2008
In this paper, Trench mounts a technological argument for the inevitable rise of the perception of scientific uncertainty and the subsequent need for science communication to centre conversation around uncertainty. The growth of the internet fundamentally reorganized the modes of communication that were central to the production, sharing, disseminating, and mobilization of science, accelerating the “erosion of boundaries between previously distinct spheres of communication”. In this way, the ultimate autonomous hegemonic power of science destabilized, placing more power in the hands of the public. But in the same stroke, it forced the public to now wade through vast and complex heterogeneous information. They now require an “above‐average internet literacy to distinguish” between trustworthy actors, sources, and information. Where this becomes most concerning is in the dominant role the internet plays in, for example, providing medical information to non-experts, “for here, the contents of professional communication can have 'end‐user' value as diagnosis or remedy.” Science communicators’ desire to maintain strict control over access to information in this instance might have absolute merit, and the loss of such control may further exacerbate poor health conditions or even lead to death. Yet, Trench also argues that it’s very possible that non-experts need to learn how to navigate such complex information environments and are very capable of doing so. Regardless, the internet is here to stay and if science communication is too, it must change.
This paper forced science communication to examine the ways in which the internet destabilized the status quo in science communication. It places communication technologies at the centre of change, demanding science communication understand, adapt to, and look to the future. Now, science communication concerns itself more with how the internet and future communication technologies might alter the roles of science, science communication, and the public.
Reference:
Trench, B. (2008). Internet: turning science communication inside-out? In M. Bucchi & B. Trench (Eds.), Handbook of Public Communication of Science and Technology (pp. 185–198). London: Routledge.