The Media Council of Kenya CEO Mr David Omwoyo says enhanced working relationships between the academia, science and media are key in boosting ethical reporting of scientific research.
Mr Omwoyo says that journalists can simplify scientific breakthroughs using facts and data if they closely engage scientists to explain their findings.
“While both scientists and journalists strive to serve public interest a middle ground should be found to address the misinformation around science that we often come across”, he said at the Moi University School of Information Sciences' first-ever Science Journalism Conference when he spoke about the topic: Ethical Reporting of Scientific Research.
He underscored the place of the media in promoting matters of public interest such as health, and urged media workers to uphold accuracy, relevance and ethics while reporting on science.
“The media shapes public thinking around issues and should as a result clearly explain to the people the different medical matters in the simplest way”, he said.
Mr Omwoyo also called for alignment between Government policy and scientific research, saying this would contribute to impact and undertaking of realistic scientific endeavours.
“One of the reasons media ignore science is the nature of their research; some are not realistic as policy making has disconnected from science unlike in the developed world”, said Mr Omwoyo.
The CEO affirmed the Council’s support to professional coverage of health matters. “The largest amount of grants we give at MCK is on health grants. This is deliberately done to ensure the media can effectively communicate health matters”, he said.
He pledged the Council’s continued collaborations with media training institutions to nurture professionalism at the foundation.
He urged media training institutions to organise similar information exchange engagements and to engage policy makers at the National and devolved units to boost sharing of scientific research.
Participants called for enhanced training of journalists and scientists on media to boost sharing of scientific research.