From whales to bacteria: the adaptable science journalist

What happens when a few hundred witty, metaphor-happy journalists are let loose for a week?

They come up with all sorts of new ways to describe themselves!

First it was Australian science broadcaster Robyn Williams who compared science journalists with whales.

He suggested this analogy during the opening of the 5th World Conference of Science Journalists in Melbourne earlier this week.

Heading in the micro end of the animal kingdom, a leading South African science journalist thinks some of her kind are like extremophile bacteria: hardy enough to survive in very harsh environments.

Christina Scott was referring to the tough working conditions of many journalists – including those covering science – working in the developing countries.

She and I were part of a plenary session today on Reporting science in emerging economies which started off the final day of sessions at the conference. Others on the panel were T V Padma (India), Jia Hepeng (China), Talent Ng’andwe (Zambia) and Luisa Massarani (Brazil). All of us are associated with the Science and Development Network (SciDev.Net) in one way or another – as correspondents, regional coordinators, or in my case as a Trustee.

The session surveyed the technological, cultural, political and economic factors that stand in the way of good science journalism in developing regions of the world. We presented our experiences and perspectives on the status of our profession – and hopes for the future.

Yes, we recognised the many odds we are working against. But on the whole it was a message of resilience, adaptability and survival.

I ended my own remarks saying: Life finds a way in the harshest of environments. So does science journalism. In conditions far from ideal, science journalism happens. Not just on and off, but on a regular basis.

We are good at what I call ‘wonderful improvisation’.

SciDev.Net coverage of the Fifth World Conference of Science Journalists

Collective blog of SciDev.Net team at the conference

Personal blog of Talent Ng’andwe

Nature blog post on our session can be read here