Kenyan science journalist Ochieng’ Ogodo passed away in the early hours of Thursday (17 April). He was well known as the former head of SciDev.Net’s English language Africa edition and as the Africa editor of Mongabay. His death prompted tributes from colleagues across the science journalism community.
Ogodo began his journalism career in 1996 at The East African Standard (now The Standard). From September 1999 to October 2003 he worked on the paper’s investigative desk for the pullout The Big Issue. After leaving the paper he worked as a freelance journalist, contributing to SciDev.Net, The Guardian, the BMJ and University World News. In 2008 he won the English-Speaking Africa and the Middle East region of the Reuters/IUCN Media Awards for Excellence in Environmental Reporting.
He joined SciDev.Net in 2010 as Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Coordinator and Editor, and in 2017 he was elected to the Executive Board of the World Federation of Science Journalists. Colleagues praised his leadership and mentoring: Ben Deighton called him critical to SciDev.Net’s development, and Charles Wendo described him as dedicated and highly accomplished. Others, including Lynne Smit and Ogechi Ekeanyanwu, paid tribute to his role in sharing African science stories. Friends noted his personal side: he mentored many journalists and spent his final moments watching Arsenal’s Champions League win, after chatting the night before about a Mongabay story he had commissioned and that SciDev.Net’s Sub-Saharan Africa English desk helped produce.
Difficult words
- investigative — relating to careful searching for facts
- pullout — separate newspaper section published with the paper
- freelance — working independently, not employed by one employer
- contribute — to give work or material to a publicationcontributing
- mentor — to advise and support someone less experiencedmentoring, mentored
- tribute — a public message expressing respect or praisetributes
- commission — to formally ask someone to create somethingcommissioned
Tip: hover, focus or tap highlighted words in the article to see quick definitions while you read or listen.
Discussion questions
- How can mentoring by experienced journalists help improve science reporting in a region? Give one or two examples.
- What is the value of awards like the Reuters/IUCN Media Awards for a journalist’s career and for public awareness?
- How might regional editors and coordinators influence which local science stories reach international audiences?
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