The entire narrative around "scientists need to learn to be better communicators" is seriously misguided.
Scientists communicate just fine. They communicate with accuracy and purpose. That is a core skill for good science and has been for a very very long time.
We need to stop blaming scientists and recognise that the media landscape is devoid of skills to understand basic science methodology and communication. And absolutely lacks the most fundamental motivations to even bother engaging with real science.
Our society is flooded with misinformation and clickbait. This is not a "science doesn't communicate well enough" problem. Media is no longer about information, it's about entertainment. The solution is not to force scientists onto TikTok. It's great when you see some scientists who happen to be effective on social media or TV... But this is not going to be true for everyone in science and neither should it be. Don't turn science communication into a popularity contest.
You're looking at the wrong end of the horse if you think the solution is just "scientists need to communicate better".
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@ewen Some researchers communicate well, some don't.
I get that's a not very interesting take, but the damage from the ones who don't can be immense.
@CartyBoston @ewen almost all working scientists communicate very well, because it is a vital core competency of their work. If they can鈥檛 do this they won鈥檛 be scientists for very long.
Communication to laypeople who are perhaps incapable of understanding the intricacies and complexity of science, don鈥檛 really care, or don鈥檛 want their version of reality challenged, is a different matter. That鈥檚 mostly the media鈥檚 job, and they do it very poorly these days.
@ewen Disagree. Too many scientists are far too geeky. If you want the public to understand things, you'll need to explain it the long way. However long it takes. There are great science communicators out there, but they don't reach everyone...everyone in the field should have at least some decent public speaking/translation skills or get someone on the team who does. If you want public engagement, you need to explain it to the public in congruent terms.
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