Sources, Characteristics and Effects of Mass Media Communication on Science: A Review of the Literature, Current Trends and Areas for Future Research

A significant amount of science coverage can be found nowadays inthe mass media and is the main source of information about sciencefor many. Accordingly, the relation between science and the mediahas been intensively analyzed within the social scientific community.It is difficult to keep track of this research, however, as a flurryof studies has been published on the issue. This article providessuch an overview. First, it lays out the main theoretical modelsof science communication, that is, the `public understanding of science'and the `mediatization' model. Second, it describes existing empiricalresearch. In this section, it demonstrates how science's agenda-buildinghas improved, how science journalists working routines are described,how different scientific disciplines are presented in the mass mediaand what effects these media representations (might) have on theaudience. Third, the article points out future fields of research