The media morphosis of science communication during crises
Abstract
- Abstract
- en Effective science communication is crucial in informing citizens in times of crisis. The ICT-driven metamorphosis of the media industry (media-morphosis) has facilitated the shift from a rather one-directional information deficit model in science communication to a more bidirectional communication corresponding to a dialogue model. Little is known about the preferences for social media communication from the supply side of institutional and scholarly communication. Analyzing survey data from nearly 8,700 scientists, we compared their preferences for press media and social media, proxies of traditional centralized communication channels and modern decentralized channels, respectively. Our empirical results show that trust in governments and prioritizing access to all perspectives on the crisis are important factors that influence scientists’ preferences regarding forms of communication. Trust favors centralized systems, while social media serves as an alternative in contexts lacking trust in politics. Prioritizing the diffusion of different perspectives drives a shift to stated preferences for decentralized communication systems. We also show that scientists’ stated preferences for communication systems depend on the socio-political context.
People & roles
Origins & context
- Title
- The media morphosis of science communication during crises
- Publication type
- Article
- Language
- English
- Journal
- Scientific Reports
- Year
- 2025
- volume
- 15
- pages
- 5506
- Status
- Peer reviewed
- Relation
- Open Access Publizieren
Identifiers & sources
- ISSN
- 2045-2322
Full text
- Full text
- The media morphosis of science communication during crises Rocco Caferra1, Giuseppe Di Liddo2, Andrea Morone2 & David Stadelmann3 Effective science communication is crucial in informing citizens in times of crisis. The ICT-driven metamorphosis of the media industry (media-morphosis) has facilitated the shift from a rather one-directional information deficit model in science communication to a more bidirectional communication corresponding to a dialogue model. Little is known about the preferences for social media communication from the supply side of institutional and scholarly communication. Analyzing survey data from nearly 8,700 scientists, we compared their preferences for press media and social media, proxies of traditional centralized communication channels and modern decentralized channels, respectively. Our empirical results show that trust in governments and prioritizing access to all perspectives on the crisis are important factors that influence scientists’ preferences regarding forms of communication. Trust favors centralized systems, while social media serves as an alternative in contexts lacking trust in politics. Prioritizing the diffusion of different perspectives drives a shift to stated preferences for decentralized communication systems. We also show that scientists’ stated preferences for communication systems depend on the socio-political context. Keywords Trust, Crises, Media, Knowledge The advent of the digital age has paved the way for innovations in the interaction between scientific institutions, scientists and citizens1,2. Social media platforms are increasingly taking center stage at the expense of traditional print media, leading to a transformation of science journalism3. These platforms, supported by the development of e-government and mobile technologies hold the promise to change science communication, stimulate innovation and rethink the flow of information in the “knowledge society”4,5. The media industry is undergoing a… Read the full text about 8,137 words
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