Medellín, 6 April 2023
The results of a survey mapping the views of science journalists on science journalism in Latin America and the Caribbean were released during the 12th World Conference of Science Journalists in Medellín, Colombia.
The report, Science Journalism In Latin America and the Caribbean 2022 , probes ethical topics, such as the legitimacy of establishing the ethical priorities of science journalism, knowledge of professional associations and codes of ethics, and ethical protections and violations. The survey was conducted by the World Federation of Science Journalists (WFSJ) in partnership with the National Institute of Public Communication of Science and Technology in Brazil, with the support of The Kavli Foundation.
The survey was carried out using a questionnaire containing 32 questions over two weeks in February 2022, and obtained 179 responses from professionals across Latin America and the Caribbean in 18 countries in the region. The survey was distributed in Spanish, Portuguese and English. Key findings include:
These responses prompted the WFSJ to probe further with an extended global survey, asking the same set of questions to science journalists globally. The results of this survey will be released in the coming months. The Federation is also working to develop a set of Guiding Principles of Science Journalism for the global science journalism community.
Journalist respondents were primarily full- or part-time staff (44%) and freelance full- or part-time (40%). The majority of overall respondents were from Mexico, Brazil, and Chile (55%), followed by Argentina and Colombia (20%), and the remaining quarter (25%) other distributed among the countries in the region. Women were the predominant respondents at 60% and 40% for men. Respondent age groups were evenly distributed between 25 to 54, with 35 to 44 years at 33%, 45 to 54 years at 27% and 25 to 34 years at 23%. Those over 54 made up 16% and 18 to 24 at 2%. Most respondents have a university degree in journalism/communication (75%) and some others in science (13%).
Luisa Massarani, a co-author of the report and a science communicator and researcher at the National Brazilian Institute of Public Communication of Science and Technology and the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), in Rio de Janeiro said: “This is the first survey that I am aware of in Latin America that addresses the issue of the ethics in science journalism. Thanks to the high engagement of the science journalism associations, we have a clear snapshot of the ethical priorities, protections, and violations of science journalism in the region as well as insights into attitudes toward coverage neutrality, scientific controversies, uncertainties, fraud, errors, and retractions.”
The WFSJ, a nonprofit Canadian organisation incorporated in 2005, is made up of 67 member associations in 60 countries and has an extended membership of some 10,000 people who work in various areas of science journalism and science communication.
Notes to editors
The report, Science Journalism In Latin America and the Caribbean 2022 was authored by
It was published by the World Federation of Science Journalists and the Brazil’s National Institute of Public Communication of Science and Technology, Casa de Oswaldo Cruz/Fiocruz
Survey
Not applicable
Science Journalism In Latin America and the Caribbean 2022