A Case Study of Indonesian Journalists’ Participation in a Cochran Fellowship Program focused on Biotechnology and Journalism

2017 ◽  
pp. 52-66
Author(s):  
Holli R. Leggette ◽  
Samuel Thomas Hall ◽  
Theresa Pesl Murphrey
Keyword(s):  
Science Communication ◽  
Scientific Information ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
Communication Training ◽  
Comfort Level ◽  
Fellowship Program ◽  
Science Journalism ◽  
News Organizations ◽  
Building Activities

This case study describes the participation of Indonesian journalists in a two-week Cochran Fellowship Program designed to teach about biotechnology and the process of disseminating scientific information. The purpose of this case study was to examine the experience of Indonesian journalists who participated in science communication training in an effort to document practices that improve journalistic writing skills and encourage positive perceptions of biotechnology. Therefore, we collected pre- and post-training reflections, photo reflections, and project debriefing session reflections from six Indonesian journalists who specialized in various types of journalism and worked for private or government-owned news organizations. The reflections revealed changes in comfort level with journalistic writing, thoughts and behaviors, and understanding of the biotechnology process. The journalists showed the most change in comfort level for explaining communication tools; using, evaluating, and choosing communication mediums; and translating science related to biotechnology. They described biotechnology as a highly debated, multi-step process affecting food security and noted that they gained valuable information about science journalism and biotechnology. Training journalists and understanding their voices could enable agriculturalists to more effectively communicate about scientific issues and develop impactful capacity-building activities. Because journalists have the power to inform and influence, programs, like this one, can have far-reaching, beneficial impacts on the adoption of biotechnology. However, researchers should investigate future programs using a longitudinal study to determine if programs influence the stories published in the years following the training

scholarly journals Environmental Science Communication for a Young Audience: A Case Study on the #EarthOvershootDay Campaign on YouTube 🎬🌎

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lena Kaul ◽  
Philipp Schrögel ◽  
Christian Humm
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Success Factors ◽  
Environmental Science ◽  
Scientific Information ◽  
Environmental Communication ◽  
Practical Implementation ◽  
Scientific Content ◽  
Sustainability Challenges

Addressing global sustainability challenges such as climate change in democratic societies requires thorough political and societal debates. Science and environmental communication is needed to inform these debates. However, not all parts of society are equally reached by traditional science communication. In particular young people, especially without academic background, are often left out. The cooperation of science communicators with influencers on the video platform YouTube can be a way to convey scientific information and raise awareness for environmental issues with new young audiences. This case study looks at three videos from the campaign #EarthOvershootDay on YouTube by the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) Germany and the educational initiative MESH Collective. The focus of the analysis lies on the established success factors of communication through influencers—specifically authenticity, comprehensibility and storytelling—and how they play out in detail in the three exemplary videos. Besides the analysis of the videos, the study is corroborated by interviews with the producers and a comment analysis in order to include the perspective of the viewers. Our analysis confirms previous findings on science communication with influencers and illustrates the practical implementation of these findings. It shows that authenticity is a central aspect which is not disturbed through the presentation of scientific content. The storytelling approaches are tailored to the respective influencer and their style. The language and structure of the videos are simple and comprehensible, scientific arguments focus on selected aspects and are tied to examples from everyday life. The comments by the users support these findings with the majority of comments addressing the three aspects of our analysis being positive. However, evidence for an in-depth engagement with the scientific contents could not be found in the comments. The stated goal of the campaign to reach educationally disadvantaged young people was only reached to a limited degree according to the assessment of the producers. Additionally, the views of two of the three videos remained below the average for the respective channel. Taken together this indicates that cooperation with influencers might not be an “all-purpose tool” guaranteeing success for science communication.

scholarly journals Environmental Science Communication for a Young Audience: A Case Study on the #EarthOvershootDay Campaign on YouTube

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lena Kaul ◽  
Philipp Schrögel ◽  
Christian Humm
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Success Factors ◽  
Environmental Science ◽  
Scientific Information ◽  
Environmental Communication ◽  
Practical Implementation ◽  
Scientific Content ◽  
Sustainability Challenges

