The Role of Science Journalists in promoting the level of community knowledge and coping with pseudoscience

Document Type : Review Paper

Authors

1 Ph.D. student of Social Communication Sciences, Tehran East Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.

2 Faculty Member of Social Communication Group, Tehran East Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

In order to develop science, to combat pseudoscience as well as to improve the scientific and cultural status in a society, publicizing science sounds an inevitable issue. Here, the most efficient and the most accessible tools are media because as their authority augments, science journalists increasingly play a crucial role in improving the level of people’s knowledge. After exploring the principal characteristics of pseudoscience and the reasons why it is welcomed by the public, the present study will examine the challenges faced by science journalists in publicizing science. In the next step, it will review a variety of functional models normally used to promote and to publicize science. Furthermore, diverse researches have affirmed that the evaluations carried out via critical thinking have successfully counteracted pseudoscience and, also, have increased the ability to assess various claims in this realm; thus, this study will analyze the role of science journalists in fighting against the prevailing of pseudoscience through teaching and expanding critical thinking as a committed assessing tool.

References

بروجردی، م. و بنیادی، ف. (1394). چالش­ها و موانع توسعه روزنامه­نگاری علم در ایران. فصلنامه مطالعات میان رشته­ای در علوم انسانی، 7 (3)، صص. 171 –203.
بروجردی، م. و بنیادی، ف. (1395). عملکرد روزنامه­نگاران علم در صفحه علم وفناوری مطبوعات. فصلنامه انجمن ایرانی مطالعات فرهنگی و ارتباطات، 12 (43)، صص. 122-153.
خانیکی، ه. و زردار، ز. (1393). علم در رسانه­ها؛ بررسی فرایند برساخته شدن علم در چارچوب­های رسانه­ای. مدیریت و پردازش اطلاعات، 29 (4)، صص. 875 -902.
دهشیری، م. ر. (1388). رسانه و فرهنگ. فصلنامه تحقیقات فرهنگی، 2 (8).
قدیمی، ا. (1394). نقش رسانه­ها در عمومی­سازی علم. فصلنامه انجمن ایرانی مطالعات فرهنگی و ارتباطات، 12 (42). صص. 12-37.
کاظمی، ف. و صبوری، ع. ا. (1394). شبه علم. نشریه نشاء علم، 6 (1). صص. 15-19
مبارگا، گ. و فوری، ژ. م. (1392). درس پنجم، در درسنامه فدراسیون جهانی روزنامه نگاری علمی (WFSJ)، ترجمه پوریا ناظمی). قابل دسترسی در آدرس:
 
http://www.wfsj.org/course
Bauer, M. W., H. Bonfadelli. (2002). Controversy, Media Coverage and Public Knowledge. In M. W. Bauer and G. Gaskell (Eds). Biotechnology: The Making of a Global Controversy. Cambridge University Press. pp. 149-175.
Blancke, S., Boudry, M & Braeckman, J. (2018). WHENCE PSEUDOSCIENCE? Mètode Science Studies Journal, 8 (2018): 133-139. DOI: 10.7203/metode.8.10007
Boudry, M., Blancke, S. & Pigliucci, M. (2015). What makes weird beliefs thrive? The epidemiology of pseudoscience. Philosophical Psychology, 28 (8), pp. 1177–1198. DOI: 10.1080/09515089.2014.971946.
Boudry, M., & Braeckman, J. (2011). Immunizing strategies and epistemic defense mechanisms. Philosophia, 39 (1), pp. 145–161. DOI: 10.1007/s11406-010-9254-9.
Boudry, M & Braeckman, J. (2012). How convenient! The epistemic rationale of self-validating belief systems. Philosophical Psychology, 25 (3), pp. 341–364. DOI: 10.1080/0951 5089.2011.579420.
Boudry, M & Hofhuis, S. (2017). Parasites of the mind. How cultural representations can subvert human interests. PhilSci Archive. Retrieved from http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/ eprint/13207.
Bowater, L., K. Yeoman. (2013). Science Communication: A Practical Guide for Scientists. Willy-Blackwell.
Boyer, P. (2001). Religion explained. The evolutionary origins of religiousthought. New York: Basic Books.
Boyer, P & Barrett, H. C. (2005). Domain specificity and intuitive ontology. In D. M. Buss (Ed.), The handbook of evolutionary psychology, pp. 96–118. Hoboken: Wiley.
Hansson, S. O. (2009). Cutting the Gordian knot of demarcation. International Studies in the Philosophy of Science, 23 (3), 237–243. DOI: 10.1080/02698590903196007.
Lewens, T. (2015). Cultural evolution. Conceptual challenges. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Mercier, H., & Sperber, D. (2011). Why do humans reason? Arguments for an argumentative theory. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 34 (2), pp. 57–74. DOI: 10.1017/s0140525x10000968.
Miller, J. D. (1986). Reaching the Attentive and Interested Publics for Science. In Friedman et al., (Eds). Scientists and Journalists: Reporting Science as News. New York: The Free Press. pp. 55-70.
Sperber, D. (1996). Explaining culture. A naturalistic approach. Oxford: Blackwell.
Sperber, D., Clement, F., Heintz, C., Mascaro, O., Mercier, H., Origgi, G. & Wilson, D. (2010). Epistemic vigilance. Mind & Language, 25 (4), pp. 359-393.

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics