Science and media as a field of study: an analysis of the Brazilian scientific production

Abstract

A recent mapping of academic articles about science communication in Latin American shows that the media is the focus of the largest number of studies in the field, with 31% of 609 articles identified (MASSARANI et al, 2017). In this article, we analyse specifically the articles published by Brazilian authors. Our corpus consists of 154 articles that had as their theme the coverage of science by different means of communication. The results show that there is a concentration of articles in Brazilian magazines (88%). Most articles (60%) evaluate print media, such as newspapers and magazines, and 52% of articles use qualitative methodologies in their analysis. The authors’ community is concentrated in institutions in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. Although they are geographically close, these authors collaborate with few pairs, resulting in a fragmented scientific community.

Keywords
Science communication; Media; Scientific production