The need of science journalism in the modern times

In the past hundred years, science has grown explosively to make human life much healthier and comfortable. Many dreadful diseases like polio and plague have been brought under control, better machines to accelerate the accurate diagnosis of diseases have been made and many lifestyle products like deodorants,cosmetics,soaps etc have come into being as a basic part and parcel of modern life. All these have been the gifts of science to us.

It is the ongoing journey of science which continues to give us hope over diseases like AIDS and Cancer as well as many other global problems like environmental pollution, food shortage,global warming, species extinction,climate change etc. Unfortunately, for all that science has given us and for all that science is capable of giving us, our society is still oblivious to the power of science. The understanding for science in our society has lagged behind tremendously and has not been able to keep up with the voluminous discoveries and inventions the scientific world has been bubbling with. Carl Sagan succinctly expresses this phenomenon when he states,'We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology'.

The main reason for this could be the excessive use of scientific and technical jargon used by the scientists which makes it difficult for the masses to understand it. Most scientists write their research paper for the scientific world so for a lay person to understand the implications of a new scientific discovery, is a totally uphill task. It is here that science journalism plays a tremendous role. The main goal of science journalism is to present scientific facts and research in a simple and entertaining manner that even a child might understand. Science on its own is an extremely interesting subject and the purpose of science journalism is to reveal this beauty of science without getting bogged down by the details.

The need for science journalism in the modern times is tremendous : unless the society understands science, it might have an antagonistic view towards it. Even today, in some under-privileged parts of the world, vaccines are looked at as 'evil' and are rumored to induce male sterility. Such misconceptions about science are a serious barrier towards achieving a healthier world. Science Journalism here, plays a very important role by dispelling myths associated with science and presenting crisp and clear science facts in an interesting manner.

Also, world over science funding is facing severe cuts. The governments today have come to view science experiments as a waste of funds - tending to actively fund a narrow range of research areas. Scientists need to constantly fight for funding since the grants are available for very specific areas and by provoking the curiosity of the general people, science journalism could do a world of good to science funding.

Science journalism is not limited to just writing about science. It also encompasses Radio, Television and Film making, holding science as the main subject. Programs like How the Universe works on Science TV channel and Dinosaur Planet on Discovery TV channel help in making science fun, entertaining and understandable by the masses.

People wish to know about science : Children are curious by nature and wish to know - Why the sky is blue? Why does it rain? Why do rainbows form? It is just the tedious coursework that they come across in school that in most of the cases changes our love for knowledge to love for grades. According to a survey by The New York Times, their Tuesday Science supplement is the most popular of all the weekly supplements. Science is not boring- Science invokes our curiosity even today yet this is not acknowledged.

We need more science journalists to bring about this change. Specially in a country like India, where myths and mythologies co-exist with all the science and technology development that we have achieved, we need science journalists in regional languages, science programs on televisions, science movies, science shows and science TV channels to make our people be more aware and be in sync with the times.