Communicating science in an age of on-screen reading: taking a page from journalism

Holub, Ashley

doi:10.1136/jech-2019-213257

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 21 publications

(20 reference statements)

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“…Over the last few decades, online news and media have become the main source of scientific information for many individuals and decision-makers [1,2]. From university press releases and in-depth journalistic articles on new scientific publications to BuzzFeed-style short pieces, people have added the internet to their toolbox to better understand the world around them, pushing both science communicators and scientists to learn how to convey science outputs across a variety of audiences effectively [3], which becomes especially relevant when it comes to communicating findings with meaningful social implications that can potentially divide public opinion, such as global warming, artificial intelligence or human genetics [4]. For these and other reasons, the study of media coverage of science has become one of the central topics for social scientists [5] and in recent years more and more studies evaluating the nuances of scientific communication have been published [4,6,7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scientific clickbait: Examining media coverage and readability in genome-wide association research

Morosoli,

Colodro-Conde,

Barlow

et al. 2024

PLoS ONE

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In the present study, we analyzed a large corpus of English-language online media articles covering genome-wide association studies (GWAS), exemplifying the use of computational methods to study science communication in biological sciences. We analyzed trends in media coverage, readability, themes, and mentions of ethical and social issues, in over 5,000 websites published from 2005 to 2018 from 3,555 GWAS publications on 1,943 different traits, identified via GWAS Catalog using a text-mining approach to inform the discussion about genetic literacy and media coverage. We found that 22.9% of GWAS papers received media attention but most were described in language too complex to be understood by the public. Ethical issues are rarely mentioned and mentions of translation are increasing over time. We predicted media attention based on year of publication, number of genetic associations identified, study sample size, and journal impact factor, using a regression model (r2 = 38.7%). We found that chronotype, educational attainment, alcohol and coffee consumption, sexual orientation, tanning, and hair color received substantially more attention than predicted by the regression model. We also evaluated the prevalence of the clickbait “one gene, one disease” headlines (e.g., “Scientists Say They’ve Found Gene That Causes Breast Cancer”) and found that it is declining. In sum, online media coverage of GWAS should be more accessible, introduce more modern genetics terms, and when appropriate, ELSI should be mentioned. Science communication research can benefit from big data and text-mining techniques which allow us to study trends and changes in coverage trends across thousands of media outlets. Results can be explored interactively in a website we have built for this manuscript: https://jjmorosoli.shinyapps.io/newas/.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scientific clickbait: Examining media coverage and readability in genome-wide association research

Morosoli,

Colodro-Conde,

Barlow

et al. 2024

PLoS ONE

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“…Despite being a core public health competency (Council on Education for Public Health [CEPH], 2016), not all public health science students receive training in these skills. Past pandemics have highlighted the need for effective messaging for public health (Fauci, 2016), and the ubiquity of social media means that many public health students are likely already trying to engage in health communication (Holub, 2020).…”

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confidence: 99%

COVID-19 Pandemic Highlights the Need for Teaching Health Communication to Public Health Students

Mandelbaum

2020

Pedagogy in Health Promotion

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The COVID-19 pandemic precipitated a deluge of scholarly publications and scientific outreach. Information about the novel coronavirus has spread rapidly through both traditional news and social media platforms. Timely scientific literature is paramount to public health, but it must be paired with nuanced and tailored outreach and messaging. Despite being a core public health competency, not all public health science students receive training in these skills. The media response to the COVID-19 pandemic reveals a fundamental misunderstanding by the general public about the scientific process and cultivates a narrative that too often places blame on individuals for structural inequities. An influx of research without audience-appropriate interpretations, coupled with a lack of representation in the news media, threatens to erode trust in science. To address these challenges, schools and programs of public health might reflect on their curricula and consider placing a greater emphasis on health communication.

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Communicating science in an age of on-screen reading: taking a page from journalism

Cited by 2 publications

References 21 publications

Scientific clickbait: Examining media coverage and readability in genome-wide association research

Scientific clickbait: Examining media coverage and readability in genome-wide association research

COVID-19 Pandemic Highlights the Need for Teaching Health Communication to Public Health Students

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