Dear Colleague,

The London School of Economics and Politics and Political Science (LSE) as well as The Science for Development Network (SciDev.Net) would like to ask you a few questions about your professional situation, your working practices, and the future of the profession as well as any training needs you may have. It would take you approximately 15 minutes to answer these questions.

SciDev.Net intends to use the results of this questionnaire to further improve its capacity building strategies, including our free workshops for science communicators and our free online material such as practical guides - to name a few.

If you would like to know the results, please leave us an e-mail address and we will send you a report.
Complete this survey for a chance to win our prize competition, we are giving away a Sony digital voice recorder worth over 30 pounds sterling (GBP)! ? leave your email below:

	Contact e-mail:
	Please re-type:

Thank you.

Martin W Bauer (LSE, Methodology Institute); m.bauer@lse.ac.uk
Jessica Romo (Monitoring & Evaluation Officer, SciDev.Net); jessica.romo@scidev.net

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Q1 Were you part of WCSJ 2011 in Doha, and did you participate in previous conferences? Please mark all the years you participated.

		Doha 2011
		London 2009
		Melbourne 2007
		Montreal 2004
		Brazil 2002
		Budapest 1999
		Tokyo 1992

Q2 Which is your training background? Please mark the ONE that best describes your background, and specify further if needed:

		Journalistic training on the job
		Journalism school
		University degree + training on the job
		University degree + general journalism training
		University degree + specialist science journalism training
		If University degree, please state your highest degree
			First degree
			Master
			PhD
		If University degree please also state your last degree subjects:

Q3 Are you a member of a national Science Writers Association or any another professional journalism body?

		Yes
		No, was previously
		No, never was

Q4 How old are you? (in years).


Q5 Are you:

		Male
		Female

Q6 How would you position yourself politically on a left-right spectrum? Would you say you are:

		Left
		Centre-left
		Centre
		Centre-right
		Right
		Other, please specify

Q7 What is your job title or how do you describe yourself professionally? Please specify


Q8 Is science journalism your main activity, or are you otherwise employed?

		Science journalism is my main occupation
		I am a scientist, who writes occasionally for the wider public
		I am a Public Relations officer working with journalists
		I am a journalist who occasionally reports on science
		My main employment is other, please specify

Q9 For which world region do you mainly report?

		Europe/Russia
		South Asia
		South East Asia & Pacific
		Caribbean, South & Central America
		USA & Canada
		Northern Africa & Middle East
		Sub-Saharan & Southern Africa
		China

Q10 In which country are you based?

	Country name:

Q11 To what extent are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the situation in your country regarding

	Completely satisfied	Very satisfied	Satisfied	Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied	Dissatisfied	Very dissatisfied	Completely dissatisfied	Not applicable
Freedom of the press / freedom of expression
Access to information from government agencies
Access of scientists as sources for your work
Personal safety in the discharge of your duties as a journalist

Q12 How long have you worked in science journalism?

		Less than 5 years
		6-10 years
		11-15 years
		More than 15 years

Q13 What best describes your current professional employment position?

		Part-time freelance
		Full-time freelance
		Part-time staff
		Full-time staff
		Other, please specify

Q14 How has your present employment changed over the last 5 years? Please mark as appropriate

		No change
		From part-time to full-time contract
		From full-time hours to part-time contract
		From employed to self employed
		From self employed to employed

Q15 What topic areas do you primarily cover? Please rate all areas

	Mainly	Occasionally	Never	Don't know	Not applicable
Health and medicine
Science
Technology
	Mainly	Occasionally	Never	Don't know	Not applicable
Environment
Business
Social science
	Mainly	Occasionally	Never	Don't know	Not applicable
Agriculture
Climate Change
Energy
	Mainly	Occasionally	Never	Don't know	Not applicable
Science Communication
Science Innovation
Science Policy
Other, please specify

Q16 In which of these media does your work appear? Please rate each of them.

