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Challenges to trust and legitimacy: working with the media

Join our webinar on the intersections between trust, media and academia - and ultimately, how we build knowledge systems in an era of misinformation.

The ISC is launching a webinar series over the next 6 weeks on the themes of trust, media and the intersections with our scientific community in the framework of our Public Value of Science programme.

Levels of public trust in science remain relatively high. But the political and media environment is increasingly fragmented and polarized, this has been highlighted with the diverse responses of governments and populations to the COVID-19 pandemic. This trend is exacerbated by pervasive digital technologies and social media, which enable the widespread dissemination of misleading and biased information.

At the heart of this we see trust in science is contested and fragile.

This in turn feeds new expressions of science denialism, casts doubt on the need for scientific understanding and interpretation, and threatens evidence-informed decision-making. This problem affects all scientific fields, all types of research, and all scientific communities around the world. It is naturally of great concern, as our future health and survival depend on the adoption of policies that have a sound scientific basis.

Webinar series starting Thursday 2 March

The fist webinar, Challenges to trust and legitimacy: working with the media, is a joint initiative of the Global Development Network (GDN) and the ISC. The webinar examines the relationship between the media and organized science in the current global context.

Research and scientific studies provide a deeper understanding of complex issues and a basis for evidence-based policymaking. To the media, research brings objectivity and accuracy. It is through this that the media plays a critical role in informing the public and holding public institutions accountable. On the other hand, for researchers, the media is a strong channel for dialogue, dissemination and socialization of research practice, one that is still largely unexplored and yet essential.

The webinar seeks to explore:

The principles guiding effective partnerships between media and academia
The distinctions between mis-information and disinformation
The role that research can play in validating or dismantling ‘fake news’
How to avoid the temptation of ‘clickbait’
How to identify problematic business models in the media for researchers
The visibility of credible research and researchers (and how to encourage it while avoiding the dangers of ‘overexposure’)