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Jul 04, 2022 Commentary

Caricatures and omissions: representations of the news media in ‘Don't look up’

‘Don't look up’ represents the news media as harmful to the public understanding of science. The news media turns honest scientists into corrupted and compromised media personalities. Its dynamics and demands make it unable to inform the public that a planet-killing comet, the film's allegory for climate change, is an existential threat. This commentary argues that these representations devalue the power of celebrity scientists to communicate science, ignore how journalists have placed climate change and ideas of climate catastrophe on the public agenda, and imply there is an idealised type of science communication — the deficit model — that journalists have corroded.

Volume 21Issue 052022

Jul 04, 2022 Commentary

Science communication in the face of skepticism, populism, and ignorance: what ‘Don’t Look Up’ tells us about science denial — and what it doesn’t

by Niels G. Mede

‘Don’t Look Up’ tells the story of a team of astrophysicists whose efforts to warn politicians, media makers, and the public about an apocalyptic comet impact on planet Earth are undermined by fundamental skepticism toward their expertise. On the one hand, the film offers a rich portrayal of contemporary anti-science sentiments, their societal conditions, and the media and communication ecology surrounding them. But on the other hand, ‘Don’t Look Up’ ignores and exaggerates several facets of those sentiments and the communicative settings in which they spread. This commentary analyzes this contrast through a science communication lens: it scrutinizes the (mis)representation of science denial and science communication in ‘Don’t Look Up’ — and aims to inspire further debate about portrayals of anti-science phenomena and potential remedies within popular media.

Volume 21Issue 052022

Jul 04, 2022 Commentary

The use of satire to communicate science in ‘Don't look up’

by Hannah Little

Satire has long been used as a tool in social commentary and political communication, and in some cases this has extended to commentary about science and its role in policy. This is certainly the case for the recent Adam McKay film, ‘Don't look up’, where an allegorical story about a comet heading for Earth is used to satirise the current political and media response to the climate catastrophe. While the film succeeds in making its point, how the humour interacts with objectives of science communication highlights some risks of using satire where there's overlap between the subject of the satire and a potential audience for communication.

Volume 21Issue 052022

Jun 10, 2022 Commentary

Commentary: rethinking iteratively (from Australia)

by Joan Leach

The invitation to ReThink science engagement is irresistible and timely. And that rethinking will be informed by the location in which its done. While ‘speaking for’ wide swaths of the world, in this case, Australia and its region, would be meaningless and probably not terribly useful, the call to ReThink science engagement with this place in mind is encouraging and welcome. The following commentary, then, will focus on what rethinking science engagement might look like from Australia with the guiding frame of “responsible science communication” at hand and some of the core concepts of ReThink at the fore — reflection, co-creation, and openness in science engagement. To add a counterpoint to the ReThink projects core concepts, I briefly suggest some further concepts to ‘trouble’ easy interpretations of approaches to science communication — reflexivity, co-production, and science communication for the public good. Taken together, all of these concepts provide a useful frame for some of the major issues and opportunities for science communication in our region but also highlight the tensions in current approaches to science engagement. These tensions are worth struggling over and unpacking in relation to global differences and aims for science engagement.

Volume 21Issue 042022Special Issue: Responsible science communication across the globe (RETHINK)

Jun 10, 2022 Commentary

Developing open, reflexive and socially responsible science communication research and practice

by Eric A. Jensen

There are many different pathways into science communication practice and research. But rarely do these pathways require critical reflection on what it means to be a ‘responsible’ science communicator or researcher. The need for this kind of critical reflection is increasingly salient in a world marked by the wilful disregard of evidence in many high-profile contexts, including politics and, most recently, public health. Responsible science communicators and researchers are audience- and impact-focused, beginning their decision-making process by considering their audiences’ starting positions, needs and values. This article outlines some key considerations for developing socially responsibility for science communication as a field both in terms of practice and research.

Volume 21Issue 042022Special Issue: Responsible science communication across the globe (RETHINK)

Jun 10, 2022 Commentary

Beyond the needs of science — can openness and reflexivity push the polish science communication further?

by Wiktor Gajewski

The Polish science communication field has grown into a robust and diverse community. Centralised and governmentally funded initiatives are complemented by more bottom-up actions led by academia, researchers, journalists and educators. Still, the main goals of science communication in Poland seem to be a diffusion of scientific knowledge and building trust towards science and scientist. The concept of openness and reflexivity could help to include the needs and perspectives of non-scientific audiences into science communication practice in Poland.

