Tag: Science Media Centre

  • Atomium Culture’s official response to Jens Degett

    Atomium Culture’s official response to Jens Degett

    We received this reply to the recent post on Atomium Culture
    by the President of the Danish Association of Science Journalists Jens Degett
    “Atomium Culture and The Role of the Media in Responsible Research and Innovation”

    Brussels – 3 April 2013

    OBJECT: Response to post by Jens Degett published on 24 March 2013

    Dear Jens Degett,

    The inquisitive and questioning nature of journalists is precisely one of the key qualities of the current press that need to persevere in order to ensure the development of Responsible Research and Innovation as the EISRI Summit in Dublin clearly pointed out.

    However, on behalf of Atomium Culture I would like to correct some of the facts that you report in your blog that are in effect incorrect or not precise (in order of appearance):

    1) The EISRI Summits are NOT events organised by the European Commission (nor was the Danish Science in Dialogue conference an EISRI Summit). EISRI stands for “European Intersectoral Summit on Research and Innovation” and is an event that Atomium Culture organises every 18 months to bring together leading representatives from academia, media, industry and policy makers to discuss a key issue relating to the relationship between science and society. For the Irish Presidency of the Council of the EU, the Department for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation decided to use this platform, working in particular with the institutions engaged in Atomium Culture in Ireland (Trinity College Dublin and the Irish Times) to develop the theme of “The Role of the Media in Responsible Research and Innovation”.

    2) Atomium Culture is NOT a media organisation. Atomium Culture is a Brussels-based international non-profit organisation that brings together in its platform leading universities (http://atomiumculture.eu/node/33), media (http://atomiumculture.eu/node/92) and industry (http://atomiumculture.eu/node/43) to promote knowledge sharing and “out of the box” thinking on issues regarding the development of a European knowledge society; AC was launched publicly at the European Parliament by the leaders of the institutions engaged and by V. Giscard d’Estaing, currently Honorary President. The Board is chaired by Felipe Gonzalez and consists of the representatives of all sectors engaged (http://atomiumculture.eu/node/63).

    3) The possible construction of an EU Science Media Centre is a possible project that Atomium Culture is assessing whether or not to promote. It was suggested as a positive project by the representatives of the organisations engaged in AC following the Expert Panel Discussion organised together with Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in March 2012. At this meeting in Frankfurt, several external organisations were also present, representing different fields of science communication. Since then, AC has organised numerous meetings with the different stakeholders to assess how such an institution could benefit science communication in Europe. EUSJA has been invited and represented during some of these meetings.

    4) Our Executive Director Erika Widegren was present at the Odense meeting upon invitation of the European Commission and Danish Ministry. Further, Ms Widegren was present at the ESOF Panel on Responsible Research and Innovation together with Mr Waldemar Kütt, Deputy Head of Cabinet of Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn and Mr Uffe Toudal Pedersen, Permanent Secretary of the Danish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Higher Education.

    5) The conference topics, speaker list and material was prepared by the Conference Coordination Committee and the European Commission. The Conference Coordination Committee included representatives from Atomium Culture, the Irish Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Trinity College Dublin and The Irish Times.

    6) Speakers at the conference included leaders and key representatives from academia, media, industry and policy makers (including the President of EUSJA Barbara Drillsma and President Emeritus Istvan Palugyai). The selection of speakers was done upon suggestion of all partners engaged in the conference and represented all different stakeholders and brought to the table the different perspectives of the debate. Full list of speakers can be found on http://eisri-summit.eu/programme-2/

    7) The aims of the Summit are clearly defined as:
    – Continue the conversation initiated during the “Science in Dialogue”, a Conference held during the Danish presidency to develop a European model for Responsible Research and Innovation;
    – Explore the role of media in the European model for Responsible Research and Innovation;
    – Facilitate the formation of professional networks, knowledge sharing, and exchange of best practices;
    – Come up with concrete recommendations on what has to be done in the short term at a European level to reach the long term objectives of smart, inclusive and sustainable growth.

    In addition to the above corrections, Atomium Culture would further like to clarify that it is not a media organisation involved directly in science communication. What Atomium Culture does is bring together academia, media and industry to assess some of the underlying issues and support the development of innovative projects that can benefit the organisations engaged in the platform.

    AC is a strong proponent of the fact that “Europe already has excellent research universities, media organisations and industry”. AC works with the newspapers engaged in the platform, in particular with our Editorial Committee (composed of the chief science editors of Der Standard, El País, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, The Irish Times and Il Sole 24 Ore) to find new ways of collaboration to benefit all partners and in particular the relationship between science and society.

