The objectives of “Journalism meets Science” Science Cafés are:

1. To demystify science, particularly to shed light upon different types of medical research. We focused on clinical trials, randomised controlled trials, and the different phases of vaccine development
2. To explore research ethics, including the topics of informed consent, anonymity, and plagiarism
3. To discuss the role of media in disseminating scientific information, and what impact misleading news media can have on medical research studies
4. To discuss participating journalists’ experiences of reporting science and research news.

Participants:

Science Café was attended by journalists from news and print media. This included field reporters, presenters, writers, and anyone involved in reporting science and health research news in newspapers, radio stations, and television.

Activities:

4 Science Café events took place between 2021 and 2022. 65 journalists attended the events.

The format was a roundtable discussion between the medical research experts and participating journalists.

Session 1: We discussed the importance of clinical trials and the role journalists can play in the dissemination of the study result. We also discussed the gaps in information and the challenges faced by journalists in reporting accurately.

Session 2: Based on feedback we convened this session for editors specifically. Here we discussed the mutual understanding needed between the researchers and journalists and talked about the spread of misinformation in the media related to health research.

Session 3: This session was held for reporters specifically. During the session, we discussed the challenges they, and other field staff, faced in reporting health news and what role the research institutions could play in addressing the ‘information gaps’.

Session 4: This was held with journalists working in print media and/or radio television and with a focus on COVID-19 pandemic and our Digital Diaries participatory research project [ADD LINK]. We discussed the issue of misinformation/disinformation during COVID-19 pandemic and how the journalists had worked to counter this problem. We also identified ways forward for working together.