NEWS FROM AFAR

by Jim Cornell

Do the Bossa Nova at World Conference in Brazil. More that 500 science communicators from around the globe are expected to attend the Third World Conference of Science Journalists in Brazil, Nov. 24-27. WCSJ Brazil 2002 will be hosted by the Brazilian Association of Science Journalism.

NASW members attending the conference as speakers, presenters, and advisory committee members include Paul Raeburn, Jim Detjen, Kenji Makino, John Noble Wilford, and myself.

Organizers also hope to found a new global journalism association, the World Federation of Science Journalists (WFSJ). The federation was originally proposed in Tokyo in 1992, reintroduced in Budapest in 1999, and formally defined by an ad hoc group in Tokyo at the International Conference of Science and Technical Journalists last October. A copy of the WFSJ's draft constitution was published in SW (Winter 2001-02).

The concept of a world federation was tentatively endorsed by the NASW executive board at its February meeting in Boston. Especially appealing to NASW is the help such a global organization might offer in resolving international royalty and copyright issues, and its potential for training young science writers from both developing and industrialized nations.

Details of the WCSJ Brazil 2002 program, registration forms, and call for papers and posters, as well as travel tips and background on Brazilian science and culture, can be found at the conference Web site, http://www.abjc.org.br/congresso/.

News From Britain. The May-June 2002 issue of The Science Reporter is available at http://www.absw.org.uk/science_reporter.htm. Published "every two months or so" by the Association of British Science Writers (ABSW), this newsletter contains articles about science writing, news about members, and a calendar of upcoming science meetings.

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Jim Cornell is president of the International Science Writers Association. News From Afar is the first in an occasional column on international events. Send items-international programs, conferences, fellowships, etc.-to cornelljc@earthlink.net.

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