists may receive inadequate financial and technological support for their efforts to communicate scientific results to the public. The fellowships, which include all travel, meals, and lodging expenses associated with attendance at the annual meeting, are supported by longtime AAAS associate and science advocate Bill Golden through the William T. Golden Endowment Fund for Program Innovation. (For more details on the AAAS Fellowships for Reporters in Developing Regions, see www.aaas.org/press/fellowship.) Reflecting Seattle’s position on North America’s portion of the Pacific Rim, the first crop of AAAS Fellows are 10 young reporters from the People’s Republic of China selected on the basis of original print and broadcast materials submitted last fall. The winning entries are to be published on a new Foreign Language Portal on EurekAlert! (www.eurekalert.org), where the Fellows also will be able to post their news coverage of the meeting. The first fellows are: Li Hujun, freelancer for Sina.com and Nanfang Zhoumo (and also a current Knight Fellow and a member of ISWA); Yimin Ding, China Features; Xinyu Zhou, China Youth Daily; Yan Liang, Xinhua News; Lei Du, Nanfang Zhoumo; He Sheng, China Daily; Yan Yan, Reuters TV Beijing; Luo Yanning, Science and Technology Daily; and Zhang Bin, Jiefang Daily Group. The AAAS was encouraged in this effort by the success of a pilot program several years ago, when 12 science journalists from Latin America took part in AAAS-directed site visits in Washington, DC, followed by a weeklong stay at the annual meeting in Philadelphia. More recently, the AAAS has had the example of a similar fellowship program for young German journalists, sponsored by the Robert Bosch Foundation of Stuttgart, Germany, in cooperation with the International Science Writers Association (ISWA). In 2004, for the third year, eight journalists, most of them from smaller regional newspapers with limited science coverage, will travel to Seattle where they will be guided and mentored by ISWA volunteers. This year’s fellows will also attend the first Euroscience meeting (ESOF 2004) in Stockholm in August. The 2004 Bosch Fellows, and their affiliations, are: Frauke Adrians, Thueringer Allgemeine (Erfurt); Elke Binder, Tagesspiegel (Berlin), Rebekka Borsch, Westfalenpost (Hagen); Annika Franck, Koelnische Rundschau; Lucian Haas, Koelner Stadt-Anzeiger; Alexander Maeder, Berliner Zeitung; Eva Prost, Stuttgarter Zeitung; and, Ute Steinbusch, Aachener Zeitung. NASW members are urged to join as mentors for this group as well as for the young Chinese journalists. If past experience is any guide, all the fellows will speak excellent English and require little more than some general guidance through the sometimes confusing first few days of the meeting. Indeed, while the duties are very light, the rewards of working with young, bright, articulate journalists who are mostly new to science reporting and, thus, still very enthusiastic, are great. The unique sci-tech news service for and about the developing world, SciDev.Net, is celebrating its second anniversary. Supported by several international agencies, and headed up by the indefatigable David Dickson, the Web site www.scidev.net covers stories often ignored by traditional Western media and provides subscribers with free access to relevant articles in Nature and Science. The past year has seen a complete redesign of the site, the expansion of news coverage, the production of a dossier on the “brain drain” and two “quick guides” (on biodiversity and HIV/AIDS), the launch of a regional network in Latin America, and two practical science communication workshops (in Uganda and India). Dickson reports that the “Web site currently receives more than 20,000 visits every week [and has an] almost continuous presence as the top Web site in Google searches for the terms ‘science technology developing countries’… And a recent award for our dossier on the ethics of medical research underlines the growing importance attached to our work within the professional community.” NASW members are encouraged to take a look at the Web site, or to sign up for the weekly e-mail alert (now available in English, French, Spanish, and Chinese). Not only can SciDev.Net offer tips to some fascinating stories, but it also provides insight into the problems—and potential—of the developing world. # Correction: In my last column (SW, Fall 2003), there is reference to the monthly circulation of the Japanese Scientific American. A digit or two got lost in translation. The correct circulation number is 24,815 copies; it was incorrectly stated as 4,815. Things are bad, but not that bad.—JC Jim Cornell is president of the International Science Writers Association. Send items of interest—international programs, conferences, events, etc.—to cornelljc@earthlink.net. |
