Abstract
Knowing what the best channels of information are in the digital ecosystem has become a great challenge for science journalism, especially in pandemic times and where social networks have given rise to greater dissemination and immediacy. New processes are constantly appearing that are reinventing the profession through disruptive actions, such as communication via transmedia narratives. This chapter presents an approach on how journalism has been developed in the digital age and, in particular, how science journalism is incorporating technologies, narratives, and formats to project its content. From here, an analysis model is proposed for evaluating the degree of transmedia innovation and evolution in science journalism, along with a number of guidelines and recommendations for implementation.
TopIntroduction
The health crisis that the world is going through due to the coronavirus pandemic has brought to the fore that in order to guarantee a good information diet, taking an interest in science and technology is essential for society. The science communication developed by both institutions and scientists and specialist journalists who work in the field, has gained a fundamental relevance in the fight against the virus and the disinformation that has been generated as a result thereof. This communication is evidently no longer the exclusive domain of traditional media formats, rather, it has exploited current technological and digital advances in order to reach a greater number of people. In this way, diverse channels are used in order to achieve one of its main objectives, namely, to provide people with rigorous and reliable information.
Nevertheless, it is not an easy road. In effect, the proliferation of fake news and the numerous stimuli that citizens now receive means on many occasions that the true message fails to reach all audiences, or is lost in the digital ecosystem. Knowing the best way to effectively share information is an arduous task. This is even more the case considering this review are speaking about a digitally revolutionised world, which seeks out channels in the most disruptive elements in order to effectively disseminate and promote scientific knowledge.
This chapter deals with the phenomenon of digital transformation experiences in the sphere of scientific journalism and the use of new interactive formats. In this way, there will be a description of the evolution of digital journalism, the incorporation of transmedia narratives on a daily basis and how scientific journalism forms part of this trend. The analysis of the current situation permits us to envisage the future of scientific journalism in digital environments, and discover the appropriate exercise of the profession and its impact on audiences, ever more fragmented into their own interests (Denia, 2020).
The work is based on a systemised bibliographical review regarding the concepts addressed here (Codina, 2020). Thus, the study respond to the following research questions using the analysis of the specialist literature:
Q1. To what extent and in what way have digital journalism and transmedia narratives collaborated in the exercise of science journalism?
Q2. What use does journalism make of disruptive elements such as social networks and transmedia narratives, and to what degree have these collaborated towards its development?
Q3. How have these digital aspects contributed to the reinvention of science journalism?
Q4. Which elements should be considered in order for transmedia narratives to be effectively applied in science journalism?
The general objective of this study is focused on identifying the role of certain elements of digital journalism, specifically transmedia narratives and social networks, in the communication of science information, and in proposing essential strategies that enable the application of these disruptive elements in the development of science journalism.
The investigation carried out to address this systematic review included the undertaking of bibliographical queries aimed at locating specialist literature focused on the main concepts tackled in this work (García-Marin, 2021)
Key Terms in this Chapter
Transmedia Narratives: Story amplified coherently by different platforms and users, utilising digital and social technologies to achieve greater interactivity and make a story grow.
Disruption: The highest level reached in the transmedia narrative, when the media break with traditional communication formats, with stories that have high indices of interactivity, expansive, promoting co-creation and responding to different journalistic questions.
Multimediality: Integration of hypertext, animation, graphic or audiovisual elements for conveying messages.
Expansion: Possibility a story has of being promoted thanks to user creations, permitting new audiences and interactions.
Viralization: Content that is shared on social networks and achieves wide dissemination on the part of users.
Interactivity: The relationship users have with mediums, or users amongst themselves, in this case via the social networks.
Social Networks: Social platforms comprising different publics, which have had their apogee with digital advances, and which permit the transmission of messages and exchange of information between users.
Science Journalism: The social communication of content on science and technology, carried out by journalists and transferred in multiple directions and publics to inform about their daily work, advances and other aspects relating to the scientific discipline.
Digital Environment: Place where platforms, applications and users that make up the internet network converge.