Filter by keyword: Science and media

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274 publications found

Feb 12, 2025 Book Review

Book Review: Palgrave Handbook of Science and Health Journalism

This comprehensive compilation of a wide variety of science communication scholars investigating science and health journalism, brought together by editors Kim Walsh-Childers and Merryn McKinnon, leaves one with mixed impressions.

Publisher's note: a Letter by Merryn McKinnon and Kim Walsh-Childers has been published on September 5th 2025 and is available here

Volume 24 • Issue 01 • 2025

Dec 16, 2024 Article

Intermediaries in the limelight: how exposure to trust cues in content about science affects public trust in science

by Lars Guenther, Justin T. Schröder, Anne Reif, Janise Brück, Monika Taddicken, Peter Weingart and Evelyn Jonas

A potential decline in public trust in science has often been linked to digital media environments, which serve as intermediaries of trust by providing cues for why (not) to trust science. This study examines whether exposure to trust cues in content affects public trust in science (across population groups). The study employs a mixed-method design, combining content analysis (“n” = 906) and panel survey data (“n” = 1,030) in Germany. The findings reveal that exposure to trust cues in certain media predicts public trust in science. Variations across trust groups indicate a nuanced nature of trust-assessing processes in digital media environments.

Volume 23 • Issue 09 • 2024 • Special Issue: Public (dis)trust in science in digital media environments (Trust in science)

Dec 16, 2024 Article

Who, if not science, can you trust to guide you through a crisis? The relationship between public trust in science and exposure to established and alternative online sources in times of crisis

by Fabian Zimmermann, Christine Petersen and Matthias Kohring

In light of global crises such as COVID-19, we argue that people’s trust in science drives their media choices in the digital sphere. The results from a German online survey show that individuals who perceive scientists as trustworthy in terms of ability, benevolence, and integrity, confidently expect science to provide accurate knowledge and guide reasonable decision-making in times of crisis. In turn, these positive trusting expectations towards science increase the use of established journalistic and scientific online sources for accessing scientific information. In contrast, people with low or no trust in science tend to resort to the messenger Telegram and ‘alternative’ online media outlets. Interestingly, the individual need for orientation does not amplify this association between trust in science and digital media use in a crisis situation.

Volume 23 • Issue 09 • 2024 • Special Issue: Public (dis)trust in science in digital media environments (Trust in science)

Dec 16, 2024 Article

Public perceptions of trustworthiness and authenticity towards scientists in controversial scientific fields

by Markus Schug, Helena Bilandzic and Susanne Kinnebrock

This study investigates public perceptions of trustworthiness and authenticity regarding scientists engaged in controversial and less controversial fields with a cross-sectional survey of a German sample (“N” = 1007). Results indicate that scientists in controversial fields like COVID-19 or climate change are perceived as less trustworthy and authentic compared to scientists in less controversial fields or scientists without specification of their field. Additionally, we found that science-related media consumption shaped people´s trustworthiness and authenticity perceptions towards scientists. Our analysis points out how public perceptions of scientists vary if these scientists research controversial areas, actively participating in public (and media) life.

Volume 23 • Issue 09 • 2024 • Special Issue: Public (dis)trust in science in digital media environments (Trust in science)

Nov 11, 2024 Article

Narrative misinformation from a credible source can be discredited with counternarrative

by Nathanael Johnson and Glenn Sparks

Former government intelligence officer David Grusch became a hot new topic in the UFO world when he declared that the government was hiding an alien ship crash retrieval program. Can this media coverage be influential in increasing belief in UFOs? And can a credible critic of Grusch's claims successfully negate the impact of the media coverage on the acceptance of misinformation? A three-condition experiment (N=287) showed that a counternarrative can successfully negate the influence of his claims on conspiratorial beliefs. We suggest that these results have practical implications for journalists in their coverage of controversial claims.

