By James Cornell
A group of 40 Argentine writers, aligned through the nonprofit Argentine Science Journalism Network (RADCAP), have pooled their resources, time, and considerable talents to produce the first-ever anthology of “the best science articles” published in national and regional media during the past year.
The volume, Contar La Ciencia (Telling Science) was formally presented to the public in a publication party at the Argentine Museum of Science, in Buenos Aires, in September. In addition to several authors, physicist and science historian Diego Hurtado as well as several other prominent Argentine scientists spoke at the ceremony.
Valeria Roman of Clarín newspaper, who is known to many NASW members from her leadership role as a 2009-11 board member of the World Federation of Science Journalists and a participant in the ScienceWriters2011 meeting in Flagstaff, was one of the driving forces behind this effort, the first of its kind by any Latin American science writers’ association.
In addition to Roman, NASW members may also be familiar with Nora Bär, who has attended several AAAS meetings, as well as Federico Kukso, Lucas Viano, and Carla Nowak, participants in the Jack F. Ealy Science Journalism Workshops for Latin American reporters, held in La Jolla.
“All the authors are from Argentina and their stories appeared not only in various national and regional newspapers and magazines, but also in blogs,” said Roman. “The whole idea was to show what science journalists are doing in the country right now. And the launch of the book at the museum was an excellent moment to discuss how scientists and journalists can improve their interaction.”
The book (in Spanish, of course) is available as a free download (bit.ly/PjiVjn) thanks to support from the Foundation Mundo Sano, an NGO that supports neglected diseases research in Latin America. Buoyed by the enthusiastic reception for the book, Roman says: “We are planning the next edition for the coming year.”
NOTE: Roman says her group would love to translate the book into English, but there is also some thought that the Spanish version itself could be valuable to Latino students in the United States and elsewhere. Anyone with clever ideas on how to make the volume more widely available should contact Roman at vroman@clarin.com.
James Cornell cornelljc@earthlink.net is president of the International Science Writers Association and pens the “News From Afar” column for ScienceWriters.
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