By Ochieng’
Ogodo
Journalist-Kenya
Journalist-Kenya
[NAIROBI] Many
a times I have been asked about the viability of science journalism in Kenya
and Africa at large from both journalists-the ones practicing it and
journalists in other areas like business and politics-and folks outside the profession.
To many sceptics,
science and its products like research, patents, innovations are not yet
developed in Africa and could, therefore, offer very little for one to
continuously put his skills and energy on as an area of coverage and also make
a living out of it.
Out there,
the continent could be well known for civil strife like in the Democratic
Republic of Conge, Darfur in Sudan, Northern Uganda, mismanagement of public
affairs at the highest levels of leadership like in Zimbabwe, corruption, the
HIV/Aids scourge of which Sub-Saharan Africa is the global epicenter. Wow! The
list is long-but not for scientific advancements in different spheres of life.
The sceptics
are not entirely mistaken. True, Africa needs to build her own biological,
physical and chemistry sciences and use that knowledge at all levels of life
but that doesn’t mean there is nothing going on. Well, a lot in science and
research is going on in Africa that remains very invisible. And a lot also
needs to be done, still more, which is what makes science journalism even more
imperative in Africa, and the rest of the developing world.
Little space for science news
But it isn’t
easy to ply science journalism in this part of the world – Kenya and Africa at
large. Most news channels — such as print, audio, visual and online — have very
little space allocations for stories on environment and science topics. Worth
noting is that most journalists in this segment are correspondences whose
monthly monetary gains are pegged on the number of stories published, and very
few successfully ‘compete’ for space.
This has in
fact forced some to abandon science journalism and take to other areas of the
profession that enjoys favours with chief gatekeepers of specific media
establishments or opt for more sustaining areas outside the profession.
The research
institutions and government departments makes life miserable for science
journalists by the lack of well-defined infrastructure and policies that
ensures fast and effective facilitation of the channeling out of information
and within the shortest time possible given the high perishable nature of news.
How many institutions are computerised and you could access information only at
the touch of a mouse?
In the age of
globalisation exacted upon us by the Information and Communication Technology
wizardry, there is much new knowledge pouring from millions of research
projects and studies around the world that push the boundaries of man’s
knowledge to new heights, almost daily.
Making hard concepts easy
The changes
are frequent and so specialised and difficult if not absolutely impossible for
a lay person to understand. As long as science or scholarship remains enshrined
in technical language and laden with heavy jargon it will need specially
trained reporters who can communicate with scientists and help translate the
new developments accurately and clearly for the less erudite readers who needs
the information most to thrive-or try to-in their day-to-day lives.
For instance,
reporting on a research project is quite often an assignment largely different
from any other given to a journalist. He/she will face three challenges; the
researcher[s], research project and the accurate and interesting interpreting
of the project to the various publics. And such specialised trainings needed
for a creditable job are very scarce for science journalists in Africa and most
of the developing world.
The first
audience of a journalist is the editor who he/she has to explain his storyline
to hoping for a hearing and objective evaluation of the intended piece[s]. You
will explain your lead, tie-back and additional features and details to the
lead paragraph. But in most cases the editors’ themselves have scanty grasp of
the various scientific issues unfolding in their societies and the world at
large. They, therefore, become the bulwark against the practice of science
journalism.
“Necessary”
cooperation scarcity
A problem
facing most science journalist also involves the “necessary” cooperation of the
scientists and some of their organisations with the media. Some are extremely
sensitive to criticisms from the media; they often shun journalists and
institutions decline to provide information needed for accurate and balanced
reporting.
At the Land
Ocean Interaction in the Coastal Zones [LOICZ] Open Science meeting in Egmond
aan Zee in The Netherlands in 2005, a professor in coastal science, after
listening to my presentation on The Media and Environmental Protection,
declared it was not their duty to disseminate information but to do research
and they have absolutely nothing to do with media. This clearly illustrates
some of the dilemmas faced by science journalists all over the world.
The inability
to make enough money from the practice of science journalism accounts for the
dearth of what have become basic tools lack laptops among this lot of people.
These are just but a few. The hurdles are many but despite these, science
journalism still remains an exciting practice.
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