	Mainly	Occasionally	Never	Don't know	Not applicable
Print
Radio
Television
	Mainly	Occasionally	Never	Don't know	Not applicable
Podcast
Video podcast
Blog
	Mainly	Occasionally	Never	Don't know	Not applicable
Web story / website
Book
Exhibition
	Mainly	Occasionally	Never	Don't know	Not applicable
Social Media - Facebook
Social Media - Twitter
Social Media - other
Other, please specify

Q16a If your work appears on any of the below media please indicate its geographical reach.

	Local	National	Regional
Print
Radio
Television

Q17 Whom do you consider as your audience? Please indicate your focus for each of these audiences:

	Mainly	Occasionally	Never	Don't know	Not applicable
The general, wider public
A special interest public
A scientific audience
	Mainly	Occasionally	Never	Don't know	Not applicable
Your fellow journalists
Politicians
Private Sector
	Mainly	Occasionally	Never	Don't know	Not applicable
Non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
Other, please specify

Q18 How do you know about your audiences and whether you reach them? Please mark all that apply

		I have no feedback at all
		Occasional letters from readers
		Click stream ratings from the internet
		Regular audience research of my outlet
		From friends and family
		Other, please specify

Q19 How would you define your role as science journalist vis-à-vis your audience, tick only the ONE that best describes your ethos

		To translate complex material
		To entertain
		To inform
		To educate
		To mobilize the public
		To be a public watch dog
		Other, please specify

Q20 Think of the last TWO WEEKS, how many stories, items or packages were you working on for the following outlets?

	None	1	2	3	4	5	More than 5
Article
Blog
Website
	None	1	2	3	4	5	More than 5
Podcast
Promotional text
Press release
	None	1	2	3	4	5	More than 5
Exhibition
Book
Social media
Other, please specify

Q21 How often do you get story ideas from the following sources? Please answer for each source.

	Mainly	Occasionally	Never	Don't know	Not applicable
Press release/press officers
Conferences
Other media outlets. Please specify
NATURE
SCIENCE
	Mainly	Occasionally	Never	Don't know	Not applicable
SciDev.Net
Other Science journal's contents. Please specify
Exhibition
SCIENCE MEDIA CENTRE etc
Personal contacts
Social networking (Facebook, Twitter, etc.)
	Mainly	Occasionally	Never	Don't know	Not applicable
Blog by a working scientist
Newswire/press agency. Please specify
Alphagalileo/Eurekalert
Other blogs. Please specify

Q21a Think about your preferred sources for ideas, what is it you find useful from those sources that enable you to come up with ideas for stories? Tick as many as applicable

Reliability and independence of source
Originality of story suggestion
Links and/or contact details that help you develop a story
Local commentary in the story
Comment from outside the country in the story
Local relevance
Coverage of journals not easily accessible to you otherwise
Independent comment providing analysis of the story
How authoritative the writer or the journal is
How recent the story is
Relevance to a specific topic of interest
Other, please specify:

Q22 How often do you use images or b-roll from a press release or press office?

		Frequently
		Occasionally
		Never
		Don't know
		Not applicable

Q23 Do you believe you will be working as a science, environment, technology or health journalist in FIVE YEAR'S TIME ?

		Yes, certainly
		Yes, probably
		No, probably not
		Certainly not
		Don't know
		Not applicable

If you have NOT been working as a journalist for the last five years please jump to question number 28

Q24 Compared to FIVE YEARS AGO, has your primary publication/ employer:?

		Hired more science, environment, health and technology staff
		Cut its science, environment, health and technology staff
		Made no changes
		Other, please specify

Q25 Compared to FIVE YEARS AGO, has the number of stories, items or packages you work on in a given week.

		Increased dramatically
		Increased
		Stayed the same
		Decreased
		Decreased dramatically
		Don't know

Q26 Think of your journalistic work FIVE YEARS AGO. For each of these media, did your work appear more often, less often, the same or it never appeared at that time?

