Talk in the Webinar "2021 Trends in Science Communication – and the role of the Covid-19 pandemic", organized by The Nordic Alliance for Communication & Management together with the European Association of Communication Directors
Trends in the Science Communication Ecosystem & how the Pandemic Catalyzed Them
1. IKMZ – Department of Communications and Media Research
TRENDS IN THE SCICOMM ECOSYSTEM
& HOW THE PANDEMIC CATALYZED THEM
Mike S. Schäfer ( mss7676; @: m.schaefer@ikmz.uzh.ch)
2. IKMZ – Department of Communications and Media Research
Seite 2
Increasing public engagement from
scientists & scientific organizations
(e.g. Besley et al. 2018; Ivanova et al. 2013; Peters 2009, 2018; Schäfer & Fähnrich 2020, Serong et al. 2018)
3. IKMZ – Department of Communications and Media Research
Seite 3
‚Tectonic shift‘ in scicomm ecosystem:
crisis of journalism, pluralization of voices
(e.g. Bubela et al. 2009; Bucchi & Trench 2015; Fahy & Nisbet 2011; Schäfer 2017; Scheufele 2013; Weingart 2005)
4. IKMZ – Department of Communications and Media Research
Individualization, Fragmentation, even
Polarization of Audiences
(e.g. Brossard 2013; Hine et al. 2014; Leiserowitz et al. 2017; Metag & Schäfer 2021; Schäfer et al. 2018)
5. IKMZ – Department of Communications and Media Research
All of that enabled by online, social &
mobile media and algorithmic curation
(e.g. Anderson et al. 2014; Besley et al. 2017; Brossard 2013; Fahy & Nisbet 2011; Trench 2011; Williams et al. 2015)
6. IKMZ – Department of Communications and Media Research
The pandemic accentuated these trends,
highlighted challenges & new potentials
(e.g. Brennen et al. 2020; fög 2020; Science Barometer Switzerland 2020; WHO 2020)
Increasing workload for (science) journalists
Rise in public trust in science
Acknowledgment of science
journalism‘s importance & willingness
to pay for it individually & as a society
More content moderation, flagging
problematic content and
deplatforming by platforms
Increasing demand for
high quality news
Strong representation of science in
public & empowerment of science
Strong response of science & research,
both from academic & private sector
7. IKMZ – Department of Communications and Media Research
THANK YOU!
Mike S. Schäfer ( mss7676; @: m.schaefer@ikmz.uzh.ch)