From engaged citizen to lone hero: Nobel Prize laureates on British television, 1962–2004

Abstract

Between 1962 and 2004, Nobel Prize laureates appear in the British television science programme Horizon in various roles, denoting differing understandings of science in relation to society and culture. These representations are the outcome of an interplay of cultural and institutional factors. They vary with the broadcasting environment. Notably, the article establishes that the choice of presenting scientists as heroic characters in strongly determined storylines from the late-1990s onwards originates in a reaction to institutional imperatives as a means to preserve the existence of the Horizon series. The article shows that exigencies of the institutional context in which media professionals operate are major factors influencing the representation of science in public.

Jewel in the Crown: The Nobel Banquet Broadcast as Co-Construction

“…The included articles present much needed critical perspectives on the Nobel Prize. One of the articles discusses how Nobel Prize winners are depicted in British television (Gouyon 2018). The author emphasises that representations of science and scientists are the outcome of an interplay of cultural and institutional factors, which is also the starting point for this article.…”