    From the reaction of members of EUSJA during several of the meetings organised by Atomium Culture in 2012–2013 we understand that there is a clear concern by some of the members of EUSJA relating to some of the new projects that Atomium Culture is promoting—in particular, the development of an EU Science Media Centre.

    We believe that these fears are unfounded and would welcome, as stated several times to members of EUSJA, to have an open and constructive discussion on these themes and to see how EUSJA could play a role in the development of this institution. The EU SMC would be developed to support journalists across Europe so the input of EUSJA is certainly very welcome. Fabio Turone has already voiced some of the concerns and Atomium Culture is doing its utmost to develop a project that reflects the different needs and concerns of ALL stakeholders. There is strong support for the development of an EU Science Media Centre by academic institutions, established media, industry, NGOs and policy makers, each of which sees the usefulness of such an institution.

    Again, thank you for your comments and we hope that EUSJA and its members will welcome the suggestion for a concrete and direct discussion on these themes in the future.

    Renato Tagliaferro
    Director of External Relations
    Atomium Culture

  • Atomium Culture and The Role of the Media in Responsible Research and Innovation – by Jens Degett

    Atomium Culture and The Role of the Media in Responsible Research and Innovation – by Jens Degett

    Atomium Culture sent an official response to this post, that can be read here:

    https://www.eusja.org/atomiun-cultures-official-response-to-jens-degett/

    Science communications is not only a question of telling nice stories that fascinate the public in the best positivistic style. It is a very important part of an advanced society to have an informed public who participate in an open dialogue and the democratic processes behind decision making. Some may see science mainly as a tool to improve economy, but this is only one aspect of science and not all technological developments are beneficial for society. Therefore it is important that the public is informed, understands and participates in the debate about science and technology in society. The shift in European science policy from aspiring to create the best science in the world and instead aiming at creating the best science for the world was the theme of a new series of meetings (EISRI conferences) which started during the Danish EU-Presidency in 2012, and this vision is being implemented in the overall Horizon 2020 strategy.

    EISRI_2013_Dublin-responsible-media-Atomium-culture-controversyThe follow up meeting in Dublin, 25-26 February 2013 titled “The Role of the Media in Responsible Research and Innovation” was organized by Atomium Culture, a relatively new media organization in Europe, which wants to develop a European Science Media Centre. This new organization seems to be enigmatic in several ways. Its founder has no firm academic background, nor has he worked with science journalism or even science communication. The key executives also have a weak background in science journalism and communication. Yet, this organization is very well connected to former top politicians like Felipe Gonzáles and Valéry Giscard d´Estaing. In its short time of existence Atomium Culture has made connection to a number of newspapers, but what does this really mean? The content of most of these relationships seems rather empty. To me, their features in English posted in non-English newspapers’ web sites make no sense: readers can’t find them because those features aren’t presented anywhere else in the newspaper (whether in print or on the internet); English speaking readers already have much better sources for science news, even places where they can actually discuss them. This is an example of a top-down, one-way, obsolete, really poor science communication.

    The meeting in Dublin was also somewhat detached from the former meeting in Odense, Denmark. This may not be surprising as Atomium Culture was not present at the meeting in Odense at all. For some reason Atomium Culture was allowed to steal the picture of the follow up conference completely. Both the invitation and the conference programme were written more like PR material for Atomium Culture than an EU-Conference under the Irish Presidency. There were some interesting political statements presented at the conference sessions but very little time to respond and discuss the different conference themes. Even worse was the selection of speakers where a new age pseudo science proponent speaking about the influence of black holes on our minds was put together in a session with highly estimated international scientists. I was thinking during this event. What is Atomium Culture trying to achieve? Why are they so eager to work with science communication? Why was this organization given the responsibility to organize the EISRI conference in Dublin with the support of 400.000 € from The European Commission? Does Atomium Culture really have something to contribute to the dialogue on science? You may have a look for yourself at their website: http://atomiumculture.eu/

    Jens Degett,
    Chair of the Danish Science Journalists Association

  • A Science Media Centre for ERA? / Why science journalists must be vigilant

    A Science Media Centre for ERA? / Why science journalists must be vigilant

    From the Spring 2013 issue of EUSJA news

    A Science Media Centre for ERA?

