Giornalisti scientifici non sudditi delle fonti

IL RESOCONTO DELLA NOSTRA INVIATA AL 7° CONGRESSO MONDIALE DI DOHA, IN QATAR

Nutrita la presenza di italiani, tra cui cinque colleghi lombardi che hanno vinto una borsa di studio del nostro Ordine. Il prossimo appuntamento sarà, nel 2013, a Helsinki
di Daniela Ovadia

(Da Tabloid, periodico dell’Ordine dei Giornalisti della Lombardia, n 4-2011)

Oltre 720 partecipanti di 91 diverse nazionalità, per la metà provenienti da Paesi in via di sviluppo: è questo il bilancio conclusivo del 7° congresso mondiale dei giornalisti scientifici, organizzato dalla World Federation of Science Journalists (Wfsj), svoltosi alla fine di giugno a Doha, capitale del Qatar. Un successo meritato, dovuto anche alla tenacia delle organizzazioni promotrici, la Nasw, che riunisce i colleghi statunitensi, e la Federazione dei giornalisti scientifici di lingua araba, che hanno voluto portare questo importante evento per la prima volta in un Paese islamico, dove ha sede, peraltro, la ben nota emittente televisiva Al Jazeera.

I membri vecchi e nuovi del direttivo della Federazione Mondiale Giornalisti Scientifici: il nuovo presidente Vesa Niinikangas, finlandese che organizzerà il congressso del 2013 a Helsinki (secondo da sinistra) e la presidente uscente, l’egiziana Nadia El-Awady (al centro con l’hijab).

Il congresso, che ha luogo ogni due anni, costituisce una preziosa opportunità di formazione e collaborazione per i giornalisti scientifici di tutto il mondo. I delegati, tra i quali si contava per la prima volta un folto gruppo di italiani, grazie anche al contributo che l’Ordine della Lombardia ha voluto dare attraverso l’istituzione di borse di studio (vedi box), sono stati ospitati nel nuovissimo campus universitario alle porte di Doha, dove hanno costruito le loro sedi distaccate le migliori università statunitensi, tra le quali Harvard, il Mit, la Georgetown University e la Carnegie Mellon. Gli impressionanti edifici, opera di famosi architetti, sorgono in mezzo al deserto e hanno visto susseguirsi, per cinque giorni, sessioni dedicate a tutti gli aspetti della professione. Nelle freddissime sale del centro congressi si è parlato anche di formazione, con un workshop internazionale dedicato alla didattica del giornalismo scientifico. A fianco di ricercatori di chiara fama, come il Nobel per la chimica egiziano Ahmed Zewail, c’erano anche giornalisti specializzati in grado di discutere di scienza dal punto di vista dei media.

È ora completo il board della Federazione Mondiale dei Giornalisti Scientifici

After much suspense and two ties, the WFSJ has a new board. The board, which will be ratified at the World Conference of Science Journalists 2011 in Doha this coming June, will be formed of new incoming board members Kathryn O’Hara (Canada), Lucy Calderon (Guatemala), Pallava Bagla (India), and continuing board members Christophe Mvondo (Cameroon), Nadia El-Awady (Egypt), and Natasha Mitchell (Australia). The WFSJ president will be elected once bidding for the World Conference of Science Journalists 2013 is done.

Con la scelta del candidato indiano Pallava Bagla a discapito del nostro amico ungherese Istvan Palugyai da parte del board (che in un voto segreto ha dato la preferenza al primo con uno scarto minimo), la Federazione mondiale dei giornalisti scientifici è ora curiosamente guidata da un comitato direttivo di sei membri in cui non sono rappresentati né gli Stati Uniti né l’Europa.

L’eventuale assegnazione del prossimo congresso alla Finlandia, che ha già concorso nel 2009 a Londra e si candiderà nuovamente a Doha, potrebbe far sì che l’Europa sia rappresentata dal Presidente.

Una ragione di più per esprimere il nostro in bocca al lupo al presidente della associazione finlandese Suomen tiedetoimittajain liitto ry,Vesa Niinikangas.

Nadia El-Awady: «Join us in Doha»

We want to spread as much as possible this letter from Nadia El-Awady, President of the World Federation of Science Journalists, so we ask you to diffuse it to any professional who you think might be interested in attending the World Conference of Science Journalists taking place in Doha (Qatar) next June.

WCSJ2011 Moves to Doha, Qatar June 27 to 29, 2011

Here is the official statement by our friend Nadia El-Awady about the decision of moving the World Conference of Science Journalists from Cairo to Doha, published on the website of the WFSJ

Cairo has been witness to very exciting times in the past few weeks and Egypt has now started the inspiring but demanding process of birthing a new democracy.

This will take time and a lot of vigilance and hard work on the part of the Egyptian people.

Doha, Qatar

The organizers of the World Conference of Science Journalists 2011 had to come to the very difficult decision of relocating the conference. We realize that many science journalists were looking forward to visiting a new and exciting Cairo and that so many were hoping to visit Tahrir Square that was just down the road from our conference venue. There were too many uncertainties, unfortunately, and we felt our priority needed to be providing a stable and safe environment to hold a successful conference.

