Where is scientific journalism heading? A metasynthesis of the current state of scientific journalism and its outlooks for the future

Abstract

Science popularisation is the process by which knowledge produced by experts in a specific scientific field reaches a broad non-specialised public. Journalism plays an important role when trying to bring science closer to society, and scientific journalists need to have certain skills in order to successfully perform this task. This paper seeks to present the current situation of scientific journalism and the role journalists have in communicating science. On the basis of the results of studies conducted by several authors, it may be concluded that it is necessary to allocate more public investment, to personalise the respective information, to reintegrate science into culture, and to achieve bidirectional scientific communication.

KEYWORDS: science, communication, science popularisation, science in society, scientific journalism, role of journalists.