scholarly journals Can scientists fill the science journalism void? Online public engagement with science stories authored by scientists

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yael Barel-Ben David ◽  
Erez S. Garty ◽  
Ayelet Baram-Tsabari
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Popular Science ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Science Journalism ◽  
News Stories ◽  
Science Story ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Science Stories ◽  
Science News

AbstractIn many countries the public’s main source of information about science and technology is the mass media. Unfortunately, in recent years traditional journalism has experienced a collapse, and science journalism has been a major casualty. One potential remedy is to encourage scientists to write for news media about science. On these general news platforms, scientists’ stories would have to compete for attention with other news stories on hard (e.g. politics) and entertaining (e.g. celebrity news) topics written by professional writers. Do they stand a chance?This study aimed to quantitatively characterize audience interactions as an indicator of interest in science news stories authored by early career scientists (henceforth ‘scientists’) trained to function as science reporters, as compared to news items written by reporters and published in the same news outlets.To measure users’ behavior, we collected data on the number of clicks, likes, comments and average time spent on page. The sample was composed of 150 science items written by 50 scientists trained to contribute popular science stories in the Davidson Institute of Science Education reporters’ program and published on two major Israeli news websites - Mako and Ynet between July 2015 to January 2018. Each science item was paired with another item written by the website’s organic reporter, and published on the same channel as the science story (e.g., tourism, health) and the same close time. Overall significant differences were not found in the public’s engagement with the different items. Although, on one website there was a significant difference on two out of four engagement types, the second website did not have any difference, e.g., people did not click, like or comment more on items written by organic reporters than on the stories written by scientists. This creates an optimistic starting point for filling the science news void by scientists as science reporters.

Deadline Writing

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gareth Cook
Keyword(s):  
Journal Article ◽  
World Trade Center ◽  
Science Writing ◽  
Breaking News ◽  
News Stories ◽  
Science Story ◽  
Science News ◽  
Trade Center ◽  
The Moment ◽  
The City

The moment I walked into the newsroom, I could tell that something was wrong. A group of editors were huddled around the city desk, talking. The televisions were on. People didn't just look tense; they looked genuinely worried. As I walked over to my desk, I saw the image of a burning building. It was the World Trade Center. I was standing there when the second tower fell. I had the same thought that I'm sure a lot of people had: How could this be happening? But I'm also a newspaper reporter, and I realized that there was a science story to be done: Why did the towers fall? Six or seven hours later, I needed to have a finished story that answered that question. It is hard enough to successfully translate the arcane jargon of science into a story for the general reader. A ticking clock makes it that much more difficult—the words “exciting” and “terrifying” come to mind. For a science reporter, this type of breaking news situation doesn't happen very often. One of the great surprises when I moved to science writing a few years ago was that many of the news stories that appear in daily papers were not, in fact, written on deadline. I used to be in awe that someone had the ability to boil down some complex journal article on human origins or supernovas, reach all the important people, and write a clear, elegant article in a day. Many of the big journals, of course, operate on an embargo system, in which reporters are given advance copies and allowed to report ahead of time on the understanding that they won't publish a story until the journal appears in print. But there are still times when science news must be delivered on a daily deadline, either because news breaks or because you have a scoop you don't want to lose. In these cases, I think that everyone who does this for a living develops his own set of tools for coping. Success requires a ruthless attention to where you are in the process, where you are in the day, and what you still need.

scholarly journals Framing and Sourcing of Science in Philippine Newspapers from 2017 to 2019

Plaridel ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon Benedik Bunquin
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Nature Of Science ◽  
Print Media ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Science Journalism ◽  
Science Culture ◽  
Science Stories ◽  
Science News

Science journalism can be challenging in societies with an emerging science culture such as the Philippines. In addition, the demands of the interest-based and taste-driven field of journalism can clash with the rigorous and technical nature of science. Science reporters must balance readability, comprehensiveness, and urgency of science stories to maintain high news quality. This study examines the coverage of science by Philippine newspapers and investigates the link of framing and sourcing to science news quality. Content analysis was performed on 394 news articles published from 2017 to 2019 and article characteristics, framing, sourcing, and news quality were coded during data collection. Results show that science reports in mainstream print media were understandable, relatable, contextualized, and explained thoroughly. However, there is much to improve on framing and sourcing of science news by Philippine print journalists, especially since these variables have been found to be significantly correlated with news quality.

