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28 March 2004

JOURNALISM AWARD FOR THE TAKE TWO SCIENCE TEAM

At the Tasmanian Media Awards on Saturday 13 March the hard-working volunteer Take Two Science team was awarded the Women Tasmania Award for Reporting on Women. Take Two Science has been off air over summer and returns to the radio waves this Monday, 29 March.

The four presenter/producers of the award-winning report were science journalist Taylor Bildstein, Antarctic geochemist Rebecca Scouller, fisheries scientist Karen Evans and marine biologist Cath Sliwa.

Take Two Science is Tasmania's only media programme that reports exclusively on science, especially Tasmanian science.

The award was given for the team's report about women in science, with guest Dr Barbara Smith, convenor of the Women in Science Enquiry Network (WISENet) Tasmania, which was broadcast on Edge Radio 99.3FM on 19 May 2003.

"The entry showed evidence of sound preparation and research, a willingness to ask the difficult questions about gender inequities in science and showed positive pathways for action. Clearly evident in their work is an ongoing interest, passion and commitment to making a difference," said the Director of Women Tasmania, Wanda Buza.

Nicola Goc, a member of the judging panel and University of Tasmania Journalism and Media Studies lecturer said: "Women working to change situations of discrimination or inequality from within professional roles are rarely covered by mainstream media. Basically the media still prefer to portray women of certain demographics and to portray the issues and the women in a paternalistic way. It was refreshing to see a comprehensive story on women in science by women working in the science profession who were themselves changing the status quo. Young women listening to the broadcast may very well be the scientists of the future who change the status quo," Nicola Goc said.

"It's fantastic news and richly deserved as well," said Ted Alexander, President of Tasmanian Youth Broadcasters Inc, the organisation that runs Edge Radio. "The award is a tribute to all the hard work the team has put in throughout Edge Radio, and Take Two's life," he said.

Take Two Science is a weekly science programme that has broadcast on Edge Radio since the days of the station's temporary community broadcast license period, in 2002. The station now has a permanent license and a large listenership among youth of all ages in Hobart. "We have always been impressed by the team's dedication and hard work in preparing such a high quality show and I sincerely pass on the board's congratulations for the award and gratitude for the hard work," said Ted Alexander.

According to Tasmanian Media Award organiser Andrew Muthy from the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance, this was the only award given to a radio programme this year. "This year's record number of entries for the Media Awards makes the award for the Take Two Science team all the more significant.

"While we prepare to return for another season of high-quality science news, it's just fantastic to be recognised for our hard work to date," said programme founder, Taylor Bildstein."Community radio has given us the opportunity to explore science issues in greater depth than we could do on any other station in Hobart," she said.

As many areas of science are traditionally dominated by men, one issue the production team felt was important to discuss was the problems faced by women working in science - problems that are often not shared by men. "When we located statistics about women in science I was surprised to find how underrepresented women still are," Taylor Bildstein said.

During the award-winning report, Dr Smith discussed issues that are unique to women working in science, why there are so few female scientists in higher positions, and current trends. The discussion did not place blame for the imbalance, but focused upon action that can be taken by scientists to address the problems identified. WISENet is a new and proactive group in Tasmania that female scientists have initiated to provide support and work towards change.