Public understanding of science and technology can be a major element in promoting national prosperity, raising quality of public and private decision making and in enriching the life of an individual.

However, public awareness and interest in S & T (Science and Technology) matters are quite different from public understanding of the techniques or the issues involved. Often, public understanding of S & T lags behind its awareness and interest. With science and technology having become an inseparable part of our daily life, the creation of scientific awareness among the masses has become all the more important now than ever before. One realizes, however, that creation of mass awareness about scientific matters can hardly be achieved without availability of adequately trained manpower. Hitherto, armature hobby writers and freelance writers have kept the flag of science journalism afloat.

Presentation of science and technology in the mass media, be it broadcast or print media, leaves much to be desired in this “information age”. Although it is usually blamed on “lack of interest” among the masses as much as the “squeeze/pressure” extended by the media proprietors in favour of political and other human interest stories. However, the increasing popularity of science channels such as “Discovery” or “National Geographic Channel” has proved that if stories on science and technology are packaged and presented intelligently and skillfully, it can definitely command attention of the common man from the clutter of entertainment programmes.

In day today life people are generally to the trends and innovation in fields of science and technology. Most people see the bulk of scientific knowledge as simply irrelevant to their needs and interest and they are probably right. This happens because invariably most of the information on S & T are not made available in a user-friendly manner or format.

National Council for Science and Technology Communication, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India (NCSTC-DST-GOI) had undertaken and supported innovative programmes to develop a team of professionally trained science communicators, writers and journalists who can take-up this challenge of processing the information on science and Technology and present them in such a manner that it is educating as well as entertaining to the common man.

Indian Science Communication Society (ISCOS) is undertaking this training course which will produce specially trained science writers, communicators and journalists. This would enable to bridge the gap between the scientists/experts who work at the forefront of science, and the common man who enjoy the benefits of science or has to suffer the ills brought about by a scientific and technological breakthroughs/misadventures.

The Programe

This is one year training course focusing exclusively on science journalism. It shall endeavour to impart required skill and expertise so that the science could be presented in various media in an informative as well as entertaining manner and is able to attract and hold the attention of a common man. The mode of instruction will be distance education, as it will enable the participants to learn at their own pace and place.

Objectives

The broad objectives of the training course in science journalism are:

• To impart the basic journalistic skills and techniques.
• To equip the participants with the requisite expertise so that they can popularise S & T and can also communicate effectively through different media with a view to simulate scientific outlook.
• To update their knowledge and competency in various functional areas of science journalism like Science Communication and popularization, S & T policy and set-up, Science News Reporting and Writing, Science Fiction and Plays etc.
• To familiarize the participants about the ethics of science journalism.
• To expose the participants to the world of media and media organization.
• To provide them hands-on experience in critical areas of science journalism.

Focus Areas

This one year training course in science journalism has the following main focus areas: Fundamentals of Science Journalism, Presentation formats of Science Journalism, Techniques of Science Journalism, Mass Media for Science Journalism, Specialisation in various fields of Science Journalism. (Detailed syllabus will be provided at the time of registration.)This is one year training course focusing exclusively on science journalism. It shall endeavour to impart required skill and expertise so that the science could be presented in various media in an informative as well as entertaining manner and is able to attract and hold the attention of a common man. The mode of instruction will be distance education, as it will enable the participants to learn at their own pace and place.

The uniqueness of the programme lies in its judicious blending of technical, human and conceptual skills. Due care has been taken in designing of the programme to enable the participants to strengthen/sharpen their professional skills as well as their knowledge base concerning science journalism.

The fee for the program shall be as under