Exploring the digital media ecology: insights from a study of healthy diets and climate change communication on digital and social media

Abstract

This study explores the types of actors visible in the digital science communication landscape in the Netherlands, Serbia and the U.K. Using the Koru model of science communication as a basis, we consider how science communicators craft their messages and which channels they are using to reach audiences. The study took as case studies the topics of climate change and healthy diets to enable comparison across countries, topics and platforms. These findings are compared with the results from a survey of over 200 science communication practitioners based in these countries. We find that although traditional media are challenged by the variety of different new entrants into the digital landscape, our results suggest that the media and journalists remain highly visible. In addition, our survey results suggest that many science communicators may struggle to gain traction in the crowded digital ecology, and in particular, that relatively few scientists and research institutions and universities are achieving a high profile in the public digital media ecology of science communication.

Supporting quality in science communication: insights from the QUEST project

“…The methodology included a review of the existing literature on the promotion of quality in science communication [see Davies et al, 2021], an assessment of the provision for science communication education across Europe [see Costa et al, 2019], and initiated a series of activities that directly engaged key science communication stakeholders in co-design approaches to recognise the challenges they are facing, identify possible solutions, and develop tools to support quality in science communication.…”

“…The pressing need to overcome these obstacles has only been amplified by the racial reckoning and the global pandemic that have affected almost every aspect of life in 2020 [Farhi and Ellison, 2020;Auðardóttir and Rúdólfsdóttir, 2020]. The position of museums in society as cultural spaces, academic spaces, safe spaces, and spaces of research, education, and entertainment, should not be taken for granted, and in the face of the current challenges, there are opportunities for positive change, as was repeatedly expressed by stakeholders in QUEST activities [Davies et al, 2021].…”

“…Existing barriers and disincentives for science communication need to be identified as starting points to develop incentives for promoting science communication to wider publics. As highlighted by Davies et al [2021], the diverse actors and media involved in the science communication ecosystem need to be given careful examination. The factors affecting quality in science communication start with scientists themselves, before passing through different communication channels to the public.…”

“…These and other significant changes in the media landscape affect the ability of journalists to reliably report sound, evidence-based science news [Allan, 2011]. Davies et al [2021] highlight issues that include the decreasing influence of traditional 'legacy media' alongside a well-developed public appetite for social media posts on science which are sometimes unintentionally misleading or deliberately manipulated to spread fake news and pseudoscience. A public inundated by mixed messaging and a range of interpretations is far less likely to develop trust in science messages in the media generally -leading potentially to disillusionment and disengagement among citizens.…”

Rethinking science communication in a changing landscape

“…The next three papers explore the implications of the digitalization of the media landscape in more depth and detail. Emma Weitkamp et al [2021] provides an overview of the emerging digital ecology of science communication. Comparing three European countries studied in the RETHINK project, she shows that even though the range of actors producing science-related content is considerably broadened, traditional science media and journalists remain quite visible across different platforms.…”