
Science, News and the Public
Journalism for Science Democratisation in the Post-Truth Era
Bloomsbury Academic (Publisher)
Will be published approx. on 3. August 2028
Book
Paperback/Softback
224 pages
978-1-78093-196-8 (ISBN)
Description
Science, News and the Public is a comprehensive, historically driven and future-oriented account into the roles, functions, practices and impacts of science journalism in society.
Recent exponential increases in scientific discoveries - with all the hopes and fears they create for humanity - have brought public engagement with science to a central position in public and private life. Yet, science and society continue to be distanced, for old and new reasons: science elitism, science secrecy, ineffective science communication, science used as political football, and science mis/disinformation. This book sets out to demonstrate that the news media, despite its traditional flaws and recent decline, remain one of the very few, if not the only, major platform that can bring together science and publics for far-reaching impacts. In exploring the past and present of science communication, the book breaks from usual criticisms to show science journalism has done a far better and more important job than it is stereotyped. Concurrently, it presents a scathing critique of the various professional issues, challenges and practices that have ironically led journalism to being a potential contributor to the science-society distance it is purported to reduce. To regain its role as a principal force in this area, journalism needs not only to alter its traditional science deference and to abandon many of its much-discredited techniques. It also needs to be proactive, bold and innovative in adapting to new thinking, new audience behaviors and new socio-technological possibilities. These new possibilities, especially digital technological affordances, will be explored in detail.More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
454 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78093-196-8 (9781780931968)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
An Nguyen is Senior Lecturer and Journalism Leader in the School of Media, Film and Music at the University of Sussex. A former science journalist from Vietnam, he specializes in online journalism, news audiences, science journalism, citizen journalism, and journalism professionalism. He is currently writing Statistics for Journalism (2012) and working on a UKIERI-funded research project on the effect of climate change communication on young people in India.
Steve McIlwain is a recently retired Senior Lecturer in Journalism and Communication at the University of Newcastle, Australia. A biologist by education, he had a successful journalism career in Australia for twenty years, culminating as News Editor at The Sun in Brisbane. Since joining academe in 1987, he has spent most of his research time on science journalism and its connection to the public. Alice Fleerackers (she/her) is a doctoral candidate in Simon Fraser University's Interdisciplinary Studies program, Canada, where she studies how health science is communicated online. She is also a Researcher at the Scholarly Communications Lab, the New Science Communicators Program Coordinator of Science Borealis, a Director on the Board of the Science Writers and Communicators of Canada, and a member of the Scientific Committee for the Public Communication of Science and Technology Network (PCST).