The programme for next summer’s WCSJ2013 is shaping up fast

We welcome delegates from the world over to Helsinki to discuss the work of science journalists, science and the world we live in.

WCSJ2013 will feature speakers from all across the globe – award-winning journalists representing a wide array of media and backgrounds, as well as world-renowned experts behind some of the most groundbreaking research out there today.

Image: Ari Aalto/University of Helsinki

Among the distinguished speakers will be Lagipoiva Cherelle Jackson, a Samoan journalist with extensive background knowledge on the UN climate change processes and negotiations, and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Deborah Blum.  Juha Kere, professor of molecular genetics at Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet (KI) and member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) and the Nobel Assembly, and Hans Rosling, professor of International Health at KI and co-founder of Gapminder Foundation, will also spark the discussion at WCSJ2013.

Ethics both in science and science journalism will rise as an important point for inspection. The notions of objectivity, reliability and credibility feature strongly in several session submissions, and will be threaded into the programme from various perspectives.

WCSJ2013 will also grapple with concrete questions related to the different roles in science communication, and how they have changed and will still change in the age of the Internet and open knowledge. What is the role of a journalist in a time when information is accessible immediately almost anywhere, and the classification of expertise appears to be slowly shifting? In what ways can a journalist earn a living, what opportunities for collaboration has open data brought about?

A strong theme in the programme will also be the role of science journalism, and its accountability, in the reporting of catastrophes and risk at large, as explored through the lens of topical case studies.

All present at WCSJ2013 will have their own story, insights and know-how to share. Here, there will also the opportunity to examine a journalist’s work in the light of regional questions and cultural contexts.

WCSJ Helsinki discusses and observes. It works to answer universal questions from the perspectives of all those taking part, and all delegates can find their own way to contribute to the discussion.

Welcome!

WCSJ2013 Helsinki

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More about:

Lagipoiva Cherelle Jackson – award-winning Samoan journalist specialised in the reporting of climate change issues

Deborah Blum – Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist, author of The Poisoner’s Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York, and professor of science journalism at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Juha Kere – Professor of molecular genetics at Karolinska Institutet and member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), the Nobel Assembly and the Finnish Society of Sciences and Letters. Dr Kere’s research focuses on understanding the role of genetics and gene functions in complex disorders.

Hans Rosling – Professor of International Health at Karolinska Institutet and co-founder of Gapminder Foundation. Using the Trendalyzer software system to animate statistics, Rosling makes global economic, social and environmental trends understood.