In September, EUSJA was invited to attend the seminar of the Balkan network of Science Journalists (BNSJ) in Belgrade. The event was held at the Institute of Physics Belgrade, right at the bank of the Danube river.
EUSJA president Fintan Burke attended the event, and was encouraged to see so many positive examples of science journalism in action.
During the seminar, Brian Lin from EurekAlert! Discussed how science journalists are best placed to deal with the uncertainty that the news media increasingly finds itself covering. That said, science journalism that deals exclusively on mainstream media is now missing half of the young people in the US, and so Lin recommended that science journalists focus more on engaging online creators.
In a series of panel discussions, Balkan scientists and journalists discussed climate change and health communications, citizen science and journalism, and achieving diversity, equity, and inclusion in science reporting. In the latter session, it was interesting to hear a discussion on encouraging early-career scientists to include their heritage & backgrounds in interviews.
The seminar ended with a roundtable discussion on new science journalism trends, where EUSJA president Fintan Burke spoke with Renata Dacinger (RTV Slovenija) and Maja Ratej (Radio Slovenija).
The session reflected topics discussed several times during the workshop; traditional media need to find new ways to engage younger audiences, a younger generation of scientists are more aware of the need to communicate, and new publication models are finding ways to engage hard-to-reach audiences.
After the roundtable, participants visited Belgrade’s new Palace of Science. The museum showcases Serbia’s past and present contributions to computing, robotics, and astronomy. The day then ended with dinner at Restaurant Carusso, a rooftop restaurant with great views of the city.
The BNSJ is currently finalising the paperwork to become full members of EUSJA in the next six months. We look forward to having them, and to the many exciting discussions to come.