It was a rather inconspicuous existence that science editors eked out in the conventional media for many years. In the daily newspapers and magazines, you usually had to browse for a long time before you came across their articles, which often seemed a little lost far behind the politics and business sections, somewhere between sports results and share prices. Until the Corona pandemic put the department on the front pages in one fell swoop. Not only in Egypt, but around the globe - and until today.
In Germany, the science podcast with Charité virologist Christian Drosten broke records - and even if there is no Egyptian counterpart, health experts, epidemiologists and virologists have dominated reporting on TV, radio, or in print and online editorial offices in Cairo and Alexandria for more than a year. The sometimes complex topics are classified by science journalists and conveyed as comprehensibly as possible to the reader, the listener, or the TV viewer. They have never been more important than today.
In retrospect, it seems almost prophetic that the DAAD approached the Goethe-Institut some time ago with the idea of conceiving a project on the topic of science and media. In 2021, the project has already entered its fifth year and Ghada El-Sherbiny can certainly see the fruits of the work - and not only because of Corona: "I think we have gone some way to broadening the awareness of the Egyptian media that science journalism is important - even before the pandemic," the cultural programme officer at the Goethe-Institut Cairo looks back. Apart from the daily newspaper Al-Ahram, which already had a large science section, science reporting was rather neglected in the Egyptian media landscape. Today things are different. "But it is not only the media that we have inspired with our workshops and events; institutions such as the American University or the British Council have meanwhile set up their own projects on the topic".
In addition to the exchange between scientists and media professionals, the project also specifically provides training and further education for journalists. Every year, about 40 journalists take part in workshops that teach basic skills that are indispensable in general - but especially when dealing with scientific topics - the search for the right sources and suitable experts as well as the conscientious checking of facts. In addition, the experienced trainers offer the participants help with what is perhaps the most difficult task, telling a complicated topic in an interesting way and making it palatable to the audience. The feedback from the participants after the workshops is almost exclusively positive. And demand is high: there are usually twice as many applicants as places.
This may also be due to the small competition the Goethe-Institut has set up in addition to the training. At the end of each workshop, the journalists present their ideas for a science story to the trainers and colleagues, and discuss the question and approach together . In the weeks following the workshop, the participants research their reports and publish them in their media outlets. Afterwards, a jury of experts selects the three best contributions.
The winner of 2021 comes from Sudan - illustrating how much the project has grown in recent years. "I heard about it from a colleague and am very pleased that the Goethe-Institut in Cairo is including the entire region," says Osman Abdelhalem, who has been working as a freelance journalist for four years. The trained pharmacist has an affinity for scientific topics, so to speak. His passion, however, belongs to the climate. Abdelhalem's award-winning article is about the connection between climate change and the increasing spread of diseases like malaria. "I chose this topic because Sudan is one of the countries most affected by the impact of climate change," says Abdelhalem.
Professionally, the project taught him how to select topics and how to review research results and studies, the journalist says. "On a personal level, the workshop was a turning point. It expanded my capacities and skills, and since then I have done more scientific articles." Abdelhalem agrees that it is a special time for science journalists: "Journalism and politics have a lot of overlap. Through our texts, we can give impetus to a certain topic and reach decision-makers."
If not for the Corona pandemic, Abdelhalem and nine other selected participants would soon be travelling to Germany to visit editorial offices and research institutions. The educational trip organised by the Goethe-Institut was always the crowning finale of a project year. Ghada El-Sherbiny hopes that these trips will soon be possible again. And one topic, she promises, will definitely be on the curriculum for next year: Podcasts. After all, the "Coronavirus Update" with Christian Drosten proved that this is perhaps the perfect format for science journalism.