Social Spread of Science in the Mass Media from Extremadura

In recent years, national agencies and scientific institutions advocate scientific culture and dissemination, following the legislation of science and technology. This paper analyzes the presence of science in the media, focusing on two major regional newspapers in Extremadura: the Hoy and El Periódico Extremadura. The quantitative dimensions analyzed are (1) Production of scientific news; (2) Evaluation of scientific news in the period under review, 2011; (3) Science news descriptors retrieved by search and (4) Classification of scientific news into the thematic fields of the ANEP (National Evaluation and Foresight of Spain). The results show the negligible impact of scientific news in the newspapers Hoy and Periódico de Extremadura, reflecting the limited scientific culture in the society of Extremadur