science journalism – Journalism research news

The study “When Science Journalism is Awesome: Measuring Audiences’ Experiences of awe from Reading Science Stories” by Asheley R. Landrum and Kristina Janét from Texas Tech University, Kelsi Opat from Missouri State University and Heather Akin from University of Nebraska-Lincoln surveyed US audiences for facets of awe when exposed to science journalism. The authors used … Continued

Tags: awe, AWE-S, science curiosity, science journalism, surveys, the United States, vastness
Published: 11 Oct 2022

Reader attention and credibility through labels

Does the label of a news story affect its credibility? New study “What’s in a label? The effect of news labels on perceived credibility” by Cynthia Peacock of University of Alabama and University of Texas at Austin, and Gina M Masullo and Natalie Stroud of University of Texas at Austin sought to answer this question … Continued

Tags: audience, online journalism, political journalism, science journalism
Published: 16 Feb 2021

Journalists are bad at communicating scientific consensus

Most news articles do not clearly state expert consensus, even when one exists. The finding is reported by Eric Merkley, of University of Toronto. Merkley analysed over 280 000 news articles on 10 different topics – all ones on which most experts agree (e.g. vaccinating children). The author analysed over 3 000 articles by hand … Continued

Tags: representation, science journalism, sources, United States
Published: 24 Feb 2020

ARTICLE: Japanese news media took no lessons from Fukushima

Leading Japanese news outlets failed their audiences during the Fukushima nuclear incident – and they have done little to improve, a team of Japanese researchers write. They interviewed the responsible editorial staff of 14 national news organizations. The interviewees readily admitted they had been unprepared to report on the disaster. Few newsrooms had journalists specialized … Continued

Tags: crisis reporting, environmental journalism, science journalism
Published: 13 Dec 2019

Untitled by Adrian Malec, licence CC0 1.0

ARTICLE: Science journalism has gotten worse

News articles on biomedical studies have since the year 2000 used more hyperbolic headlines and more frequently omitted replication statements, a team of University of Bordeaux researchers found. Estelle Dumas-Mallet, Andy Smith, Thomas Boraud and François Gonon analysed over 400 news stories on biomedical research, published globally between 1988 and 2009. First the authors selected … Continued

Tags: Australia, Canada, science journalism, United Kingdom, United States
Published: 26 Jan 2018

Science et Vie by brewbooks, licence CC BY-SA 2.0

REPORT: More than scientists, Americans blame media for bad science news

Majority of Americans believe journalists, rather than scientists themselves, are responsible for the problems in science news. The result comes from a survey of over 4 000 US adults, conducted by the Pew Research Center. Overall, 57 per cent of the respondents still think the news media is “doing a good job” reporting on science. … Continued

Tags: audience, science journalism, United States
Published: 25 Sep 2017

'198 Ways' notes by Dom Pates, licence CC BY 2.0

ARTICLE: Local audiences get less research-based journalism

Journalists who work for national audiences are more likely to use academic research and expert interviews than those who work for local or regional publications, writes John Wihbey of Northeastern University. Wihbey surveyed 1 118 journalists over their employment and their use of scholarly information. In addition to national audiences, Wihbey also discovered other factors … Continued

Tags: journalistic profession, political journalism, science journalism, sources
Published: 15 Nov 2016

ARTICLE: Science news in Denmark and the UK

While the United Kingdom media market is large, open and complex, science news in Denmark works under different conditions, write Gunver Lystbaek Vestergaard and Kristian Hvidtfelt Nielsen, of Aarhus University. They compare science news in the UK and Denmark in order to locate small versus large country anomalies through content analysis. Results show that UK … Continued

Tags: Denmark, science journalism, United Kingdom
Published: 27 Oct 2016

ARTICLE: Science journalism headlines over-the-top

The headlines of science stories are often excessively emotive and exeggeratory, writes Katarzyna Molek-Kozakowska, of Opole University. The author studied the headlines of 400 most-read stories published on the website of the science magazine New Scientist. According to Molek-Kozakowska, the headlines mostly resemble the popular journalistic style rather than scientific style. This entails eye-catching, enthusing, … Continued

Tags: science journalism, sensationalism
Published: 5 Apr 2016

ARTICLE: News on science increase trust in science

The people who consume more news about science are more trustful of it, even if said news told about misconduct in science, writes Ulrika Andersson of University of Gothenburg. The author compared the news consumption patterns and levels of trust in science to the amount of negative science news in Sweden’s largest news outlets. The … Continued

Tags: audience, science journalism
Published: 22 Dec 2015