The Association of British Science Writers is delighted to announce a new partnership with the British Science Association (BSA) to continue the long-running Media Fellowships scheme. The ABSW will take over the management and administration of the scheme in 2022, as part of its 75th anniversary celebrations.
On announcing this new venture for the ABSW, Andy Extance, Chair of the ABSW said: The media landscape looks very different now to when these Fellowships started in 1987, however the need to develop understanding and respect between scientists and journalists remains. We look forward to working with our members to continue to give scientists a real taste of the newsroom and believe the Fellowships will contribute to our aim of championing independence and excellence in the reporting of science, medicine, engineering and technology.
The BSA believes the ABSW are an ideal partner for Media Fellowships, due to our network of science journalists and broadcasters, and our track record in running successful training and development programmes.
Katherine Mathieson, Chief Executive of the British Science Association said: We are proud of all the achievements that our Media Fellows have made over the past 35 years in contributing to strengthening the relationship between researchers and the media. We are pleased that the scheme will continue as a result of this partnership under the direction of the experienced team.
We will be working closely with ABSW over the coming months to ensure the transfer of the scheme is smooth and successful, and we look forward to seeing how it develops under their stewardship.
The Media Fellowships began in 1987, with the aim of improving links between science and the media. The programme places working scientists and engineers at a national news or media outlet for two to six weeks giving them experience in, and helping them gain an understanding of, newsrooms.
After 34 successful years of running the Media Fellowships programme, the BSA sought a new partner to take on the scheme so that they could devote more resources to their programmes enabling science to be more relevant, representative, and connected to society.
The ABSW will initially run the Media Fellowships on a smaller scale with the aim of placing five fellows at media outlets. If the scheme proves successful, the aim would be to extend the scheme in future years as an ongoing part of the ABSW’s programmes.
For any of our members who are either interested in hosting a fellow or who work in institutions that might like to support a scientist to become a fellow, please contact Sallie Robins.