    The UK Science Media Centre (SMC) has just celebrated its 10th anniversary and is widely acclaimed for its positive role in (re)engaging the media with science and acting as an intermedi- ary between the research community and journalists. The SMC concept is being adopted in other countries too. But how would a SMC for the EU work and what would its role be?
    This was the subject of a brainstorming workshop held in Brus- sels on 12-13 November 2012. The meeting followed an initial discussion in Berlin and an expert roundtable at ESOF in Dublin in July that year. Around the table in Brussels were representa- tives from the EU institutions, the European Science Foundation, COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) and a handful of media including EUSJA members. Also present was Ed Sykes from UK SMC and Sile Lane from Sense about Science. Erika Widegren of Atomium Culture, who initiated the EU SMC discussion, led the meeting.
    The two-day meeting looked first at the mission, remit and services of an EU SMC and then at financial and governance issues. A clear outcome of the discussions was that trust would be a defining element in determining whether the centre would work or not.
    The EU Chief Scientific Adviser, Anne Glover, joined the meet- ing briefly and is clearly a supporter of the idea. She is keen that initiatives such as an SMC are established to support the environment for evidence-based policy-making within all the EU institutions.
    The mission of an EU SMC was jointly defined as: ‘Serving the public by facilitating communication between European media and research communities’. The EU SMC should also cover ‘Europe’ as defined in the European Research Area (ERA), i.e. EU-27 + associated states.
    Three core areas of activity were proposed. Firstly, activities relating to ‘press office’ functions and other services for journalists, secondly training services and provision of material for both scientists and journalists, and thirdly activities relating to coordination and support for existing and new national SMCs in Europe.
    The independence of an EU SMC was vital and although it was likely that EU funding would be needed to initiate the organisation, the medium to long-term financial model should look to that of the UK SMC where funding was obtained from a very broad spectrum of bodies. Following the Brussels meeting, Atomium Culture is putting together a project plan for the start-up of an EU SMC with a five-year timeline. The plan should be available for discussion in the near future.
    The SMC debate continued at a major science communication meeting that took place in February 2013 as part of the Irish Presidency of the EU and could be part of the agenda for WCSJ in Helsinki. If plans run smoothly, the ideal kick-off for an EU SMC would coincide with the new EU research framework programme (Horizon 2020) in 2014.
    For more information on the proposed EU SMC contact Atomium Culture at eusmc@atomiumculture.eu or contact me via• email at tim.reynolds@intacomm.net.

    Tim Reynolds
    (ABSW)

     

    Why science journalists must be vigilant

    Let’s say it clearly from the beginning: I have a big interest in the whole issue because I have been working at a project for establishing an Italian Science Media Centre managed by science journalists since before the Doha World Conference in 2011.

    I have been actively working with the existing International network of Science Media Centres and with several fellow science journalists to increase the value of this model: I think it can be very useful for a well informed society, upon the condition of being applied in full transparency, and with the goal of serving the journalists first, and the science second (and industry third, if ever).

    I produced a panel on the SMC model at the PCST conference in Florence, in April 2012, with among others The EU Chief Scientific Adviser Anne Glover and Fiona Fox, Executive Director of the UK SMC, and later was at several meetings, including the “secret” one (not in the official programme, and on invitation only) that was held at ESOF Dublin, and the one in Brussels where I personally invited Tim Reynolds to write for EUSJA.

    At the end of the Brussels meeting, we were all told that the project would not be discussed in Dublin – as it was originally intended by the organisers at Atomium Culture – because many among the participants agreed with me that after two full days it was still too much a preliminary project.

    As I said repeatedly in Brussels, all the crucial issues about the beneficiaries of the project (many insisted that good journalism needs a National angle and strong root), its goals and its independence were systematically skipped, while the attention was put almost exclusively on bureaucratic matters.

    Erika Widegren agreed that the project was still too immature, and reassured us all citing a time frame of 5 years.

    Now the crucial questions are still there.

    I can only repeat once again what I said repeatedly in person to Erika Widegren: if you use expressions like “proactive trasparency” and promise to send the info about “your” conference to the critical journalists, then you have to keep your word (especially when that conference is heavily funded with public EU money). If you don’t, instead of establishing the good base for a healthy relationship with journalists, you end up being perceived as a threat, as someone willing to hide things and to cut corners.

    My friends who run the UK Science Media Centre and the SMCs in other parts of the world know well – probably because they live in countries in which the power of the media is still quite strong and respected – that every attempt at avoiding open debate would be very counterproductive.

    I hope the science journalism community will be consulted and actively involved starting from Helsinki (I suggested Atomium Culture to do so), and I am sure that the debate will continue online.

    You’re all invited to contribute.

    Fabio Turone
    (EUSJA board member)