Rapid reaction: ethnographic insights into the Science Media Center and its response to the COVID-19 outbreak

Abstract

This paper offers an ethnographic account of the editorial response to the COVID-19 outbreak by the Science Media Center Germany. Ethnographic research data was gathered during a 4-week fieldstay in January 2020 which coincided with the first weeks of the COVID-19 outbreak. The findings offer insights into how the editorial staff grappled with the scientific non-knowledge and uncertainty that marked the initial phase of the global COVID-19 outbreak, while simultaneously dealing with acute journalistic demands for expertise.

Media Work as Field Advancement: The Case of Science Media Center Germany

“…SMC arguably constitutes a novel type of media organization: neither a legacy media player (such as a publisher or broadcaster) nor a traditional news agency or wire service, but performing a functional role somewhere in between and beyond. As part of a larger global movement of science media centers in, amongst other countries, Great Britain, Australia, and New Zealand, it has essentially pioneered a model of supporting infrastructure and services, often referred to as an intermediary organization between the fields of science and journalism (Broer, 2020;Rödder, 2015). From previous studies we have a solid understanding of how SMC moderates the relationship between the fields of science and journalism, acting as a "knowledge broker" (Broer, 2020) and an "organized contact system" that institutionalizes relationships, potentially leveraging trust between the two sectors (Rödder, 2020).…”

“…As part of a larger global movement of science media centers in, amongst other countries, Great Britain, Australia, and New Zealand, it has essentially pioneered a model of supporting infrastructure and services, often referred to as an intermediary organization between the fields of science and journalism (Broer, 2020;Rödder, 2015). From previous studies we have a solid understanding of how SMC moderates the relationship between the fields of science and journalism, acting as a "knowledge broker" (Broer, 2020) and an "organized contact system" that institutionalizes relationships, potentially leveraging trust between the two sectors (Rödder, 2020). However, there is a lack of insight into what SMC does specifically for journalism and how it might differ from other organizations in the field.…”

“…Furthermore, to deliver its products and services, SMC has developed an innovative organizational design-a constellation of journalistic insiders and outsiders-that differs from traditional ways of working in the news industry. Despite its novelty in Germany (and possibly also worldwide), SMC has been successful so far and grown substantially since its incorporation, especially given the recent Covid-19 pandemic, in which it has become an essential resource for many of its 1,200 accredited journalists (Broer, 2020). This article asks the following research question: RQ: What characterizes SMC as a new type of organization in (science) journalism?…”

„Dasein“: Die Integration kulturanthropologischer Konzepte in die Journalismusforschung

“…Sie sind sowohl für Journalismusforscher:innen als auch für Kulturanthropolog:innen von besonderem Interesse, weil es Orte sind, an denen sich zwei epistemische Autoritäten -die Wissenschaft und der Journalismus -mit ihren spezifischen Wahrheitsansprüchen treffen, an denen Redakteur:innen wissenschaftliches Wissen für die journalistische Nutzung aufbereiten und an denen breitere Entwicklungen in Journalismus und Wissenschaft "vor Ort" beobachtet werden können. Trotz ihrer einzigartigen Position und Rolle sowie ihres potenziellen Einflusses auf die Kommunikation wissenschaftlichen Wissens wurden Science Media Centers bisher nur wenig empirisch untersucht (Broer 2020;Broer & Pröschel 2021).…”

Die Rolle der Medien in der COVID-19-Pandemie

“…Ein zügiges Prüfen, Aufbereiten und Weitergeben der immer wieder neuen, aktuelleren Informationen und somit eine kontinuierliche Informationsverbreitung an Journalistinnen und Journalisten wird vom Science Media Center in Deutschland praktiziert. Dieses stellt eine Schnittstelle der Informationsvermittlung zwischen Wissenschaft und Journalismus dar [35,36].…”