	More often	Less often	The same	Never	Don't know	Not applicable
Print
Radio
Television
Podcast
Video podcast
	More often	Less often	The same	Never	Don't know	Not applicable
Blog
Web story / website
Book
Exhibition
	More often	Less often	The same	Never	Don't know	Not applicable
Social Media - Facebook
Social Media - Twitter
Social Media - other
Other, please specify

Q26a If your work appeared on any of the below media please indicate geographic reach below

	Local	National	Regional
Print
Radio
Television

Q27 Compared to FIVE YEARS AGO, have your direct quotes of press release or press officers.

		Increased
		The same frequency
		Become less frequent
		Never did that
		Don't know
		Not applicable

Q28 The following statements are made about the future of Science Journalism, please indicate for each of them whether you agree or disagree with them considering the context you are working in.

	Totally agree	Agree	Neither agree nor disagree	Disagree	Totally disagree	Don't know	Not applicable
Science journalism is a dying profession
Libel suits against science journalists are increasingly common and make it a risky activity
Too few people are reporting on the process of science as opposed to the results of scientific research
Science journalism is in crisis
	Totally agree	Agree	Neither agree nor disagree	Disagree	Totally disagree	Don't know	Not applicable
Science Public Relations is driving the science news and reportage
Science journalism is a high quality product
The proliferation of press releases from journals, universities and researchers, combined with budget cuts in newsrooms, leads to mass production and not good quality
Profits and jobs are moving from general outlets to more specialized publications
	Totally agree	Agree	Neither agree nor disagree	Disagree	Totally disagree	Don't know	Not applicable
As science and technology gets more interesting, so does science journalism
Science journalism is primarily "cut, paste and translate" from US and UK science outlets
Science journalism is unpopular among editors and publishers
Science journalism needs to get more journalistic, i.e. more society and less science
	Totally agree	Agree	Neither agree nor disagree	Disagree	Totally disagree	Don't know	Not applicable
Stories are now considered stale if they are more than a few days old
Science journalism is the most exciting field in journalism
Science journalism's pay rate favors people without financial commitments

Q29 How would you grade the science reporting in the country where you are working, both in terms of quantity and of quality?

	Quantity:
		Too much stuff
		Sufficient coverage
		Insufficient coverage
		Don't know
		Not applicable
	Quality:
		Very good
		Good
		Fair
		Bad
		Very bad
		Don't know
		Not applicable

Q30 Do you think that the tone of science news and reportage in general is.

		Too critical
		Not critical enough
		Generally fair
		Don't know
		Not applicable

Q31 Do you think that working pressures are harming the quality of science stories?

		Harming
		Not harming
		Just changing
		Don't know
		Not applicable

Q32 If you have any concerns about science journalism pick ONE of the below answers

		The quality of writing.
		The type of job assignments I can get.
		Job security: to have a job next year at all.
		Other, please specify

Q33 Here are some criticisms often made of the print media in general. For each one of these, do you think this is a valid criticism, or not?

	Totally agree	Agree	Neither agree nor disagree	Disagree	Totally disagree	Don't know	Not applicable
The distinction between reporting and commentary has seriously eroded.
News reports are increasingly full of factual errors and sloppy reporting.
Too little attention is paid to complex issues.
Newspapers are a thing of the past.
	Totally agree	Agree	Neither agree nor disagree	Disagree	Totally disagree	Don't know	Not applicable
Predictions of the 'death of print journalism' are greatly exaggerated.
The internet is changing the values of journalism
The press is too cynical.
Journalists have become out-of-touch with their audiences.
	Totally agree	Agree	Neither agree nor disagree	Disagree	Totally disagree	Don't know	Not applicable
Journalists are letting their ideology bias their reporting, and this is bad.
The press is too timid these days.
The emergence of the 24 hour news cycle is weakening journalism.
The posting of internet links is too often to material that is unvetted or unfiltered.

Q34 Imagine a situation where a national or an international news wire service does not have a science desk, or can no longer afford to have one. They are looking for a sponsor to set one up or keep it open. Do you think that such a sponsorship arrangement would be a good idea?

a)		NO, news sponsorship jeopardizes independent reporting
		YES
If YES, go to b), if NO go to next question.

b) Who in your preference should sponsor this science news desk?

