Our History

Our History

1. A safer world – scientific reporting of avian influenza

On June 28, 2006, with the sponsorship of Dupont, Science Journalists’ Salon – our precedent – held a workshop on how to efficient report bird flu, with the theme “A safer world – the role of S&T in bird flu prevention and biosafety system.” Key speakers of the event include Roy Wadia, former spokesperson of WHO China, Lu Wenyi, a senior expert on animal health, and renowned journalist Li Datong from China Youth Daily. They introduced the inspiring cases of WHO in public health and risk communication, the biosafety performance of Dupont in China’s H5N1 bird flu outbreak zones and the experience of China Youth Daily in reporting public health. More than 40 journalists from Beijing and Nanjing as well as experts from China CDC participated in the event.

The Chinese version reporting of the event can be seen in Sohu.Com  and  Dupont China。The PowerPoint presentation of Roy Wadia can be downloaded here.

 

2. Helping spread the capacity-building events of series of science journalism events

Starting from March 2006, international and Chinese science communication organizations have held series of science journalism/science communication workshops, including “Effective Science Reporting in an Era of Globalization” (March 2006)

, “Reporting Bioethics” (September 2006), “Bridging Journals and Mass Media” (November 2006), and “Reporting Climate Change” (March 2007).

The first one -- Effective Science Reporting in an Era of Globalization – received funding from UNESCO, British Embassy Beijing, and British Council China and was mainly organized by Science and Development Network (SciDev.Net), Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (GUCAS), and the China Society for Science and Technology Journalism (CSSTJ). The second and fourth ones were mainly funded and organized by British Council China, British Embassy Beijing and SciDev.Net, while the third one -- Bridging Journals and Mass Media – was sponsored by Elsevier and organized by British Embassy Beijing, SciDev.Net and CSSTJ.

During the promotion and organization of the above events, active members of the Science Reporters’ Salon have helped promote the events among wide journalists’ population and positively joined the workshops. With their strong networking, each of the above events has received wide attentions and large number of applications.

 

3. Organizing Chinese journalists to participate in the 5th World Conference of Science Journalists (WCSJ-5) and promoting the conference harvests among Chinese peers

Under the supports of World Federation of Science Journalists (WFSJ) and the Australian hosts of WCSJ-5, the active members of the Science Journalists’ Salon helped promote the conference information among Chinese journalists and went to Melbourne to attend the conference.

During the WCSJ-5, Jia Hepeng, China coordinator of SciDev.Net and an active member of the salon, was arranged for the plenary speeches on science information biasing and reporting science in the emerging economies. The founder of the Science Journalist’ Salon Li Hujun made a presentation on China’s nuclear power reporting. Xu Xiuhua of the People.com.cn was invited as a panelist for the parallel discussion of Internet-based science reporting.

At WCSJ-5, Jia Hepeng was elected as an executive board member of the WFSJ and acted as the representative of Asian science journalists in the federation.

After the conference was over, Chinese participants of the conference, with the supports of Science Times, held a briefing and communication event to spread the results of WCSJ-5 among Chinese peers in Beijing. At the event, the proposal to form an active science journalist network was been warmly welcomed and echoed among science journalists in Beijing.

The Chinese version reporting of the briefing can be viewed in the website of Chinese Daily of Press and Publication .

 

4. Publication of science journalism book and restructuring China Science Reporting Network

Starting from September 2007, Li Hujun, Jia Hepeng and Zhao Yan of ScienceNet.cn have been engaged in adjusting the website (http://www.sciencereporting.cn) and redesign the mission of the salon, which was renamed as China Science Reporting Network (CSRN) in order to accommodate more science communicators. A memorandum of the China Science Reporting Network (CSRN) has been drafted to work as its constitution, and a board consisting of working science journalists and science communicators has been formed, covering science reporters/editors from Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Guangzhou. The goal of the Network is narrowed and clarified as facilitating capacity building and peer communication, enabling the network to develop with a more realistic approach.

Meanwhile, with the sponsorship of British Council, Jia Hepeng and Mo Yang, an associate professor of GUCAS and a board member of the Network, published a practical science journalism book Effective Science Reporting in an Era of Globalization based on the workshop of the same name in March 2006.

On November 16, 2007, with the supports from SciDev.Net and Science Times& ScienceNet.Cn, the formal launch of the book as well as China Science Reporting Network takes place in Beijing. The event has invited representatives of a group of international organizations and domestic institutes, science journalists, and members from industries.