Volume 23 • Issue 08 • 2024

Oct 28, 2024 Review Article

Characterization of polarized scientific digital messages: a scoping review

by Ana Maria Jucá, Matheus Lotto, Agnes Cruvinel and Thiago Cruvinel

This scoping review elucidated the characteristics of polarized scientific digital messages credited by researchers for studying the impact of content on people's perceptions. Inclusion criteria encompassed discourse and content analysis studies examining the syntactic and lexical features of polarized messages in online science communication, as well as crossover and randomized information intervention studies. Studies without sufficient detail for data extraction or that did not address message characteristics were excluded. After these exclusions, 10 studies were evaluated for the outcomes. Characteristics of polarized messages were observed to include topic dependency, single viewpoint, discredit of opposing views, emphasis on the minority and flaws of concurrent discourses, and uses of assertive statements, intensifiers, controversy, partisanship, skepticism, sarcasm, vague lexicons, and expert opinion support. As a result, we propose a system of codification for identifying and characterizing polarized discourses in science communication digital messages that can be employed in further content analysis studies.

Volume 23 • Issue 08 • 2024

Oct 21, 2024 Article

The coverage of basic and applied research in press releases on EurekAlert!

by Jingwen Zhang, Marina Joubert, Jonathan Dudek and Rodrigo Costas

Research organisations routinely reach out to the media via press releases to announce research news and promote advances in science. This paper explores the presence of basic and applied research in press releases issued through EurekAlert!. Using a scientometric approach to classify research papers featured in press releases into basic and applied research, we found that more than half of the press releases in our dataset were related to basic research. This trend was particularly notable in life and earth sciences, physical sciences, and engineering fields. In contrast, press releases in the biomedical and health sciences, as well as in social sciences and humanities, were more frequently associated with applied research. Additionally, we present findings on the similarity and readability of press releases compared to their corresponding research papers, which confirm the role of institutional press officers in making research papers more accessible to the public and media. This adaptation appears to be more pronounced for basic research.

Volume 23 • Issue 07 • 2024 • Special Issue: Communicating Discovery Science (Discovery Science)

Oct 21, 2024 Article

Can media inspire public engagement with astronomy? Assessing information modalities and potential mechanisms for inspiration in a basic science context

by Matthew S. VanDyke and Sara K. Yeo

Although many science communicators strive to inspire audiences, scant research has sought to understand how media may evoke inspiration. The present study was a three-condition (modality: text-only, audio-only, and audiovisual) between-subjects experiment examining how media content about the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) motivated participants’ feeling moved, awe, curiosity, rumination, and their inspiration state. The findings revealed no statistical difference between using text or audio content, but that audiovisual content can hinder rumination if self-transcendent emotions are not induced. Findings revealed that content leading participants to feeling moved and experiencing awe should lead to reflective thought, and ultimately, feelings of inspiration.

Volume 23 • Issue 07 • 2024 • Special Issue: Communicating Discovery Science (Discovery Science)

Oct 21, 2024 Article

Promoting the Higgs boson as `discovery science' news: exploring the boundary spanner functions of CERN communication professionals'

by Jamie Dorey, Richard Holliman, Eileen Scanlon, James Gillies and Ana Godinho

The announcement of the discovery of the Higgs boson at CERN marked a groundbreaking achievement in Mode 1 'discovery science'. We combined analyses of CERN strategic documents and organisational structures with ethnographic observations of, and interviews with, communication professionals. Our findings show that promotion of this 'Mode 1' discovery, in combination with the potential for longer-term 'Mode 2' innovation, was a strategic priority for CERN, but highlighted operational challenges for coordination between scientists and journalists. We conclude that CERN communication professionals played an essential boundary spanning role, brokering solutions and maintaining relations across borders and between relevant constituencies.

Volume 23 • Issue 07 • 2024 • Special Issue: Communicating Discovery Science (Discovery Science)

Oct 14, 2024 Article

Surfing the COVID-19 news waves: a Belgian case study of science communication and public relations with university press releases

by Miguel Vissers, Steve Paulussen and Gert-Jan de Bruijn

Press releases remain an important link between academia and the media. While science communication is a goal of universities, public relations is also becoming increasingly salient. The press release, as a significant tool for both science communication and institutional public relations, means that the fields are entwined, prompting us to propose viewing science communication and public relations on a continuum. Based on a quantitative content analysis of all press releases sent out by a Belgian university during the COVID-19 pandemic we show what this university communicates about and identify how science communication can be used for public relation purposes and vice versa.

Volume 23 • Issue 06 • 2024