Tag: ABSW

  • ABSW Awards 2018

    By Mico Tatalovic,

    Chairman of the ABSW

    “Science writing awards for work published or broadcast in the UK or Irish based media in 2017 open for entry on the 1st of January 2018.

    https://www.absw.org.uk/absw-awards/awards.html

    The Awards are for works of science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) journalism/writing, in print, broadcast or online, published within the UK or Ireland and are intended for British and Irish based journalists and writers or those working for audiences in these two countries. You do NOT need to be an ABSW member to enter.

    The ABSW is also co-ordinating an award for ‘European Science Writer of the Year’ for the fourth year.   This initiative has been made possible by support from Johnson & Johnson Innovation. The award is intended to celebrate the work of a journalist or writer who promotes excellence and creativity in science, engineering, technology and mathematics (STEM) journalism and writing.   They will be recognised for entertaining and informing audiences, for inspiring new generations of journalists and writers, and for innovation in their main area of expertise. The award is limited to those who primarily work with the written word, be it features, news, or blogs, but not books. Their work may appear in print, online or both.

    Each European science journalism/writing association is asked to put forward their nomination for the Award (one nominee per association).  It is entirely up to each association to determine the most appropriate way to select their nominee.

    The nominated writer must have been working in the country of the nominating national European association during the relevant competition year, 1 January 2017 – 31 December 2017.  Supporting articles provided with the nomination must have all been first published during the competition year 1 January 2017 – 31 December 2017.

    The winner of the European Science Writer of the Year Award will receive a cash prize of £600 and will be invited to attend the ABSW Science Writers Awards ceremony to be held in London in May 2018.   Funds are available to cover the costs of attending the conference and ceremony.

    The deadline for making your nomination for the European Science Journalism Association Nominations

    is Wednesday 28 February (midnight) 2018.”

     

    About Mico Tatalovic:

    Chairman of the Association of British Science Writers

    Shortlisted for best section team at British Society of Magazine Editors’ Talent Awards 2017

    Ba (Oxon), MPhil (Cantab), MSc (DIC)

    @MTatalovic

    Photo: Marina Huzvarova, EUSJA study trip to ITER, Cadarache

  • European Science Writer of the Year award NOW open for entries

    National associations are invited to nominate their candidate for the European Science Writer of the Year award worth £500 and a free trip to attend the reception at the 3rd European Conference of Science Journalists in Manchester, UK.

    The deadline is 17:00 on Friday 15 April 2016.

    Here’s how to do it  (info is from the Association of British Science Writers’ website):

    “The ABSW is co-ordinating an award for ‘European Science Writer of the Year’ for the second year.   This initiative has been made possible by support from Janssen Research and Development.

    Criteria

    The award is intended to celebrate the work of a journalist or writer who promotes excellence and creativity in science journalism and writing. They will be recognised for entertaining and informing audiences, for inspiring new generations of journalists and writers, and for innovation in their main area of expertise.

    The award is in the first year limited to those who primarily work with the written word, be it features, news, or blogs, but not books. Their work may appear in print, online or both. The ABSW may extend the award to broadcast journalists in the future, but in the first instance is limiting entries to the written word for ease of translation and to simplify judging.

    Process

    Each European science journalism/writing association has been asked to put forward their nomination for the Award (one nominee per association). It is entirely up to each association to determine the most appropriate way to select their nominee.

    The ABSW has decided to ask its members for their nominations with the ABSW’s Executive Board then selecting the winner to be put forward to the European Award. Entries from each national association will then be judged by the ABSW Awards Judging panel.

    The nominated writer must have been working in the country of the nominating national European association during the relevant competition year, 1 January 2015 – 31 December 2015.  Supporting articles provided with the nomination must have all been first published during the competition year 1 January 2015 – 31 December 2015.

    The winner of the European Science Writer of the Year Award will receive a cash prize of £500.00 and will be invited to attend the 3rd European Conference of Science Journalists and ABSW Science Writers Awards ceremony to be held in Manchester, UK, Saturday 23 July 2016.  Funds are available to cover the costs of attending the conference and ceremony.

    For European Science Journalism Association Nominations

    The method by which each Association chooses its nominee is entirely down to that Association.   Only one nominee may be made by each Association. When you have decided on your nomination then please make your entry via the online entry form.

    You may also want to look at this form in order to ensure you gain appropriate information about potential nominees during your selection process. A key requirement is that supporting work should have been published in the entry year which runs 1 January 2015 – 31 December 2015 and that the nominated writer must have been working in the country of the nominating national European association during the relevant competition year, 1 January 2015 – 31 December 2015.

    You must also seek permission from the relevant journalist/writer before making the nomination. The deadline for making your nomination is 17:00 on Friday 15 April 2016.

    The ABSW Awards are a celebration of science journalism in Britain and Ireland, and are much appreciated by journalists as they are always judged and/or nominated by their peers. The ABSW is delighted that this ethos can now be extended to our science journalism colleagues throughout Europe.”

    Last year’s winner was Croatian science journalist, Tanja Rudez of Jutarnji List daily national newspaper, while the second and third place went to Jop De Vrieze, freelance journalist, from the Netherlands who was nominated by VWN (Dutch Association of Science Journalists) and Ewen Callaway, senior reporter at Nature, UK, nominated by the ABSW.