Addressing global sustainability challenges such as climate change in democratic societies requires thorough political and societal debates. Science and environmental communication is needed to inform these debates. However, not all parts of society are equally reached by traditional science communication. In particular young people, especially without academic background, are often left out. The cooperation of science communicators with influencers on the video platform YouTube can be a way to convey scientific information and raise awareness for environmental issues with new young audiences. This case study looks at three videos from the campaign #EarthOvershootDay on YouTube by the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) Germany and the educational initiative MESH Collective. The focus of the analysis lies on the established success factors of communication through influencers—specifically authenticity, comprehensibility and storytelling—and how they play out in detail in the three exemplary videos. Besides the analysis of the videos, the study is corroborated by interviews with the producers and a comment analysis in order to include the perspective of the viewers. Our analysis confirms previous findings on science communication with influencers and illustrates the practical implementation of these findings. It shows that authenticity is a central aspect which is not disturbed through the presentation of scientific content. The storytelling approaches are tailored to the respective influencer and their style. The language and structure of the videos are simple and comprehensible, scientific arguments focus on selected aspects and are tied to examples from everyday life. The comments by the users support these findings with the majority of comments addressing the three aspects of our analysis being positive. However, evidence for an in-depth engagement with the scientific contents could not be found in the comments. The stated goal of the campaign to reach educationally disadvantaged young people was only reached to a limited degree according to the assessment of the producers. Additionally, the views of two of the three videos remained below the average for the respective channel. Taken together this indicates that cooperation with influencers might not be an “all-purpose tool” guaranteeing success for science communication.

scholarly journals Impacts of Formal Science Communication Training for Graduate Students & Postdoctoral Researchers: A case study from ComSciCon-Michigan

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie J. Deppe (Hamilton) ◽  
Sarah Kearns ◽  
Jessica Y. Chen ◽  
Ellen K.W. Brennan ◽  
Sara A. Hugentobler
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Communication Training ◽  
Formal Science ◽  
Postdoctoral Researchers

Stylistic analysis of headlines in science journalism: A case study of New Scientist

2016 ◽  
Vol 26 (8) ◽  
pp. 894-907 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Molek-Kozakowska
Keyword(s):  
Science Communication ◽  
Scientific Research ◽  
Stylistic Analysis ◽  
Science Journalism ◽  
The Media

This article explores science journalism in the context of the media competition for readers’ attention. It offers a qualitative stylistic perspective on how popular journalism colonizes science communication. It examines a sample of 400 headlines collected over the period of 15 months from the ranking of five ‘most-read’ articles on the website of the international magazine New Scientist. Dominant lexical properties of the sample are first identified through frequency and keyness survey and then analysed qualitatively from the perspective of the stylistic projection of newsworthiness. The analysis illustrates various degrees of stylistic ‘hybridity’ in online popularization of scientific research. Stylistic patterns that celebrate, domesticate or personalize science coverage (characteristic of popular journalism) are intertwined with devices that foreground tentativeness, precision and informativeness (characteristic of science communication). The article reflects on the implications of including various proportions of academic and popular styles in science journalism.

International Perspectives on Science Communication Ethics

1997 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 170-179
Author(s):  
Bruce V. Lewenstein
Keyword(s):  
Science Communication ◽  
Competing Values ◽  
Science Journalism ◽  
Communication Ethics ◽  
International Perspectives

Today, I want to use my own field of science communication, and especially science journalism, to explore some of these competing values. I want to give examples of the kinds of issues that can be raised for students who go overseas, and suggest the types of thinking and learning that these issues can stimulate. 

