{"id":1123,"date":"2013-01-16T14:19:51","date_gmt":"2013-01-16T14:19:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/houseofwisdom\/?p=1123"},"modified":"2013-01-17T09:13:45","modified_gmt":"2013-01-17T09:13:45","slug":"science-blogging-in-the-arab-world-or-the-lack-thereof","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/houseofwisdom\/2013\/01\/science-blogging-in-the-arab-world-or-the-lack-thereof.html","title":{"rendered":"Science blogging in the Arab world (or the lack thereof)"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is a guest post from\u00a0Rayna Stamboliyska<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>When I started browsing the web for science blogs from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, I didn’t think it would be such an adventure. And for a quest, it was one.<\/p>\n

I thus started entering keywords in the search engine. The outcome was disappointing: one or two blogs in English popped up. I thought it is because I was only searching in English, but French and Arabic searches did not harbour significantly more results. When I asked friends to point me out my wrongdoing, they just laughed and the comment invariably was: \u201cDear, spare your efforts, there is no such thing like science blogging in the region.\u201d<\/p>\n

The blogging culture in the Arab world thus seems to mainly touch opinionated people with a say in politics and economy. There is nothing wrong with this. I\u2019ll spare you a lecture on the importance of social media for changing the society we live in, this has been thoroughly\u00a0discussed elsewhere<\/a>. Loads of bits and ink have also been spilled to demonstrate the importance of science blogging. Given the paucity of science blogs in the Arab World, I guess a reminder is more than useful.<\/p>\n

Why write about science? Reason #1: scientists get to speak\u00a0directly to the public<\/a>. Reason #2: lay scientists or enthusiasts\u00a0engage and keep up<\/a>\u00a0to date with developments in various scientific fields. Reason #3:\u00a0open discussions on research topics are promoted among peers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This sounds great, motivating and all that. There is, however, a recurrent feature pointing its nose from this shortlist: scientists<\/strong> should initiate and nurture this dynamics, ideally complemented by active science writers and journalists.<\/p>\n

If you are reading this piece, it means you are aware that science is an emerging field in the Arab world. Funding is far from sufficient to secure comfortable or even basal equipment for research. Moreover,\u00a0political influence in science making and communication<\/a>\u00a0is a fundamental characteristics in the region. Doctoral degrees are, however, greatly appreciated in all MENA countries. Additionally, journalism and mass communication are a frequently taught discipline. But science and journalism do not really mingle, after all.<\/p>\n

If you browse the websites of\u00a0major universities in the Arab countries<\/a>, you realize that they are\u00a0rarely updated<\/a>.\u00a0Even if\u00a0they are so<\/a>,\u00a0press releases about endeavours and achievements seldom land on journalists\u2019 desks. Very often, the few science-related articles one stumbles upon in a newspaper are just a translation from foreign sources. This clearly gives the bitter taste of \u201cnothing happens in our part of the world.\u201d Even such admirable initiatives as publishing 50,000 PhD theses<\/a>\u00a0online and using the platform as a networking hub finally fail:\u00a0the dedicated website<\/a>\u00a0does not exist at all.<\/p>\n

A different dynamics is operated in the\u00a0Gulf states where Western universities have started to settle<\/a>, and scarce\u00a0reports about conferences<\/a>\u00a0see the day. Although\u00a0progress is clear<\/a>, science communication still has much room for improvement.<\/p>\n

All this bashing is actually aimed at alarming you, the readers and scientists:\u00a0the world does need decent science communication<\/a>. And I write \u201ccommunication\u201d rather than \u201cjournalism\u201d on purpose. As aforementioned, science makers should proactively engage in discussions with non-scientists. The bottom line is that it is easy to blame science journalists who pretty often\u00a0do their best<\/a>. Thus, the question is not to know to what extent Middle Eastern scientists should care and help create the conversation with non-scientists, but rather: why aren\u2019t they already doing so?<\/p>\n

Of course,\u00a0many<\/a>\u00a0science\u00a0blogs<\/a>\u00a0exist, and many of the bloggers are also working scientists. Perhaps people from MENA are just perfectly fine reading these resources? I fail to believe this is very likely since those just do not address the Arab world public. And even if I were wrong and existing science blogs provide sufficient input to curious enthusiasts from MENA, the crucial question remains whether this communication channel properly engages local science makers into a satisfactory interaction with the public. From this perspective, saying that the MENA science domain is represented within the current science blogging landscape is at best shoehorning.<\/p>\n

Is it a failure or an unrealistic expectation to aim at establishing public engagement with science through blogging in the Middle East? Given that research is an emerging field, sentencing science blogging in the region as a \u2018failure\u2019 is a bit too harsh and purely unfair. As for the unrealistic expectation, I believe it is not one such: the region is far from short on talented scientists and future researchers.<\/p>\n

Better, success stories from African science and\u00a0science journalism<\/a>\u00a0are become more numerous. There is, for example, this initiative documenting\u00a0African Science Heroes<\/a>\u00a0or else the exciting journey in\u00a0the history of African science<\/a>. And the best for the end:\u00a0the first virtual science newsroom<\/a>\u00a0kicked off\u00a0just a few months ago.<\/p>\n

Through my quest for the MENA science blogs treasure, I bumped into a few blogs initiated or nurtured by scientists. Unfortunately, they are dormant; or worse, abandoned. Unfortunately when one recalls the\u00a0disastrous reaction<\/a>\u00a0the Egyptian government in 2010 had to\u00a0the \u2018swine flu\u2019 pandemics<\/a>, resulting in the slaughter of all the pigs in the country and unnecessary panic uncritical coverage by local media caused to the population. I firmly believe this would have never happened if science makers and health practitioners had stepped forward when needed.<\/p>\n

There are countless newspapers, both printed and online. These are what many people read every day. Such resources and the World Wide Web are replete with stories, and the number of connected and tech-literate young people is increasing steadily as you read this. But the number of active people with proper knowledge of science are far too few to tell fact from fiction and critically address tale-spinning by unreliable peers. Look at the gallery below and look at it as a (future) scientist, then think of the impact this kind of delirious spins have on our friends and families. Should we keep on perpetrating \u2018swine flu\u2019-like mass hysteria case on a daily basis? Isn’t it also our responsibility to share the knowledge we have with them?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Rayna Stamboliyska is finalizing a PhD in Genetics and Bioinformatics. She is a science blogger at SciLogs.com\u2019s\u00a0Beyond the Lab<\/a><\/em>, which looks at emerging ways of doing science. She also blogs at\u00a0Australian Science\u00a0and is an editor at\u00a0Bioinfo-fr.net. In addition, Rayna writes for\u00a0Global Voices Advocacy, FutureChallenges.org and Jadaliyya. Despite what you might think, she is very much a human being. She tweets as\u00a0@MaliciaRogue<\/a><\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Click on any of the images below to enlarge them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\t\t