ESOF Young Science Reporters given access all areas
Wednesday 27 July 2016
SALFORD University’s ‘Young Reporters’ team were given ‘access all areas’ at Europe’s largest science conference this week.
Undergraduates Fareed Patel, Zafar Ibrahim, Faye Kennedy and Ella Train acted as trainee reporters at the European Science Open Forum posting stories from the amazing world of science on social media and blogs, including the conference’s own blog.
Invited by Marketing Manchester under the guidance of Professor Andy Miah and the University’s Press Office, the quartet were joined by five college students from Bolton UTC in digging out views, voices and vital breaking news from press conferences, programmed sessions and, of course, the corridors and coffee bars!
They were also introduced to some of the new interviewing technology used by mobile news reporters, including 360 cameras, Google Glass and news aggregators such as Wakelet – the hugely-successful platform created by Salford University graduate Jamil Khalil.
'Professionals'
Andy Miah, professor of science communication at Salford, said: “We persuaded ESOF to accredit the team as professional media, which allowed them the same rights and privileges as national news reporters.
“We wanted to give them a taste not only of a major science conference – the biggest in Europe – but of how science is understood and reported, firing their interest in science communication and giving them some new transferable skills for their future careers.”
In addition to meeting the likes of Professor Brian Cox and Professor Andrew Geim, and rubbing shoulders with CEOs from GSK and Elsevier the students also interviewed national journalists, such as veteran Guardian writer Tim Radford.
Bolton UTC student Nabeelah Patel’s article on the Zika Virus so impressed New Scientist editor Sumit Paul-Choudhury, he has invited her to take part in one of the media outlet’s educational programmes!
Engaging articles
Zaf, Faye, Ella and Fareed - 2nd and 3rd year students in the School of Environment & Life Sciences, fed into a twitter feed ESOF Young Reporters and videoed interviews with academics, exhibitors and writers, including quizzing University of Salford’s Dr Gary Kerr about his research into science festivals.
Zaf and Fareed wrote engaging articles on Sir Andrew Witty’s presentation on global pandemics and a panel discussion on the dangers of a 24-hour society to our biological clock.
Faye and Ella composed several excellent pieces on antibiotic resistance and the obstacles faced by women scientists.