scholarly journals “Making us see science” Visual images in popular science articles and science journalism

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harald Hornmoen
Keyword(s):  
Visual Representations ◽  
Popular Science ◽  
Visual Images ◽  
Cultural Meanings ◽  
Science Journalism ◽  
Visual Elements ◽  
Visual Composition ◽  
Communicative Functions ◽  
Science Stories ◽  
Scientific American

The article explores how scientific research and scientists are represented visually in popular science and science journalism. It discusses communicative functions and cultural meanings of visual elements in science stories. Drawing on concepts from the visual grammar developed by Gunther Kress and Theo van Leeuwen, the author indicates how different kinds of modality are used to address the audience in popular science articles in Scientific American and Illustrert Vitenskap (a Scandinavian magazine). It is argued that the visual elements in popular scientific magazines conventionally are arranged in a manner coinciding with a pedagogical/educational intent typical of much popular science, taking the readers from a reality they are presumed to have experienced towards more abstract scientific knowledge. However, the two magazines analyzed differ markedly with respect to the audience competence they implicate in their visual representations. The level of visual abstraction in Scientific American contributes to creating an identity for its audience as belonging to well educated and advanced elites, as opposed to the images of Illustrert Vitenskap, where the emphasis to a larger extent is on a naturalistic coding. The author goes on to discuss how photographs, visual composition and verbal text work together in a multimodal rhetoric typical of many science and health stories in Norwegian newspapers.   

scholarly journals Framing science: How opioid research is presented in online news media

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Matthias ◽  
Alice Fleerackers ◽  
Juan Pablo Alperin
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Public Perception ◽  
Online News ◽  
Science Journalism ◽  
Related Research ◽  
News Stories ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
The Media ◽  
Understanding Of Science

Through their coverage and framing, popular news media play an instrumental role in shaping public perception of important issues like the opioid crisis. Using a detailed coding instrument, we analyzed how opioid-related research was covered by US and Canadian online news media in 2017 and 2018, at the height of the crisis. We find that opioid-related research is not frequently mentioned in online news media, but when it is, it is most often framed as valid, certain, and trustworthy. Our results also reveal that the media predominantly present research findings without context, providing little information about the study design, methodology, or other relevant details—although there is variability in what kind of news stories mention opioid-related research, what study details they provide, and what frames they use. Potential implications for the future of science communication and science journalism, as well as the public perception and understanding of science, are discussed.

Retailing science: genre hybridization in online science news stories

2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yiqiong Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Press Releases ◽  
Science Journalism ◽  
News Production ◽  
University Websites ◽  
News Stories ◽  
Science Discourse ◽  
Discourse Practices ◽  
Science News ◽  
Science Rhetoric ◽  
Promotional Discourse

AbstractThis study explores how marketing and science rhetoric have become entrenched in online science news stories. The schematic structures of a corpus of 270 news stories from three types of website (university websites, the websites of Futurity.org and MSNBC.com) have been analyzed and compared. An eight-move structure identified from the corpus suggests that the genre of news stories is a hybridization of promotional discourse for marketization and science discourse for explanation. Hybridization is first evident in university press releases, which are then spread by the mass media without significant changes. From the perspective of intertextual chains, the emerging discourse practices can be attributed to the power shifting of news production from journalists to science institutions and further from journalistic to scientific norms. In turn, the discourse practices accelerate the shift of power, which could ultimately lead to the loss of independent and critical science journalism.

From headline to lifeline: does news set agenda for policy?

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 352-368
Author(s):  
Jenna Grzeslo ◽  
Yang Bai ◽  
Ryan Yang Wang ◽  
Bumgi Min ◽  
Krishna Jayakar
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Agenda Setting ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Content Type ◽  
News Stories ◽  
Journalism Studies ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Negative News ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose This paper is an investigation of the volume, nature and tone of news media coverage of the federal Lifeline Program from its inception to 2018. It aims to examine whether news media coverage is correlated with significant episodes of reform in the program. Design/methodology/approach Using the ProQuest Major Dailies database, articles covering the “Lifeline Program” were analyzed. Specifically, a quantitative codebook was developed, based on the literature, and four coders were trained to systematically analyze the 124 articles that discussed the program between 1985 and 2018. Findings The findings suggest that reforms in the program were preceded by significantly higher volumes of media coverage; however, the analysis is unable to confirm that negative media coverage has a stronger agenda setting effect. In addition, no significant difference was found between positive and negative news stories in their use of research-based information. Originality/value This study is interdisciplinary in its ability to combine policy and journalism studies as a mechanism to understand the relationship between the two forces.

