I was recently invited to contribute an essay to a special issue of the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment summarizing a conference on communication and environmental controversies held at the Cary Institute for Ecosystem Studies last year. My piece focuses on the responsibility of scientists to jump into the communication breach that’s being created as specialized journalism shrinks. The issue has just been published online. Here’s the core paragraph of my piece:
Specialized journalists now occupy a shrinking wedge of a fast-growing pie of light-speed media. This reality threatens to erode the already limited public appreciation of science. But the situation also presents a great opportunity – and responsibility – for scientists, their institutions, and their funders. Institutions that thrive in this world of expanding, evolving communication paths are those willing to engage the public (including critics) and to experiment with different strategies. The alternative is to hunker down, wait for misinformation to spread, and then – after the fact – sift fact from hype. Read the rest…
The piece builds on “Telling the Story of Science in the Post-Media Age,” a talk I gave at the National Academy of Sciences early in 2009. You can watch highlights below: