Journalism against the current of scientific dissemination

Abstract

The aim of this article is to discuss the media-science relations and the generalized understanding that journalists have the attached function of scientific divulgation. From the literature review, it was concluded that the assumption made by academics, scientists and even by some journalists that the promotion of scientific activity should be ensured by the media will have largely contributed for the construction of stereotyped visions about the interactions between the two fields. These interactions have been defined by numerous studies as tense and conflicted due to the different codes and cultures that guide them. Others researches, in smaller amounts, observe symbiotic relationships, because science journalists tend to identify themselves with the values and objectives of the scientific field, thus elaborating an uncritical and anti-journalistic news coverage. These assumptions, based on the traditional and linear model of popularization of scientific knowledge, have historic roots that go back to early twentieth century, when scientists abandoned their role of disseminators and handed it over to journalists.