Volume 21Issue 042022Special Issue: Responsible science communication across the globe (RETHINK)

Jun 10, 2022 Commentary

Responsible science communication in Africa: rethinking drivers of policy, Afrocentricity and public engagement

by Elizabeth Rasekoala

The EU-funded RETHINK Project has demonstrated the critical need for transformational pathways in how science communicators navigate the increasingly challenging landscape of the field, in an era of growing public distrust, the expansion of online ‘mis-information’ digital platforms, and the resulting disconnection between science communicators and the general public. This Commentary seeks to locate, contextualise, and interrogate the good practice outcomes and recommendations of the RETHINK Project within the African regional scenario, and within the contexts, challenges and opportunities that exist therein. To achieve this, the author argues, African science communicators must actively pursue a radical and explicitly transformational agenda of intellectual Afrocentricity, the decolonisation of their practices and programmes, and address the multiple gaps inherent across the policy, practice, research, resources, and capacity-building divides on the continent. The prospects for the delivery of this agenda are further elaborated in a transformative and re-defined — ‘SMART’ Framework for Science Communication & Public Engagement in Africa.

Volume 21Issue 042022Special Issue: Responsible science communication across the globe (RETHINK)

Jun 10, 2022 Commentary

Responsible science communication in Latin America: reflections on challenges

by Claudia Aguirre Rios , Sergio de Régules

Practitioners of responsible science communication in Latin American countries face context-dependent challenges ranging from high poverty and inequality to a public from an extremely varied palette of cultural backgrounds. Effort has been done in the region to foster a coherent community of science communicators. This article reflects on the history of science communication in Latin America and how these challenges are being faced.

Volume 21Issue 042022Special Issue: Responsible science communication across the globe (RETHINK)

Feb 01, 2021 Commentary

Neglected spaces in science communication

by Clare Wilkinson

Many of the earliest drivers for improved scientific literacy and understanding were based on the assumption that science and technology is all around us, and yet there are some spaces and communities that are neglected in science communication contexts. In this brief comment, Clare Wilkinson introduces a series of ten commentaries, which further probe neglected spaces in science communication.

From the margins to the mainstream: deconstructing science communication as a white, Western paradigm

by Summer May Finlay, Sujatha Raman, Elizabeth Rasekoala, Vanessa Mignan, Emily Dawson, Liz Neeley and Lindy A. Orthia

Knowledge◦Room exploring social justice by going beyond ‘traditional’ spaces and activities of science centres

by Hessam Habibi Doroh and Barbara Streicher

Communities and narratives in neglected spaces: voices from SMASHfestUK

by Wyn Griffiths and Lindsay Keith

Queer world-making: a need for integrated intersectionality in science communication

by Tara Roberson and Lindy A. Orthia

STEMroller: smashing stereotypes

by Helen Bayram and Karen Ironside

“We had to be very clear that they weren't going to try to break into any of the cases”: what potential do ‘escape rooms’ offer as a science communication technique?

by Clare Wilkinson and Hannah Little

Community engagement and co-creation of strategic health and environmental communication: collaborative storytelling and game-building

by Maria Elena Villar

Marine and ocean sciences in Mexico: living with our backs to the sea

by Ana Claudia Nepote and Pedro Medina-Rosas

The elephant in the room: tackling taboos in women's healthcare

by Aarti Kapoor and Merryn McKinnon

Science engagement with faith communities: respecting identity, culture and worldview

by Robert C. O'Malley, John P. Slattery, Curtis L. Baxter and Katy Hinman

Volume 20Issue 012021

Feb 01, 2021 Commentary

Queer world-making: a need for integrated intersectionality in science communication

by Tara Roberson , Lindy A. Orthia

This commentary aims to shed light on the neglected space of queer people in science communication. In this piece, we introduce queer theory to science communication literature to examine issues from the past, present, and future. We argue that to queer our field may entail a radical interrogation of some of science communication's deeply rooted cultural traits and working towards a rainbow-tinted future.

Volume 20Issue 012021

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