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  • Dec 19, 2014 Commentary

    When science makes us who we are: known and speculative impacts of science festivals

    by Ben Wiehe

    Science festivals (or just “festivals”) are currently ascendant in the United States with more than 40 new initiatives emerging in just the past 5 years, but their story is not so easily told. The schedule of any one individual festival may contain a staggering array of events, and each festival is different both from year to year, and from other festivals. One multi-festival evaluation points to potential strengths of the format, as well as the importance of the participation of STEM practitioners. Collaboration and social identity formation are considered as powerful festival impacts, and potential challenges for festivals are discussed.

    Volume 13Issue 042014

  • Dec 01, 2014 Article

    When quotes matter: impact of outside quotes in a science press release on news judgment

    by Paige Brown Jarreau

    Scientists often cite discrepancy between scientific values and news values as a primary factor in poor quality science reporting. The goal of this study was to understand how news values including conflict and controversy affect science communicators’ evaluation of press releases containing quotes from outside expert sources. Results of an online survey experiment suggest science communicators find a climate science press release with an outside expert quote that introduces controversy to be more newsworthy. However, when a science communicator attributes relatively high importance to reliability of facts as a guiding principle in story selection, this preference for controversy is reversed.

    Volume 13Issue 042014

  • Nov 17, 2014 Article

    The Holy Grail of energy? A content and thematic analysis of the presentation of nuclear fusion on the Internet

    by Christian Oltra , Ana Delicado , Ana Prades , Sergio Pereira , Luisa Schmidt

    The Internet is increasingly considered as a legitimate source of information on scientific and technological topics. Lay individuals are increasingly using Internet sources to find information about new technological developments, but scientific communities might have a limited understanding of the nature of this content. In this paper we examine the nature of the content of information about fusion energy on the Internet. By means of a content and thematic analysis of a sample of English-, Spanish- and Portuguese-language web documents, we analyze the structural characteristics of the webs, characterize the presentation of nuclear fusion, and study the associations to nuclear fission and the main benefits and risks associated to fusion technologies in the Web. Our findings indicate that the information about fusion on the Internet is produced by a variety of actors (including private users via blogs), that almost half of the sample provided relevant technical information about nuclear fusion, that the majority of the web documents provided a positive portrayal of fusion energy (as a clean, safe and powerful energy technology), and that nuclear fusion was generally presented as a potential solution to world energy problems, as a key scientific challenge and as a superior alternative to nuclear fission. We discuss the results in terms of the role of Internet in science communication.

    Volume 13Issue 042014

  • Sep 22, 2014 Commentary

    Public relations as science communication

    by Matt Shipman

    Public communication from research institutions often functions as both science communication and public relations. And while these are distinct functions, public relations efforts often serve as science communication tools. This is because successful science communication and public relations efforts for research institutions both rely on finding shared language and disseminating findings in context.

    Volume 13Issue 032014

  • Sep 22, 2014 Article

    Delivering the message: a theoretical study on designing science content for nature-based experiences

    by Sanha Kim

    The urgent state of our global environment calls for collective action, which depends in large part on effective science communication for better understanding and awareness. Activities and institutions that provide opportunities to learn about nature all ultimately rely on scientific findings about nature. Although science produces the knowledge and information about nature, for the content to be accessible and meaningful to the general public, it needs to be processed by what I call science content design. This process is similar to the concepts of interpretation in tourism, or aesthetic understanding in alternative science education. This study is a theoretical exploration on the definition and nature of science content design, what constitutes its process, and how the content can be designed. Focusing on the fields of macro-biology, I also discuss the types of biological content generally used in nature-based experiences, and examine model cases of biological content design.

    Volume 13Issue 032014

  • Sep 22, 2014 Conference Review

    Communicating Science for social inclusion and political engagement: reflections on the PCST Conference, Brazil 2014

    by Astrid Treffry-Goatley

    The 13th International Public Communication of Science and Technology Conference (PCST) conference offered a valuable opportunity for over 500 science communicators to congregate and network with the international community. While the sheer size of the event made fostering debate somewhat of a challenge, the pertinent theme of ‘science communication for social inclusion and political engagement’, inspired some thought-provoking talks. Certainly, it was an appropriate time for this topic to be explored in Brazil, a developing country with a national government actively working towards greater social inclusion and local scientific development.

    Volume 13Issue 032014

  • Sep 22, 2014 Conference Review

    Observations of PCST2014

    by Nancy Longnecker

    Attendance at any large conference is highly personal and every registrant has a unique experience. The value to the individual depends on which sessions they attend, whom they connect with and what outcomes eventuate from what they learn and the networking they do. The networking and feedback can be life changing as it was for me when I attended PCST in 1996 in Melbourne. PCST2014 was a successful conference that provided many options for delegates. This was my fifth PCST and I was glad to have made the long trip to Brazil. One of the most successful aspects of PCST2014 was the opportunity to hear voices that I had not heard at previous PCSTs. The opportunity to hear about interesting work and different perspectives is one of the main advantages of this large, diverse, international network. Some reflective presentations eloquently articulated the familiar but evolving framework of the science communication discipline. Some provocative presentations pushed me to consider new and different perspectives or methodologies. Some case study presentations illustrated that good science communication is happening around the world. All types are particularly useful to those of us at a crossroad in our career, considering where to invest our energy, expertise and time.

    Volume 13Issue 032014

  • Sep 22, 2014 Editorial

    On the roles of scientists, press officers and journalists

    by Emma Weitkamp

    This issue of the Journal of Science Communication raises a number of questions about the ways that new scientific research emerges from research institutions and in particular the role played by scientists, press officers and journalists in this process. This is not to suggest that the public don't play an equally important role, and several articles in this issue raise questions about public engagement, but to explore the dynamics at play in one specific arena: that of news production. In this editorial I explore the increasing reliance of science journalists on public relations sources and consider what questions this raises for science communication.

    Volume 13Issue 032014

  • Sep 22, 2014 Commentary

    The changing rationale of science communication: a challenge to scientific autonomy

    by Frank Marcinkowski , Matthias Kohring

    We argue that the institutionalized push communication of academic institutions has become the dominant form of public science communication and has tended to force other forms and functions of science communication into the background. Given the new schemes of public funding, public communication of science now primarily serves the purpose of enabling academic institutions to promote themselves in a competition that has been forced upon them by the political domain. What academics working under these conditions say about themselves and their work (and what they do not) will depend crucially on the strategic communication goals and concepts of the organizations to which they belong. We surmise that the inherent logic of this form of science communication represents a potential threat to the autonomy of scientific research.

    Volume 13Issue 032014

Total: 1466 records