Crisis in journalism fuels increase in science blogs

Assessment was made in a panel discussion on the use of social media in science communication during the 13th International Public Communication of Science and Technology Conference.

By Elton Alisson, in Salvador

Agência FAPESP – The crisis that is currently affecting journalism worldwide, caused in part by the convergence on new digital platforms, has affected journalistic coverage of science and stimulated the appearance of science blogs in many countries, including Brazil.

This assessment was made by Juliana Santos Botelho, a researcher and coordinator of the Office of Science Communication Coordination (CCC/Cedecom) at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), in a panel discussion on the use of social media in science communication during the 13th International Public Communication of Science and Technology (PCST) Conference, held May 5-8 in Salvador, Bahia.

The meeting, which had the central theme “Science Communication for Social Inclusion and Political Engagement,” was held in Latin America for the first time and brought together researchers from more than 50 countries to discuss science communication and dissemination practices and strategies adopted in various parts of the world.

“The number of science blogs is growing, especially in English-speaking countries, and the worldwide journalism crisis has contributed to this increase,” said Botelho, who also writes Diálogos com Ciência and has conducted a study of 150 blogs in Brazil.

According to Botelho, the crisis in journalism throughout the world has caused massive layoffs and a reduction in the number of journalists in the editorial departments of large media outlets, including those in Brazil.

She went on to say that one of the major consequences of this process is an ever-shrinking number of journalists covering an ever-increasing number of subjects.

As a result, science coverage in large media outlets receives less editorial space on the pages of major newspapers and in radio and television newscasts. “These changes have impacted the quality of large media outlets’ science coverage all over the world,” Botelho said.

According to the researcher, another negative consequence of the journalism crisis for science communication is the increasingly homogenized journalistic coverage.

With a reduced number of journalists on staff, media outlets in several countries are increasingly using standard science pieces produced by international news agencies, explained Botelho.

The problem is that these outlets receive the same types of pieces that their competitors do, from the same news agencies, and they make few modifications.

In most cases, the science stories produced by international news agencies refer to science produced in countries in the northern hemisphere, Botelho noted.

“Brazilian researchers do not appear in most scientific research articles published in Brazil, for example. And when they do appear in science news, it is to comment on the findings of studies that were published by researchers from countries in the northern hemisphere,” she said.

Growth of blogs

To compensate for the reduction of editorial space devoted to science, especially in the print media, and to increase the communication of findings from research conducted by Brazilian scientists, there has been an increase in the number of science blogs in Brazil, Botelho said.

But she acknowledged that the number of Brazilian science blogs is still smaller than the number of science blogs in the United States and Europe. Moreover, editorial policies for blogs are just beginning to be formulated in Brazil.

“In Brazil, we don’t have very structured editorial policies for general blogs or for science blogs like those implemented by media outlets and university institutions in countries like the United States and the United Kingdom,” Botelho said. She noted that some media outlets have selected scientists (or people from other fields who have never written blogs before) to serve as their collaborative bloggers.

Another characteristic of Brazilian science blogs, according to Botelho, is that they are relatively independent. Most are not associated with media companies or institutions.

The volume of news presented by Brazilian science blogs associated with media outlets is lower than that in other independent blogs in the country. The publication of blog entries is regular but not very frequent.

The characteristic that most calls the researcher’s attention to the science blogs in Brazil, however, is their lack of interactivity. “This may be a cultural characteristic of Brazil,” Botelho explained. “Generally, people feel more comfortable posting comments on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter rather than on blogs,” Botelho said.

The researcher further noted, however, that, despite the important contribution of science blogs to the dissemination of scientific information, they are not expected to replace journalistic coverage of science by traditional media such as newspapers, radio and television.

The reason this is not expected is that these media already have an established audience and cover scientific subjects more often than the science blogs do, Botelho noted.

“Science blogs have a very important role in terms of experimenting with new publication formats and writing styles. But in no way are they expected to replace journalistic coverage of science; they only complement it,” she stated.

Read more about the changes in science journalism at http://agencia.fapesp.br/en/17769.