10 June, 2004 - Published 13:19 GMT

By Jean-Marc Fleury
Director of Communications (IDRC) and Executive Director of the World Conference of Science Journalists in Canada

Development journalism or just good journalism

Reaching the ambitious targets of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will require the participation of everyone, not least of whom are the people of poorer countries themselves.

Development, after all, is not something thrust upon people, but a process in which people engage, in which they are both actors and beneficiaries.

For people to act effectively, however, they must be informed. And that is the role of media and journalists in both developed and developing worlds.

Defining development journalism

This, however is not what some are calling “development journalism.” Development journalism is an oxymoron.

Developing countries need good journalism and good journalists, period. And they need journalists industrious enough to look beyond the polished news releases and briefings put out by well endowed foreign organizations, curious enough to find local sources of expertise, brave enough to present home-grown solutions to pressing development problems.

The task is not easy. Ironically, information about local research is often more difficult to obtain than the work of experts in Northern institutes of higher learning and international organizations.

Developing-country scientists and researchers may also be more reluctant to talk to media, for a host of reasons political and otherwise. And they may be less skilled at presenting their message.

Lack of training

Journalists themselves often lack the training needed to understand both the content and language of research, and its importance to national development efforts. Limited press freedom must sometimes also be factored in.

Overcoming these hurdles requires training both researchers and journalists. Efforts need to be made to strengthen the capacity of developing-world journalists to cover local research to ensure that their societies benefit from the contributions of their best minds.

Developing-country research

A number of organizations are now doing so. Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and London-based SciDev.Net, for instance, are collaborating in making the results of developing-country research better known around the world.

They are also supporting the World Conference of Science Journalists to be held next October. The conference will provide a unique opportunity for journalists to share expertise and exchange experiences in covering development, not as a separate beat but as the very fabric of national social, political, and economic life.