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The Globalization
of Science Journalism
Southern News Scarce in the North
(October 7, 2004) -
Twenty years ago a student of James Cornell scoured major American
newspapers to quantify the news reaching from developing countries.
Nothing apart from disasters, and obviously no science. Is the
situation any better now? Scarcely, laments the president and
founder of the International Science Writers Association, though
he sees a few signs of hope.
Why the Gap?
Nalaka Gunawardene of Sri Lanka, one of the participants
in yesterday afternoon’s workshop on Missing Stories:
Gaps in the Globalization of Science News, says media convergence
— a global phenomenon — is a major factor. In favouring
the news with the strongest appeal for the largest audience —
the easiest project to sell — some stories inevitably get
dropped. Needless to say, science is a very low-priority subject
for publishers.
There might also be political reasons. Jia Hepeng
of China pointed out that some stories don’t get out simply
because the government withholds the information. The SARS crisis
in his country is a perfect example. For almost three months,
officials were completely tight-lipped. But the situation is changing
because the public wants to be better informed. In the case of
this year’s avian flu, the government released much more
information — albeit official.
Could English, the language of science, come to
the rescue the dissemination of science? Cornell points out that
once Mexico’s science association began publishing in English,
its impact factor increased by 30%, indicating their research
is now cited much more.
In the same vein, journalist Lisbeth Fog of Colombia, who three years ago founded
NOTICyT, a Spanish science news service, translates some Latin
American stories into English before sending them to media around
the world. Her experience is a sign of hope. "We can learn
from each other no matter if you live in a developed or developing
country," she said.
Mélanie Robitaille
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