Is the use of 'heartbreak & hype' the only way to sell an engineering story? At first glance the  speakers in this session agree that engineering is exciting in itself. But the examples they use in their presentations show that a little bit of drama is actually quite an effective sales tool. Today's news consumers like to read about breasts, bikinis, fast cars and football, and engineering organisations are more than happy to tap into mainstream interests to get some media coverage.

Combler rapidement le fossé

La faiblesse de la vulgarisation de la recherche scientifique constitue un frein au développement des connaissances scientifiques dans de nombreux pays en développement. 

Certaines organisations privées l’ont reconnu à Londres lors d’une rencontre à la 6ème Conférence Mondiale des Journalistes Scientifiques. Il s’agit des organismes comme HINARI, AGORA et OARE qui travaillent en collaboration avec l’OMS, la FAO et le Programme des Nations Unies pour l’environnement, PNUE.

In this session, four journalists from different outlets discussed if reporters should take an elitist and an intellectual stance when writing about science. The consensual answer was “no”. They all agreed that science journalism cannot afford to be highbrow if it wants to reach the masses.

The recipe for feeding and supporting the world’s growing population will require using all the ingredients available in the scientific pantry, a group of agricultural experts contended at a WCSJ 2009 panel.