Popularising science reporting

This is the view of Dr George Claassen, respected science journalist, former head of the Department of Journalism at the University of Stellenbosch and co-ordinator of the Communicating Science course at the University of Cape Town (UCT).

The course is being offered by UCT's Centre for Open Learning this October and November and is aimed primarily at scientists, but also welcomes journalists and other writers who have an interest in reporting science. The course will be co-presented by Christina Scott, renowned and prize-winning radio and television journalist.

According to Dr Claassen, the importance of such a programme should not be underestimated.

Bridging the gap

“Science is the driver of development and technology, yet most lay people do not understand or appreciate the impact that it has on our daily lives. This is because research and scientific developments rarely make it into the public sphere - unless there is some sensational value attached to it.

“No country, however, can be considered developed until it has a thriving science and technology sector. The media is the vehicle through which science can be communicated to the wider public and this needs to happen in the interests of our country's future development. Programmes like UCT's Communicating Science are rare but they can go some way towards bridging the gap,” said Dr Claassen.

He added that both scientists and the media have a role to play in strengthening the link.

“The lack of scientific information and research in the public sphere can be ascribed in some part to the way scientists view the media, which can sometimes be with an air of suspicion as the media has been not been great at communicating science in the past. In addition, there is not a single newspaper, radio or TV station in the country that has a dedicated science desk run by a trained science editor. Our media is more interested in reporting politics and sport and this needs to change if we are to have any hope of giving science more prominence in our society,” he said.

“On the side of scientists, it is no good to have our scientists sitting up in ivory towers keeping their work out of the public domain. After all, scientists are mostly publicly funded and therefore have a duty to share their research with the broader society.”

Professor Alison Lewis, a specialist in Industrial Crystallisation at the Chemical Engineering department at UCT, and who attended the Communicating Science course last year, said that in general there was still a lot of resistance within the scientific community and this would take some effort to break down.

“Unfortunately there is still a long way to go to bring science closer to the public. There is a perception amongst some scientists that wanting a public profile is somehow shallow or frivolous and many would rather stick to the serious business of conducting research away from the public eye,” she said. She added that the UCT course helped her to present her research in a way that was engaging and interesting.

Engaging with the media

The course builds this bridge between the world of science and the public sphere by teaching working scientists, researchers and postgraduate students how to engage with the media to publicise their scientific work. This includes promoting more accessible science writing skills and how to engage with a variety of media - including print, radio and television.

The South African Department of Education has continually stressed the importance of science, maths and technology in recent years but without role models in these disciplines, children are unlikely to get enthused - and the often lamented skills shortage in Science will simply worsen. This is the opinion of Professor Anusuya Chinsamy-Turan of UCT, an internationally recognised palaeobiologist, and author of the children's book entitled “Famous Dinosaurs of Africa”, who developed the original concept for the Communicating Science course.

She hopes that better communication between the scientific community and the media will encourage more youngsters and women to pursue careers in science.

“Here in South Africa we have some world-renowned scientists doing fantastic work but the public thinks that all the best science is done elsewhere in the world,” said Professor Chinsamy-Turan.

“We need to communicate what they are doing to break stereotypes, inform the public and popularise the discipline.”

For more information on Communicating Science call 021 650 2888 or visit www.ems.uct.ac.za. The classes take place on Mondays and Thursdays (20 October - 20 November 2008) from 17.30 to 19:00.