The World Conference of Science Journalists 2009 is over. Next time such a large group of science hacks meet together will be in 2011 in Cairo.
I only managed to attend the final day of the conference, and was left feeling that science journalism is in pretty good shape, particularly after hearing from Laura Chang, editor of the New York Times’s science section, James Harding, editor of The Times, Fran Unsworth, head of newsgathering at the BBC and John Rennie, former editor-in-chief of Scientific American. These editors all conceded that times were tough for journalists now, but that science is of increasing importance and interest to their readers. Rennie was the one panelist who was more pessimistic, saying that the media is facing a mass extinction event, and that the question to ask is whether specialist science media deserves to survive.
Rennie also said that science news should be redefined, and should move away from the current model of reporting the ‘big paper of the week’. This model feeds into the debate on embargoes which continues to rage in this profession. But Rennie’s tone was generally positive, or at least it seemed to be.
But my mood of optimism might have been wrong. From talking to other delegates who had been at the conference all week, I got a different impression, one of deep pessimism, perhaps. Fears that the future for science journalists looks bleak have been hanging over the conference. Freelancers are having a tough time, staff reporters are being laid off, and it isn’t clear how traditional forms of media will survive.
In this mixed mood, the conference ended with a plenary session that included John Beddington, the UK government’s chief scientific adviser, and his equivalent from Ireland, Patrick Cunningham, plus Tidu Maini, executive chairman of Qatar science and technology park. The main point to come from the session was the absence of an independent science adviser in the EU, something that Beddington feels is very wrong.
I expect that the organisers of the conference will be congratulating themselves today, possibly with a sore head or two. They deserve these congrats, not least for persuading such influential people to sit on the panels for the sessions. Cairo in 2011 has a lot to live up to. It will be a very different conference, perhaps more able to embrace reporters from developing countries. I look forward to it.