Science journalism: It's not beyond us

Local media in developing countries should emphasize local scientific content to promote its relevance to the masses, writes Dyna Rochamyaningsih

The Jakarta Post
Thursday, April 23, 2009

By Dyna Rochamyaningsih

Many Indonesians find science difficult to grasp and think it is irrelevant, preferring to focus on things that affect them directly. Too many examples are available to support this statement.

Many people here were reluctant to participate in Earth Hour last month because they did not understand its importance, or how the "shut down" would affect them.

Thousands of people went to Ponari and collected water from her shower in hope of obtaining a cure to their illnesses -- because they were told to do so. We cannot judge these people as stupid or uneducated, they were just not well informed.

Humans develop their individual perceptions of the world around them based on information they collect. This information exists in the form of memories of personal experiences, beliefs and education. Media plays a vital role in carrying information and making information available to individuals. Media is thus likely to shape the values of individuals in societies and, consequently, the collective awareness of societies.

In this way, science journalism is able to carry information from scientists in laboratories to readers in sidewalk cafes. It can make "inaccessible science" issues digestible for the majority of the population.

In the United States and in other western countries, this kind of journalism boomed in the 1980s and early 1990s. But last month, Nature News, the news section in the most prestigious international science journal, stated surprisingly that this year science journalism has been declining in those countries.

Some say this has been caused by the emergence of science blogging (independent online journal-keeping) that is a growing trend among scientists. Ironically, there is a totally different phenomenon in the developing world.

Here, science journalism is flourishing or even just starting out. Given that it can promote science literacy, science journalism does matter in developing countries. Based on SciDev.net, a website for science in developing countries, science journalism is thriving in Latin America, India and Africa.

In this term, it is important to note that science literacy does not mean that everybody must understand every technical detail of scientific ideas, but that the public is more likely to understand the roles science can play in social and economic developments.

Science journalism covers scientific ideas concerning health problems, medical advice, conservancy, ethical technology, global warming and other issues that are relevant to the readers.

But there is one big problem in science journalism in developing countries: Most stories are imported from the developed world. Based on a study conducted by SciDev.net in 2008, more than 51 percent of science news in South Africa comes from developed countries, while in Latin America more than 41 percent of science news stories are on research from developed countries.

Local newspapers in developing countries (including Indonesia) prefer to copy science news from media sources in the developed countries. Of course this is bad journalism, but it also shows the local media's poor awareness of local research.

Some say that this imbalance is due to a lack of research being conducted in the developing world. This is completely untrue, given that in Indonesia as well as many other developing countries there are many examples of important research that should be covered by the local media, including the analysis of chemical substances in our traditional medicines; genetic diseases in our local cattle; studies on our endemic amphibians; research on orangutan populations; and many more.

Thus, we should urge local media to aim to provide more locally relevant content in science journalism. Marina Joubert, a science reporter from South Africa, says that the large amount of international content in science news coverage makes readers in developing countries think science is not relevant to them, especially among those trapped in extreme poverty.

This is what is happening in Indonesia, as many newspapers have science and technology sections, but most of these pages are filled with information about research and sophisticated or expensive gadgetry from developed countries, and sometimes even about online games! Inevitably, this situation will lead readers to perceive science as something beyond them.

Date Posted: 4/23/2009