General description of science programs on Spanish public and private radio

Abstract

The final step in any scientific research is the dissemination of its results. This article examines the socialization of science in programmes of the publicly-owned Spanish regional radios and in the main private radio stations. There are 100 programs on 10 different stations, for a total broadcasting time of almost 4,200 minutes. The objective has been to make a general description of these programs, covering variables that range from the basic identification of each one to the formation of the team of participating people or the possibilities of participation for listeners. Our findings show, among other things, that science is broadcast on the radio in the afternoon and that there is an excessive use of interviews as a journalistic genre, an almost complete lack of reports, and little or no listener participation.

KEYWORDS: science, radio broadcasters, scientific journalism, journalistic genres, listener participation, science dissemination.