Finding Story Ideas and Sources

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip M. Yam
Keyword(s):  
Biological Sciences ◽  
Popular Science ◽  
Department Of Energy ◽  
Science Journalism ◽  
Oak Ridge ◽  
Medical Centers ◽  
Mailing Lists ◽  
Science News ◽  
Government Websites ◽  
E Mail

As a freelance or a staff journalist, you will face at some point dread and insecurity as you wonder if the story ideas you're about to pitch to an editor are any good. We've all been there. There is no formula for coming up with that novel angle or fresh topic. But certain approaches and strategies can help you hone your nose for science news and root out interesting stories editors will want. First, scope out publications, both print and Web. If you've contemplated science journalism, then you have probably read the science and technology sections of major newspapers and leafed through the popular-science magazines on the newsstands. Familiarize yourself with the weeklies, such as New Scientist and Science News, as well as the news section of Science. Gain a greater depth by, for instance, reading review-type articles, such as those that appear in Scientific American, Nature's News and Views section, or the News & Commentary section of Science. Check out clearinghouses for press releases, such as Newswise, Eurekalert!, and PRNewswire. They send periodic e-mail alerts and maintain searchable websites. Some require that you have a published body of work before granting you access to certain privileged information (such as the contact numbers of researchers). Others may require that you obtain a letter from an editor. You can also subscribe to mailing lists of media relations offices at universities, medical centers, and other research institutions and sign up for various industry newsletters. When surfing the Web for science information, don't forget major government websites, such as those of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Institutes of Health, the National Institutes of Standards and Technology, and the Department of Energy, which manages the national labs. Besides weapons work, the DOE labs—including Los Alamos, Brookhaven, Oak Ridge, and Lawrence Livermore—conduct research in both physical and biological sciences. Other worthwhile online resources include listservs and Web logs, but keep in mind that the ideas there are not vetted as they are in journals. Plus, you have to have the patience to get past the ranting and raving that can obscure good postings. For beginning science journalists, it may be best to follow blogs of well-respected researchers.

The unfinished science story: Journalist–audience interactions from the Globe and Mail’s online health and science sections

Journalism ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 814-831 ◽  
Author(s):  
David M. Secko ◽  
Stephany Tlalka ◽  
Morgan Dunlop ◽  
Ami Kingdon ◽  
Elyse Amend
Keyword(s):  
Narrative Analysis ◽  
Stress Test ◽  
Multimedia Content ◽  
Science Journalism ◽  
Science Story ◽  
Science Stories ◽  
Opening Up

Science journalists are increasingly confronted with the ability of audiences to comment on science stories, create and share multimedia content, and blog about science. Yet, there is a surprising lack of literature exploring the narrative impacts of such changes on science journalism. To fill this gap, this article draws on the concept of the ‘unfinished’ science story to provide a narrative analysis of story-commentary sets from a Canadian newspaper (the Globe and Mail). It shows how the authority to ‘finish’ a scientific narrative now faces: (1) the opening up of science journalism narratives to raw experience; (2) the reframing of issues by audience comments; (3) the emergence of a journalists–audience ‘stress test’; and (4) the heavy existence of negative commentary.

Perils and positives of science journalism in Australia

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (5) ◽  
pp. 562-577 ◽  
Author(s):  
Merryn McKinnon ◽  
Johanna Howes ◽  
Andrew Leach ◽  
Natasha Prokop
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
Australian Capital Territory ◽  
Science Journalism ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
The Public ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Science Stories ◽  
Science News ◽  
Valuable Role

Scientists, science communicators and science journalists interact to deliver science news to the public. Yet the value of interactions between the groups in delivering high-quality science stories is poorly understood within Australia. A recent study in New Zealand on the perspectives of the three groups on the challenges facing science journalism is replicated here in the context of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. While all three groups perceived the quality of science journalism as generally high, the limitations of non-specialists and public relation materials were causes for concern. The results indicate that science communicators are considered to play a valuable role as facilitators of information flow to journalists and support for scientists. Future studies on the influence and implications of interactions between these three groups are required.

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