Science and the Media

An interesting statistic that kept being thrown around in class on Tuesday was that something like 70% of Americans want to learn more about science and wish that it was covered more in the media.  Taking this statistic at face value, one might argue that the media really does not cover science well, and that the American people are hungry for scientific knowledge.  However, while it may be true that the news media does not do the best job covering science, I do not believe you can take this statistic at face value.  When asked in a poll if they wanted to know more about science, what American would say no?  By saying no, they probably consciously or subconsciously believe that they are admitting that they are stupid and have no desire to know about this great intellectual thing we call science.  So then when they are asked if the media does a good job covering science, of course they will say no because they need someone to blame for their lack of science knowledge, and they won’t blame themselves.  The media is an easy target because most people are exposed to the media everyday in some shape or form, and therefore it can’t be doing a good job if they see it everyday but still don’t know anything about science.  But, really, how many Americans are turning to the science section of the newspaper, or looking up science journals online.  Most Americans, myself included, page through the first section and then flip to the sports or the gossip pages.  Most people don’t take the time to get to the science section which is usually buried somewhere in the middle of the paper.  Therefore, it is no surprise that most Americans have a very limited knowledge of science, which is an extremely important field.

There is no easy solution to this problem.  I think that it falls most on the American people to seek out knowledge, but the media can do a better job of making science more accessible to the average Americans.  Many newspapers bury the science section in the middle of the paper, or do not even have a science section.  Newspapers are businesses that need to sell papers to make money, and especially in this day and age, selling papers is more important than ever to these companies.  Therefore, they are focusing on stories that will sell papers, such as the economy, and Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as sports and gossip.  The media covers what the people want to see, and the people have clearly not demanded to know about science.  It is difficult to change this now, especially as newspapers are clinging to life, but one possible idea is to put one science article on the front page a couple of times a week and see how people react.  If Americans truly want to know more about science then they will take advantage of this and continue into the science section.  While this would probably not be very effective, it would probably at least pique the interest of some Americans, which would be a step in the right direction.  Another problem is that if people go online to seek out science knowledge they are most likely not reading science journals, but rather blogs or other more easily understandable mediums that may not be factually correct.  Scientists need to do a better job of communicating with the public and making science more accessible.  However, they have to balance making it understandable while not losing the true meaning of the science, which is very difficult.  I think that both sides can do more in this effort, with people trying to understand at least parts of real issues in journals, while scientists dumb it down a little more, so that eventually people will understand all of what they are reading.

The issue of American’s lack of knowledge about science is a very difficult one to solve, and to be honest I am not too confident that it will ever be solved.  I think the media and scientists can help by devoting more coverage and making it more accessible, but in the end it comes down to the American people.  If the people truly want to know more about science, then they need to demand that the media cover it, and educate themselves so that they can understand it.  If Americans were to do this, the media would surely do a better job covering it, because they want people to buy newspapers and read their web sites.  However, at least at this point in time, Americans are more concerned with the latest sports scores, or celebrity scandals, and therefore the media will continue to cover these things to the detriment of science.