Science journalists face social justice, disinformation

WCSJ2025 opened earlier this week in Pretoria, South Africa, marking a significant pivot of the profession. Never in its 33-year history has the flagship gathering of the World Conference of Science Journalists taken place on African soil.

The 13th edition of the conference, held at the CSIR International Convention Centre, brought together delegates from across the world. Since the launch in Tokyo in 1992, having run biennially, this one convened under a theme aptly reflecting the urgent political climate: 'Science journalism and social justice – Journalism that builds understanding and resilience'.

The gathering this year was organized by SASJA and the Science Diplomacy Capital for Africa, an initiative of the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation of the country.

And throughout the week, the discussion shifted from the mechanics of reporting to confront inequality, democratic fragility, and eroding trust in empirical evidence.

This has also underlined how deeply the scientific enterprise depends on universities-as a producer of research, training grounds for the future cadre of scientists and journalists, and anchors of public trust in knowledge.

Fourth Estate under pressure

SASJA President Mandi Smallhorne reflected on the tension between wonder at scientific discovery and the grit required to report truthfully on the same:

"Most of us who end up doing this work stay because we love it," she said in her welcome address. "We are awed by the questions science asks and the worlds it opens up."

Still, she cautioned that fascination should not be an anaesthetic against scrutiny. “Science and scientists have their flaws,” she said, placing science journalists squarely in the Fourth Estate.

“It is because we care about science – and value its role – that we dig deep to uncover misconduct or fraud and that we fight false messaging.

This was echoed by South Africa's Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Professor Blade Nzimande. Opening the conference, just over a week after South Africa concluded the continent's first G20 presidency, Nzimande emphasised that scientific progress is mute without dissemination.

“You can do good science, but if it is not known, it is as good as dead science,” he said.

He advised delegates not to become "praise singers" for the science but to remain critical guardians of the public interest. "Science has often also been used for destruction. We must remain vigilant to ensure it serves humanity."

At a press conference after his speech, he said that higher education—which he was once in charge of until it broke away from the rest of his portfolio—still remains the backbone of research and innovation in South Africa: “Universities remain at the centre of our knowledge-production system.”

Conference Director Engela Duvenage was clear about the practical pressures facing science journalism. “The challenges we face with misinformation require a global, collaborative response,” she said in a statement, noting conference sessions that featured tools journalists are using to counter falsehoods affecting public health and environmental policies.

Nervous system for the planet

In the impassioned keynote, Advocate Cormac Cullinan, an environmental lawyer and author and winner of the Shackleton Medal 2025, challenged those present to bridge the widening chasm between scientific reality and legal frameworks.

He warned that "the law is lagging dangerously far behind scientific knowledge," adding that whereas science demands an end to fossil fuel reliance, legal systems continue to permit the destruction of the biosphere. He claimed what was needed was a cultural transformation as deep as that which takes place when the caterpillar becomes a butterfly, not incremental adjustments. Cullinan located the source of the crisis in the mechanistic worldview inherited from the Enlightenment, which views the universe as a ‘giant clock’ and reduces nature to objects for human manipulation. He termed this human exceptionalism “eco-apartheid”-a form of separateness whereby one species claims superiority over the entire community of life. 

Set against that was his call for a shift towards ‘Earth jurisprudence’, a legal philosophy that recognises the universe not as a “collection of objects” but as a “communion of subjects”. To illustrate this in action, Cullinan announced the launch of the Antarctic Alliance, a global campaign to recognise the continent as a legal entity. “The question is not ‘how do we manage Antarctica?’ It is: ‘what is our relationship with Antarctica, and how do we repair it?’” he said, suggesting the continent be given standing to represent its own interests in international courts and UN climate processes. Cullinan called for the media to broaden their sense of objectivity. He presented the profession as an active organ of planetary self-protection: “Science journalists are part of Earth’s nervous system – sensing danger, transmitting signals, and helping society respond,” he said. “We are not protecting nature. We are nature protecting herself.”