Expert voices in South African mass media during the COVID-19 pandemic
Scientists increasingly recognise that media visibility allows them to gain influence in public and policy spheres. However, some scientists shy away from publicity and journalists are purposefully selective when they seek out experts to interview. This may result in a skewed representation of scie...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Academy of Science of South Africa
2022-05-01
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| Series: | South African Journal of Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://sajs.co.za/article/view/12480 |
| _version_ | 1818240390867714048 |
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| author | Marina Joubert Lars Guenther Lili Rademan |
| author_facet | Marina Joubert Lars Guenther Lili Rademan |
| author_sort | Marina Joubert |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
Scientists increasingly recognise that media visibility allows them to gain influence in public and policy spheres. However, some scientists shy away from publicity and journalists are purposefully selective when they seek out experts to interview. This may result in a skewed representation of scientists in the mass media. In this study, we explored which South African scientific experts at the academic rank of ‘professor’ were quoted in the local mass media during the initial 6 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our analysis of 1164 media articles related to COVID-19 showed that, as far as gender is concerned, men dominated as expert sources, with women accounting for only 30% of quoted professors. In terms of research field, most experts were from the broad field of health and medicine, with an under-representation of social scientists. We reflect on the implications and consequences of a skewed media representation of scientific expertise, as well as some of the options to remedy these imbalances.
Significance:
• This is the first study to identify the most visible science experts in the mass media in South Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• We recommend options for institutions, researchers, media editors and journalists to help diversify expert sources that are featured or quoted in the mass media.
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| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T13:12:41Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f96ebf28e91d41008b29d500983957d8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1996-7489 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T13:12:41Z |
| publishDate | 2022-05-01 |
| publisher | Academy of Science of South Africa |
| record_format | Article |
| series | South African Journal of Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-f96ebf28e91d41008b29d500983957d82022-12-22T00:23:30ZengAcademy of Science of South AfricaSouth African Journal of Science1996-74892022-05-011185/610.17159/sajs.2022/12480Expert voices in South African mass media during the COVID-19 pandemicMarina Joubert0Lars Guenther1Lili Rademan2Centre for Research on Evaluation, Science and Technology (CREST), Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa1.Centre for Research on Evaluation, Science and Technology (CREST), Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa; 2.Cluster of Excellence on Climate, Climatic Change, and Society (CliCCS), University of Hamburg, Hamburg, GermanyCentre for Research on Evaluation, Science and Technology (CREST), Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa Scientists increasingly recognise that media visibility allows them to gain influence in public and policy spheres. However, some scientists shy away from publicity and journalists are purposefully selective when they seek out experts to interview. This may result in a skewed representation of scientists in the mass media. In this study, we explored which South African scientific experts at the academic rank of ‘professor’ were quoted in the local mass media during the initial 6 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our analysis of 1164 media articles related to COVID-19 showed that, as far as gender is concerned, men dominated as expert sources, with women accounting for only 30% of quoted professors. In terms of research field, most experts were from the broad field of health and medicine, with an under-representation of social scientists. We reflect on the implications and consequences of a skewed media representation of scientific expertise, as well as some of the options to remedy these imbalances. Significance: • This is the first study to identify the most visible science experts in the mass media in South Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic. • We recommend options for institutions, researchers, media editors and journalists to help diversify expert sources that are featured or quoted in the mass media. https://sajs.co.za/article/view/12480science communicationgender imbalanceresearch field imbalancepublic visibilityCOVID-19 |
| spellingShingle | Marina Joubert Lars Guenther Lili Rademan Expert voices in South African mass media during the COVID-19 pandemic South African Journal of Science science communication gender imbalance research field imbalance public visibility COVID-19 |
| title | Expert voices in South African mass media during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_full | Expert voices in South African mass media during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_fullStr | Expert voices in South African mass media during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_full_unstemmed | Expert voices in South African mass media during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_short | Expert voices in South African mass media during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_sort | expert voices in south african mass media during the covid 19 pandemic |
| topic | science communication gender imbalance research field imbalance public visibility COVID-19 |
| url | https://sajs.co.za/article/view/12480 |
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