The boards of the Arab Science Journalists Association, the National Association of Science Writers (US), the World Federation of Science Journalists and the WCSJ2011 steering committee met internally and with each other to discuss the situation.

The situation was assessed and discussions revolved around the best way to preserve the conference and to keep it in the Arab world. While we went through these discussions, we received many offers of support. One of them came as an offer from the Qatar Foundation who invited us to move the conference to Doha while honoring the Egyptian spirit of the WCSJ2011. We looked at all our options and we came to the unanimous decision to accept the kind invitation by the Qatar Foundation to move the conference to Doha, Qatar.

So it is my pleasure to announce that the WCSJ2011 will be held on its same dates of June 27 to 29, 2011 in Doha, Qatar with generous support from the WCSJ2011 Leading Sponsor, the Qatar Foundation.

The conference program will remain the same although with some changes to suit the exciting revolutionary times in the Arab world, how they have been affected by social media and what kinds of impacts we expect to see on science and science journalism.

Our leading sponsor in Doha, the Qatar Foundation, will be pulling together an exciting list of fieldtrips on June 30 so conference participants can explore what is happening in terms of research and development in this rapidly growing country.

We sincerely appreciate your patience with us over the past few weeks while our Egyptian staff were busy liberating their country. We have received so many encouraging words of support from science journalists all over the world and those words were deeply appreciated.

We are now working on updating the information on the conference website so that conference participants can proceed with their registrations and reservations. We hope you will have all the information you need to make your plans within the next few days.

We look forward to seeing you all very soon in Doha!

Best Regards,

Nadia El-Awady
Co-Director WCSJ2011
And an Egyptian Revolutionary!

From the WFSJ: Statement on the Cairo 2011 Conference

The board of Science Writers in Italy totally agrees with the statements published yesterday by the World Federation of Science Journalists:

The Board of the World Federation of Science Journalists applauds the steps taken by their Arab colleagues towards democracy and expresses its full confidence that they will succeed and that on the 27th June 2011, the opening day of the 7th World Conference of Science Journalists in Cairo, hundreds of colleagues from all over the world will join them to celebrate greater freedom in the region. Please, read the following statements of support from members of the Board of the World Federation of Science Journalists and from the President of the National Association of Science Writers of the United States, the partner association in organizing the Cairo Conference. At this stage, we also want to thank all the donors, sponsors, partners and participants that have worked so hard to make the Cairo Conference the best World Conference of Science Journalists, ready to happen.

“We are hoping that the situation in Egypt will resolve quickly. We continue to plan the World Conference of Science Journalists-Cairo as scheduled in June 2011. We expect to be able to have more detailed information regarding the Conference within the next two weeks. And we hope that this summer we will welcome all of you to a democratic and even more exciting country of Egypt.”

Nadia El-Awady

President of WFSJ and co-organizer of WCSJ-2011

Dalia Abdel Salam

co-organizer, WCSJ-2011

 

“The National Association of Science Writers is proud to support the World Conference of Science Journalists 2011. We continue to work with our friends and colleagues at the World Federation of Science Journalists and the Arab Science Journalists Association on an outstanding conference. We are following the historic events in Cairo closely and anticipate that we will have updated information on conference plans in the next few weeks.” Nancy Shute, President, National Association of Science Writers (USA) “The program committee is proceeding with planning and preparations for the World Conference of Science Journalists in Cairo this June. We expect it to be an outstanding event, and one that can that can recognize and pay tribute to historic changes in the host country. And we look forward to updating you further as events progress in Egypt.”

Deborah Blum

program chair, WCSJ-2011

 

“The Board of the World Federation of Science Journalists remains committed to not only ensuring that the Conference takes place in Cairo but that it is the most successful science journalism conference to date. The Arab Science Journalists’ Association and the United States National Association of Science Writers have done us all proud in drawing up a fabulous programme and great speakers. Planning and funding are on track and we have every confidence that the situation in Egypt will resolve itself well before the meeting.”

 

Pallab Ghosh

Past President WFSJ and Science Correspondent BBC News

 

For future development and updates on the 7th World Conference of Science Journalists, 27th – 29th June 2011, in Cairo (Egypt), visit the Conference website.

Turone and Ovadia in the program of WCSJ Cairo 2011

The preliminary program of the VII World Congress of Science Journalists that will take place in 2011 in Cairo, Egypt, from June 27 to 29, was published in the conference website.

SWIM-SWITY board member Daniela Ovadia and president Fabio Turone will produce a session on bioethics and on risk, respectively.

In the next couple of months the program will be enriched and better defined, so anyone willing to propose a talk or a panel is invited to contact directly the Co-Directors of WCSJ2011 Nadia El-Awady (nadia.elawady (at) wcsj2011.org) and Dalia Abdel-Salam (dalia.sallam (at) wcsj2011.org) or Program Committee Chair Deborah Blum (deborah.blum (at) wcsj2011.org).

For any kind of assistance, don’t hesitate to contact Fabio Turone (turone (at) sciencewriters.it).

 

Fabio Turone and Nadia El-Awady during ESOF's Media Party, at the Museum of Cinema in Turin