Using Multimedia to Bring Science News to the Public

Abstract:

Creative partnerships between scientists and journalists open new opportunities to bring the excitement of scientific discoveries to wider audiences. Research tells us that the majority of the general public now gets more science and technology news from the Internet than from TV sources (2014 NSF Science and Engineering Indicators). In order to reach these audiences news organizations must embrace multiple forms of multimedia. We will review recent research on how the new multimedia landscape is changing the way that science news is consumed and how news organizations are changing the way they deliver news. News programs like Inside Science, and other examples of new partnerships that deliver research news to journalists, teachers, students, and the general public will be examined. We will describe examples of successful collaborations including an article by a former Newsweek science reporter entitled “My 1975 'Cooling World' Story Doesn't Make Today's Climate Scientists Wrong,” which got reprinted in Slate, RealClearScience, and mentioned in Factcheck.org and USA Today.