    Tina Popovic, reporter at Vijesti newspaper from Montenegro got an honorable mention for brave investigative reporting.

     

  • Croatia’s Tanja Rudez wins the first European Science Writer of the Year award

    tanja-460_865359S0Croatian science journalist, Tanja Rudez of Jutarnji List daily national newspaper, has won the first European Science Writer of the Year award, beating colleagues from the Netherlands and the UK, who came second and third.

    The award is run the by the Association of British Science writers, with support from Janssen Research and Development.

    The winners were announced at the ABSW Science Writers Awards Ceremony on 25th June in London, following the ABSW’s first ever Science Journalism Summer School.

    “This is the first year for our latest award, European Science Writer of the Year,” said Martin Ince, Chair of the judging panel and President of the ABSW. “The Award has provided a great opportunity to learn more about our colleagues throughout Europe.”

    Jop De Vrieze, freelance journalist, from the Netherlands who was nominated by VWN (Dutch Association of Science Journalists) came second, and Ewen Callaway, senior reporter at Nature, UK, nominated by the Association of British Science Writers, came third. Other nominees were from France, Italy, and Montenegro.

    The award constituted great recognition of Tanja’s hard work over the years, as she tirelessly reported on developments in local and global science and research policy.

    We like to complain in Eastern Europe and blame others for the state we’re in, and I’m the first to call for more and better science reporting in the region, especially about research done by scientists who work there.

    But there are a few individuals who are talented, entreprenurial and lucky enough to be able to do science journalism of the highest quality, equalling what is being written anywhere else in the world. Tanja is one of them.

    Nenad Jarić Dauenhauer, science reporter at tPortal in Croatia, who was also nominated for the award, is another world-class science journalist from the region, and there are other examples. Tina Popovic, reporter at Vijesti newspaper from Montenegro got an honorable mention for brave investigative reporting on the alleged scientific misconduct of government minister. Sloboban Bubnjevic from Serbia just launched a popular science magazine, Elementi, and has started a regional network of science journalists, Mreza Naucnih Novinara. Natalija Boskovic, a young freelancer from Montenegro, recently helped start an online portal there with science news.

    We met some of these people at the recent Balkan School of Science Journalism, in Belgrade and then in Podgorica, supported by UNESCO. What this showed was that talent and enthusiasm amongst young people abound, but there’s a terrible lack of work and training opportunities for them.

    Some have taken things into their own hands, such as the handful of individuals mentioned above.

    But all too often these people and their work are the exception rather than the rule. Their exception results from a combination of hard work, talent, and helpful circumstances – a friendly editor, a media owner who doesn’t mind science, etc.

    We could do much better to foster more science in the media and provide paid opportunities for people to write about science (whether in a university or media context).

    Why does it matter? At a time when Europe at large is struggling to keep up in an innovative global marketplace, without well educated and informed citizens and good science eastern Europe is in real danger of falling behind in socio-economic development. Not only may it not catch up, but it may fall even further behind western Europe.

    Take its ageing transport infrastructure as an example. High-speed train links and superior highways with frequent bus services largely come to an end as you reach eastern Europe.

    A recent anecdote illustrates the point well. At the first Balkan School of Science Journalism in Belgrade, I spoke to colleagues from the capital cities of the neighbouring countries, Zagreb, Budapest, Sarajevo and Podgorica, to find out how they travelled to Belgrade. It turns out it took every one of us about 7-9 hours of gruelling travel on trains or buses. At a distance of around 300 km, this would only take the latest generation maglev trains from Japan about half an hour, or an hour on western Europe’s high-speed trains.

    Unfortunately, we’re still stuck with railways built in the 19th century and ageing 20th century technology – and our people often don’t even know what they’re missing. Without sufficient science journalism, there’s no one to tell them.

  • 2nd UK Conference of Science Journalists – 25th June 2012

    2nd UK Conference of Science Journalists – 25th June 2012

    The 2nd UK Conference of Science Journalists (UKCSJ) will take place on Monday 25th June 2012 at The Royal Society, London. A key note address will be given by Jay Rosen, media critic, writer, and professor of New York University.

    Registration is now open at www.ukscj.org. The event will run throughout the day at times to be confirmed. The ABSW has organised increased capacity for this event and will now be able to accomodate 300 delegates.Programming is underway with 2 plenary and 12 parallel sessions to focus on the three key aims:

    • To discuss and debate contemporary issues in science journalism
    • To encourage and provide skills for newcomers
    • To promote professional development

    The first ever UKCSJ was held in 2010 and followed in the footsteps of the 2009 World Conference of Science Journalists (WCSJ) held in London.  The WCSJ saw nearly 1000 delegates from all around the world meeting to discuss issues affecting the profession of science journalism. Demand for delegate places at the London Conference was high amongst UK science journalists and revealed a real desire for a forum in which professional issues could be discussed.

    To meet this demand the ABSW organised the UKCSJ – a WCSJ on a far smaller scale with the focus on the profession in the UK.   The UKCSJ runs on alternate years to fit with the alternate year programme of the World Conference of Science Journalists.   The next WCSJ will take place in Helsinki, Finland in 2013.