The Double-Edged Sword of Popularization

Walsh, Lynda

doi:10.1177/1075547015581928

Cited by 7 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Questions concerning the relation between entertainment and information have a long history in debates about the accessibility and popularization of science communication (Myers, 2003;Shapiro and Park, 2015;Walsh, 2015). On the one hand entertainment strategies like storytelling, comic-formats, colloquial language, personalization, or visualization are assessed as counterparts to rationality and objectivity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Audiovisual Science Communication on TV and YouTube. How Recipients Understand and Evaluate Science Videos

2020

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With the emergence of the Internet, social media and video platforms are gaining considerable influence on the traditional media landscape in general and on science communication in particular. This has changed the role of science journalists as gatekeepers because many platforms are based on a participatory culture, in which passive consumers can become active participants. In addition to scientists, non-scientific actors also act as experts and participate in the communication process between science and the public. In contrast to the relevance of YouTube for science communication there is a lack of research focusing on the questions of how internet users receive YouTube videos to acquire information about science, how successful audiovisual media function in knowledge transfer, and what effects it has on the epistemic regime of a society. Therefore, this study combines a discourse analysis with the aim to create a typology of YouTube videos—the independent variables—and an audience study for investigating knowledge transfer—the dependent variables. In the first step, this article presents the results of a systematic analysis and categorization of 400 German science videos, from which four types of audiovisual science communication on YouTube were derived: presentation films, expert films, animation films, and narrative explanatory films. In order to clarify how powerful these new forms of science communication are in terms of knowledge transfer, attitudes, and trust toward the presentation of science, a discourse analysis of the videos is combined with a multi-level reception study and an online survey. The reception study included eye-tracking to investigate the allocation of attention and two different methods of knowledge tests (recognition and recall) of which the multiple-choice test was also applied in the online survey. The results show that the type of video has an important impact on knowledge transfer and para-social effects. One of the central results of the audience study is that the videos' gaze guidance, the recipients' allocation of attention, and the results of knowledge testing are closely intertwined. The correlation of data from eye-tracking and the two knowledge tests prove in principle that the more homogeneous the gaze patterns of the recipients are, the better they score in the multiple-choice test as well as in the concept mapping test.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Audiovisual Science Communication on TV and YouTube. How Recipients Understand and Evaluate Science Videos

2020

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“…Intimidating phone calls to a judge or her family, threats, or even physical intimidation can all create a climate of fear, which may lead a judge to resign. 121 Once places on the bench are vacant, the actors aiming to tame the court can appoint loyal figures to the bench. Sometimes, though, they do not bother to remove the incumbent judges but rather pack the court-they increase the number of judges and fill the new positions with loyalists.…”

Section: Targeting Judicial Personnelmentioning

confidence: 99%

The populist challenge to the European Court of Human Rights

Petrov

2020

International Journal of Constitutional Law

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This article analyzes the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) from the perspective of the recent extraordinary wave of populism in Europe. It argues that populism poses a serious and distinctive challenge to the ECtHR since supranational judicial review is at odds with the populist ideology. What makes the populist challenge distinctive is the combination of the ideological basis of populism, its wide appeal and capacity to reach ordinary people, and populists’ tendency to remove limitations on their power. With respect to the last point, the article introduces a categorization of anti-court techniques and takes stock of the ECtHR’s institutional setting. It concludes that although the situation is not perfect—the budget and judicial selection are especially problematic—the ECtHR is rather well insulated from eventual attacks targeting its structural features or the judicial personnel. However, including the ECtHR in the “narrative of blame,” populism is very strong in another anti-court strategy—achieving gradual erosion of a court through delegitimization. That is particularly threatening for the ECtHR due to its vulnerability to legitimacy challenges manifested in the past decade. As a result, the populist challenge will likely require careful management of the ECtHR’s social legitimacy.

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“If a black hole is an oyster, then . . .”: The discoursal trends of popularization in science fiction movies

Babaii

Asadnia

2021

Public Underst Sci

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Science fiction movies could play a pivotal role in making scientific discoveries available to the public. In this study, we explored the dialogue-based strategies these movies employ to appealingly communicate science. To investigate the discursive resources these movies use to represent science, we analyzed the content of 10 award-winning science fiction movies over the last decade (2010–2019). The findings demonstrated that although these movies deploy certain discursive features such as pseudoscientific hints, question markers, probability signals, statistical estimates, science boosters, paradox clues, comparison markers, exemplification, and figurative language that may influence audience thought patterns and a critical-reflective attitude toward science, they predominantly represent a partial distorted version of science characterized by inconsistency, inaccuracy, and skepticism. The study posits implications for science communicators to safeguard the legitimacy of science.

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The Double-Edged Sword of Popularization

Cited by 7 publications

References 15 publications

Audiovisual Science Communication on TV and YouTube. How Recipients Understand and Evaluate Science Videos

Audiovisual Science Communication on TV and YouTube. How Recipients Understand and Evaluate Science Videos

The populist challenge to the European Court of Human Rights

“If a black hole is an oyster, then . . .”: The discoursal trends of popularization in science fiction movies

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