Journalists discuss the challenges of translating science for the public.

The webinar featuring the winning entries in the Science Communication category concluded this Tuesday (2) the 8th edition of the IMPA Journalism Award . Environmental deforestation, technology and advances in medicine were topics discussed in the conversation with journalists Vinícius Sassine, from Folha de S. Paulo, Levi Guimarães, from TV Globo, and Lucas Machado, from Globonews. The moderation was by the members of the award jury, Marcelo Viana, general director of IMPA, and Raphael Gomide, press office coordinator of the institute.

“It is a great joy that we have found this mechanism to celebrate Brazilian science journalism. I want to emphasize this shared interest between academic institutions like IMPA and the media that bring important, truthful knowledge to society,” Viana stated at the opening of the discussion.

First place winner in the Science Communication category, Vinícius Sassine, from Folha de S.Paulo, highlighted the behind-the-scenes aspects of the report “Climate Change in the Amazon” . He recalled the challenges of documenting a reality as complex as that of the Amazon and emphasized the investigative nature of the text, which brought to the public the panorama of the “forest burning while standing”. Sassine also pointed out the importance of integrating scientific rigor and visual production to convey the dimension of the Amazon and its challenges.

The journalist also celebrated the diversity of the award-winning productions. “I was happy to see how three such distinct works, in subject matter, approach, and method, were recognized. It’s always a learning experience to see how other colleagues work. I’m glad to see that the Award recognized such different works; this is very enriching for journalism.”

Responsible for editing the award-winning report, “Quantum Computer: How the Technology That Promises to Revolutionize Life on Earth Works,” shown on TV Globo's Fantástico program, Levi Guimarães explored the challenges of communicating a highly technical and profound topic to a large audience. The journalist also commented on the emergence of the story idea and the attempt to answer the questions that generally surround the dissemination of content about science and technology.

“It’s really cool to participate in the IMPA Award because it recognizes something that not all journalism awards do. It would be very difficult to submit this series to other broad journalism awards. The existence of the IMPA Award, focused on the categories of Mathematics and Science Communication, is fantastic. We have extremely important, laborious, and difficult-to-produce stories that often end up on other shelves of journalism and don’t get exposure elsewhere.”

Lucas Machado, from GloboNews, celebrated his first journalism award with the report "Beyond the Diagnosis – Two People Cured of HIV ," which won third place in the IMPA Award. He highlighted the relevance of the topic, marked by both scientific advancement and social impact. The journalist reinforced the need to reopen the debate about HIV in the media, especially as a strategy for prevention and awareness.

“This topic has been kept away from the media, from the center of discussion, due to prejudice; it has always been a virus associated with the LGBT community. That's why we wanted to do the report. But we wanted to go beyond what is already being said. The more we talk about it, the more we will achieve this goal of eradication.”

Raphael Gomide took advantage of the closing of the 8th edition to thank the participants and highlight the growing impact of the award. “Thank you all for your work. Congratulations to everyone for explaining science and our society to ourselves. The goal of the Award is precisely to recognize those who do this with as much talent as you do.”

This year, the IMPA Journalism Prize received 224 entries, the second highest number of submissions in the history of the competition, held since 2018. The first webinar of this edition, dedicated to the Mathematics category, took place last Tuesday (25). Check it out here!