Ciencia Y Tecnología en Los Telediarios Colombianos: Sobre Lo Que Se Cubre Y No Se Cubre

Abstract

In this paper we analyze a corpus of science and technology news broadcasted by Noticias Caracol -the TV news program with the highest level of audiences in Colombia. This article serves for the dual purpose of verifying whether the demand of Colombians for this type of information is minimally supplied and to account for the main features of the coverage of science and technology in this TV news. The results show that these issues had relatively low importance on the agenda of this newscast and government members play an important role, not only as sources but as voices in the construction of news stories. We also found that this TV news program is not necessarily democratic in choosing its sources, its voices and its references, and did not give strong elements of context for this kind of information.

Communicating Science: A Global Perspective

“…12 On the other hand, we evidence the low prestige of science journalism in the Colombian mass media: in TV news, science and technology has a very low key presence compared to Latin American countries like Brazil. Even when these topics are covered, there is little contextualisation and use of scientific sources, with a bias for presenting science in a positive way and rarely mentioning scientific controversies that limit public debate (Arboleda Castrillón et al, 2015;Ramalho, Arboleda and Hermelin, 2017). This situation is intertwined with the limited professional training on offer for mediators and scientific journalists.…”

Colombia: Stories in the history of science communication

“…12 On the other hand, we evidence the low prestige of science journalism in the Colombian mass media: in TV news, science and technology has a very low key presence compared to Latin American countries like Brazil. Even when these topics are covered, there is little contextualisation and use of scientific sources, with a bias for presenting science in a positive way and rarely mentioning scientific controversies that limit public debate (Arboleda Castrillón et al, 2015;Ramalho, Arboleda and Hermelin, 2017). This situation is intertwined with the limited professional training on offer for mediators and scientific journalists.…”

Ciência, televisão e adolescentes: um estudo comparativo entre França e Brasil

“…But they also think the situation is changing. Furthermore, they said the media primarily present male portrayals of scientists, something reported by a number of studies (MELLOR, WEBSTER, BELL, 2011;CASTELFRANCHI, MASSARANI, RAMALHO, 2014;ARBOLEDA CASTRILLÓN et al, 2015).…”

“…Some said that, because of this entrenched image of the male scientist, many women tend to "belittle themselves and think they aren't capable, even though they are just as capable as men" (Student 15, female, Saint-Denis high school, i. v., 2016). Various authors have in fact reported that media portrayals in a wide variety of TV formats, both in Brazil and abroad, mostly feature male scientists (MELLOR, WEBSTER, BELL, 2011;CASTELFRANCHI, MASSARANI, RAMALHO, 2014;ARBOLEDA CASTRILLÓN et al, 2015;DUDO et al, 2010).…”