About the SMCC
Staff | Steering Committee | Advisory Panel
Science has never been more pervasive in everyday life, yet seldom have so many people felt so unconnected to it. Meanwhile structural changes in the mass media mean there are fewer and fewer specialized medical and science journalists. The burden is falling instead on general assignment reporters, who mostly lack the expertise to present science in an engaging fashion.
Nor is the Internet the answer. Although easily accessible, much online information about science is either too complex, too one-dimensional or too biased to be helpful. Surveys by the U.S. National Science Foundation have shown that only one in five people actively seek out science information; many more will listen or read when it’s presented in the mass media.
Two years ago a small group of concerned journalists, researchers and public supporters of science decided the way to tackle this problem was primarily by providing help to general assignment reporters. Our proposed remedy is the Science Media Centre of Canada, patterned after centres already operating successfully in the U.K. and Australia.
The Science Media Centre of Canada will help journalists cover stories in which science plays an important part. This means everything from stories where science is the story - such as the discovery of a new Earth-like planet – to stories where science provides the crucial factual underpinning - such as citizen opposition to cellphone towers. The word “science” here is shorthand for the natural, social and biomedical sciences and also encompasses stories dealing with technology, engineering, environment and some aspects of the humanities.
The Goal:
Increased public engagement with science issues through media coverage of science that is more informed, more accurate and more incisive. Scientists, journalists, policy makers and the public will benefit.
The Users:
The SMCC will give priority to helping journalists who don’t have the luxury of specializing in covering science, the usually overworked and too often underappreciated General Assignment reporters. Yet the Centre also intends to provide a range of services that will prove useful to feature writers, editors, producers and even journalists specializing in science.
The Approach:
Science media centres exist already in Britain, Australia and New Zealand. Although the SMCC plans to co-operate energetically with them, it will not be a clone. It will be indisputably Canadian providing services in French and English and responding to regional concerns while taking a pan-Canadian approach to identifying and distributing the best sources of expertise.
Last fall, Halifax Global Management Consultants carried out an extensive consultation with more than 400 stakeholders across Canada on the Centre’s behalf. There was enthusiastic support for these program elements:
A rapid-response service
This is aimed at a science issue that erupts into hard news, such as the H1N1 pandemic or the Chalk River isotope shortage. Within a half-hour of the initial media inquiry, the Centre will provide contact details for key experts and URLs for reliable web sites. Plain-language briefing notes on hot topics will be ready or issued within 24 hours.
Media briefings on demand
When a significant story with a science dimension breaks or one is scheduled to unfold, the Centre will arrange media briefings with top experts. Usually these will be streamed on the web in real time and archived online. The Centre will also use teleconferencing, Skype and, where feasible, videoconferencing facilities at universities and research institutions across the country. A moderator will keep briefings on topic and concise.
Training in practical matters
An introductory workshop on handling numbers and statistics will be the first training priority for the Centre. Follow-up workshops will provide tools for interpreting more complex scientific data, especially where competing claims exist. Other relevant courses will be developed in response to demand.
Getting the deeper story
Reporting on science is as much about coverage of complex, continuing themes as it is about rapid response to breaking news. The Centre will also provide the media with briefings and background material to help decipher issues with differing scientific points of view, such as climate change and the interpretation of pharmaceutical trials.
Journalism 101 for scientists
The Centre will offer scientists the chance through workshops to really understand how the media think and operate, warts and all. The insight will help them get their key points across in a way journalists will understand and note. A desirable corollary would be Science 101 for journalists, developed in consultation with researchers.
Photos, animations, graphics and video
The Centre intends to serve as a clearing house for high-quality graphics already in the public domain and also develop its own visual library, which would include stock photos, B-roll and digital animations and graphics. Other services may include a calendar of scientific meetings, with hot links to their specific websites.
Current Status
Almost 50 organizations from the private, public and corporate sectors have donated $5,000 to become Charter Members of the SMCC and are recognized on the Centre’s website. This funding has let us push ahead aggressively in these areas:
• In October the SMCC hosted an introductory luncheon in Ottawa attended by more than 100 from government, corporate, research and journalism communities. Similar regional events are being planned for 2010.
• The Centre is now incorporated federally as a non-profit corporation.
• Office space and logistic support has been provided in Ottawa by the Canada Science and Technology Museum as an in-kind donation.
• An executive director will begin work in January to plan and implement Centre programs, develop a strategy for sustainable funding following the Business Plan, recruit and support an inaugural board of directors and build strategic partnerships.
• Several dozen background briefing notes are under preparation in a co-operative venture with the Canadian Science Writers’ Association.
The Future
The SMCC is aiming to begin operations in the summer of 2010 and grow to a full-time staff of four or five. After initial start-up costs, annual operating costs will range between $500,000 and $600,000. No one source will contribute more than 10 per cent of that operating budget. The Centre’s Board of Directors will encompass all the key players, feature “Champions” and be supported by strong advisory groups for science and journalism.
November 2009
 | Penny Park |
| Suzanne Corbeil, chair | Director, Global Outreach, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics |
| Peter Calamai | Founding member, Canadian Science Writers’ Association, Contributing editor, Cosmos Magazine (Aust.), Adjunct professor Carleton University |
| Beth Everson | Director, Communications and Public Affairs, Canadian Health Services Research Foundation |
| Jean-Marc Fleury | Executive Director, World Federation of Science Journalists BellGlobemedia Chair in Science Journalism, Université Laval |
| Sandrine Michard | President of Corporate Communications, L’Oreal Canada |
| MaryAnne Moser | Director of Communications University of Calgary, Schulich School of Engineering |
| Yves Melanson | Coordinator, Canada Foundation for Innovation |
| Allison Sekular | Associate Vice-President and Dean (Graduate Studies), McMaster University Professor,Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour Canada Research Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience |
| Aled Edwards | Professor, Banting and Best Department of Medical Research University of Toronto |
| Louis Fortier | Professor, Département de Biologie |
| Andrew D. Miall | Professor of Geology, University of Toronto President: Academy of Science, Royal Society of Canada (2007-2009) |
| Vern Paetkau | Professor emeritus, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology University of Victoria |
| Molly S. Shoichet | Professor, Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry University of Toronto Canada Research Chair in Tissue Engineering |
| Richard Wassersug | Professor, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology Dalhousie University |
