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How science can be communicated to the public

Science can be communicated to the public in a huge number of individual ways. According to Karen Bultitude, a science communication lecturer at University College London, these can be broadly categorised into three groups: traditional journalism, live or face-to-face events and online interaction. Traditional journalism (for example, newspapers, magazines, television and radio) has the advantage of reaching large potential audiences, as this is the most regular source of information about science for most people. The content in traditional media is also likely to be of high quality, as it is overseen by professional journalists. Additionally, this method is useful for science communicators in terms of having an impact on policy, since mainstream media is often responsible for creating and setting agendas. However, there are some disadvantages to using this method. For example, once a science story is taken up by mainstream media, the scientist(s) involved no longer has any control over how their work is communicated, which may lead to misunderstanding and misinformation. Other disadvantages include the fact that this method of communication is one-way, so there can be no dialogue with the public. Also, science stories can often be reduced in scope so that there is a limited focus for a mainstream audience, who may not be able to comprehend the bigger picture from a scientific perspective.

The second category of methods of science communication is live or face-to-face events, such as public lectures (for example, UCL's public lunch hour lectures – museums, debates, science busking, sci-art, science cafes and science festivals. The advantages of the live/face-to-face approach are that it is more personal and leads to direct interaction between scientists and the public, allowing for two-way dialogue. Scientists are also better able to control content using this method. Disadvantages include the limited reach to only tens to thousands of people, this method can also be resource-intensive and costly and also, there is the criticism that only audiences with an existing interest in science will be attracted.

The third category is online interaction, for example, websites, blogs, wikis and podcasts can also be used for science communication, as can social media and Citizen Science (scientific research conducted, in whole or in part, by amateur or nonprofessional scientists). Online methods of communicating science have the potential to reach huge audiences, can allow direct interaction between scientists and the public. Another advantage is that the initial content can be controlled by the scientists and online methods allow for both one-way and two-way communication, depending on the audience’s and the author's preference. Also, the content is always accessible. However, there are disadvantages in that the content may potentially not be taken seriously, also it is difficult to control how content is picked up by others, and regular attention and updating is needed.