1. D2
The nature of the relationship between science, the media and the public-
Science is something which is in everything whether its in the environment or in the
house. The media tends to ‘make a mountain out of a molehill’ in order to grab the
attention of the public. The public has their own opinion and everyone is different
however it is normally split into groups for example the over 50’s would believe and be
more interested in the historic type of news.
The media exaggerates and adds their own opinion into the news/ articles or blogs to
make it engaging and interesting and to get the public wanting to hear more from the
media.
The media influences and promotes debates to make more drama however it is the only
way we find out about what is going on around the world and how we find out about
science.
“Most scientists in the US and UK blame public ignorance of science for flawed
policy preferences and political choices. They tend to be critical of media
coverage, yet rate favorably their own experience with the media”
This is a piece from- http://bigthink.com/age-of-engagement/how-scientists-view-the-public-
the-media-and-the-political-process
This indicates that the they are critical towards the media and with the amount of reality
that they actually cover however without the help of media new news on science and
experiments won't be known to the public and without the scientists the media people
will not have much to report on as a lot of the news and media is based on science. The
public is the people who will be watching these things and is how science and the media
will get more interest etc.
Personally i think that the media will present science in order to benefit its own purpose.
It is apparent that the media can add their own parts in depending on what the topic is
and how extreme it is however they need to do something different from other reporters
and journalists so they turn to things that can sometimes get out of hand like lying or
assuming things. One big example of this is the vaccines article that the reporters and
media had made many views on and had actually got people believing in it and was
obviously proven wrong later on as the most obvious thing was that the person who had
made this story was not a scientist. This was the fault of the media too as they did not
see where this news was coming from or who it was coming from. Therefore the media,
media and public all need each other to make an article and to get it out to the world.
2. This is an image from a website- http://www.britishscienceassociation.org/blog/public-view-
science-back
This is an image of the percentage of the public which believe in science and their views
on science. Science overall is everywhere and there is no way to get away from it
whether its turning a kettle on or having a bath. Every person has their own individual
view on science as well as the media. I personally think that the media is not as reliable
as it should be and that is only because it has been proven wrong a number of times. My
view on scientists are that they are doing their job and can only rely on the media to get
the news out, the rest is in the hands of these people.