The Public Sector	A suitable sponsor	Not a suitable sponsor	Don't know	Not applicable
A government agency
The leading national university
The Private Sector	A suitable sponsor	Not a suitable sponsor	Don't know	Not applicable
The national pharmaceutical industry
Other national industry, please specify
A foreign industry
Non-Governmental Organisations	A suitable sponsor	Not a suitable sponsor	Don't know	Not applicable
A national charitable foundation
A foreign charitable foundation
Other	A suitable sponsor	Not a suitable sponsor	Don't know	Not applicable
Via syndication of news under the creative commons policy
Any combination of the above, please specify
Other, please specify

Q35 Considering all these trends mentioned in the previous questions, where do you think science journalism is moving ?

		On the right track
		On the wrong track
		Don't know
		Not applicable

Q36 Here are a number of statements that define ‘good science journalism', please indicate how important in your view any of these is to make a good science journalist these days.

	Very important	Important	Neither important nor unimportant	Unimportant	Totally unimportant	Don't know	Not applicable
Training for online media, especially video podcasting
Reporting the facts accurately
To be passionate about science
Have reasonable numeracy and a grasp of statistics
	Very important	Important	Neither important nor unimportant	Unimportant	Totally unimportant	Don't know	Not applicable
Possess a university degree in a scientific discipline
Do investigative journalism of science
Train in the fields of science you cover to be able to better present the science
Use images and photos
	Very important	Important	Neither important nor unimportant	Unimportant	Totally unimportant	Don't know	Not applicable
Training for print media
Training for radio
Training for TV
Training in science journalism
	Very important	Important	Neither important nor unimportant	Unimportant	Totally unimportant	Don't know	Not applicable
Journalistic independence
Ability to follow instructions (angle, coverage and length requirements for example), filing stories on time
Ability to write an original production in a neutral tone
Range of interests represented, making sure that independent or affected stakeholders are heard as well as those considered primary sources or policy makers.
Other, please specify

Q37 Overall, how satisfied are you with your work as a science writer?

		Completely satisfied
		Satisfied
		Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied
		Dissatisfied
		Completely dissatisfied
		Don't know
		Not applicable

Q38 On balance would you recommend a career in science, health, environment or technology journalism to a young student?

		Yes, certainly
		Yes, probably
		Probably not
		Definitely not
		Don't know
		Not applicable

Q39 Please tick all those areas relevant to science journalism where you consider there is a need for training:

Basic introduction to how science works
Nature and role of Science Journalism
How to find & assess a potential science story
How to pitch a story to a news editor
How to write a story based on a scientific paper
How to write a story based on a press conference
How to follow up a press release
How to conduct an interview with a scientist & how to write a story based on that interview
Other, please specify:

Q40 How would you prefer to receive training on any of the above areas:

In person
Printed materials only
Online course material
Online - webinars
Online – podcasts
Other, please specify:

Q41 How useful do you find SciDev.Net's free practical guides available on our website?

		Very useful
		Useful
		A little bit useful
		Not useful
		Not aware of them

Q42 What are the main challenges that you have come across when engaging with the public sector (decision makers, civil servants,etc). Tick as many as appropriate:

Difficulty finding the most appropriate person to talk to
Impossible to track them down due to lack of contact details
Those around policy makers make it difficult to get to them
Unwillingness to be interviewed
Reluctancy to share detailed information
Difficulty getting views that differ from the "party line"
Refusal to speak on the record
Insistence on checking copy before it is published

Q42a Do you think you would benefit from training on how to best engage with this group?

		Yes
		No

Q43 What are the main challenges that you have come across when engaging with the academic community (researchers, scientists, etc). Tick as many as appropriate:

Unwillingness to be interviewed
Inability of reluctancy to explain research in non-technical terms
Unwillingness to speculate about the implication of research
Insistence on checking copy before it is published
Will only engage in interview by email
Inaccesible due to travel
Refusal to speak on the record
Reluctace to reference other relevat research, or give credit to othe researchers

Q43a Do you think you would benefit from training on how to best engage with this group?

		Yes
		No

Thank you for your cooperation!

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