Novel interfaces in science communication: Comparing journalistic and social media uptake of articles published by The Conversation Africa

2021 ◽  
pp. 096366252110193
Author(s):  
Lars Guenther ◽  
Marina Joubert
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Science Journalism ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Public Science ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Agenda Setter ◽  
Or Economics ◽  
Media Ecosystem

Science amplifier platforms such as The Conversation have gained popularity in a changing media ecosystem in which the traditional roles of journalists are eroded, and scientists are urged to engage with society. The Conversation constitutes a blend of scientific communication, public science communication and science journalism, and a convergence of the professional worlds of science and journalism. In this study, we investigated the nature and impact of the Africa-focussed edition of this platform, The Conversation Africa. We analysed articles published over a 5-year period since its launch in 2015 ( N = 5392). Contents from South Africa dominate the platform, but contributions from other African countries are increasing. Regarding the role of The Conversation Africa as an inter-media agenda setter, mainstream media more often republished stories related to politics or economics, while stories about social issues such as education, conservation and art were more often shared on social media.

scholarly journals Evaluating Life Cycle of Buildings Using an Integrated Approach Based on Quantitative-Qualitative and Simplified Best-Worst Methods (QQM-SBWM)

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 4487
Author(s):  
Maghsoud Amiri ◽  
Mohammad Hashemi-Tabatabaei ◽  
Mohammad Ghahremanloo ◽  
Mehdi Keshavarz-Ghorabaee ◽  
Edmundas Kazimieras Zavadskas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Computer Software ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Comfort Level ◽  
Combination Method ◽  
New Combination ◽  
Numerical Examples ◽  
Environmental Consequences ◽  
Time Required

Evaluating the life cycle of buildings is a valuable tool for assessing sustainability and analyzing environmental consequences throughout the construction operations of buildings. In this study, in order to determine the importance of building life cycle evaluation indicators, a new combination method was used based on a quantitative-qualitative method (QQM) and a simplified best-worst method (SBWM). The SBWM method was used because it simplifies BWM calculations and does not require solving complex mathematical models. Reducing the time required to perform calculations and eliminating the need for complicated computer software are among the advantages of the proposed method. The QQM method has also been used due to its ability to evaluate quantitative and qualitative criteria simultaneously. The feasibility and applicability of the SBWM were examined using three numerical examples and a case study, and the results were evaluated. The results of the case study showed that the criteria of the estimated cost, comfort level, and basic floor area were, in order, the most important criteria among the others. The results of the numerical examples and the case study showed that the proposed method had a lower total deviation (TD) compared to the basic BWM. Sensitivity analysis results also confirmed that the proposed approach has a high degree of robustness for ranking and weighting criteria.

Genome Editing or Genome Cutting? Communicating CRISPR in the British and German Press

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-66
Author(s):  
Yoo Yung Lee
Keyword(s):  
Science Communication ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Word Processor ◽  
Public Science ◽  
German Press ◽  
Legal Questions ◽  
British Press ◽  
Legal Frameworks

AbstractIn this paper, I analyze the role of metaphors in public science communication. Specifically, it is a case study of the metaphors for CRISPR/Cas9, a controversial biotechnology that enables scientists to alter the DNA of any organism with unprecedented ease and has raised a number of societal, ethical and legal questions concerning its applications – most notably, on its usage on the human germline. Using a corpus of 600 newspaper articles from the British and German press, I show that there are striking differences in how these two European countries construe CRISPR in public discourse: the British press promotes the image of CRISPR as a word processor that allows scientists to edit the DNA, replacing spelling mistakes with healthy genes, whereas the German press depicts CRISPR as genetic scissors and thereby underlines the risk of mutations after cutting the DNA. I suggest that this contrast reflects differences in the legal frameworks of the respective countries and may influence the attitudes towards emerging biotechnologies among the British and German public.

scholarly journals Understanding the Problem of “Hype”: Exaggeration, Values, and Trust in Science

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Kristen Intemann
Keyword(s):  
Science Communication ◽  
Science Studies ◽  
Journal Articles ◽  
Press Releases ◽  
Science Journalism ◽  
Value Judgments

Abstract Several science studies scholars report instances of scientific “hype,” or sensationalized exaggeration, in journal articles, institutional press releases, and science journalism in a variety of fields (e.g., Caulfield and Condit 2012). Yet, how “hype” is being conceived varies. I will argue that hype is best understood as a particular kind of exaggeration, one that explicitly or implicitly exaggerates various positive aspects of science in ways that undermine the goals of science communication in a particular context. This account also makes clear the ways that value judgments play a role in judgments of “hype,” which has implications for detecting and addressing this problem.

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