Schipani, Vanessa (2024) Journalism and Public Trust in Science. [Preprint]

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Abstract

Journalists are often the adult public’s central source of scientific information, which means that their reporting shapes the relationship the public has with science. Yet philosophers of science largely ignore journalistic communication in their inquiries about trust in science. This paper aims to help fill this gap in research by comparing journalistic norm conflicts that arose when reporting on COVID-19 and tobacco, among other policy-relevant scientific topics. I argue that the public’s image of scientists – as depositories of indisputable, value-free facts, trustworthy only when in consensus – makes it particularly difficult for journalists to ethically communicate policy-relevant science rife with disagreement. In doing so, I show how journalists, like scientists, face the problem of inductive risk in such cases. To overcome this problem, I sketch a model of trust in science that is grounded in an alternative image of scientists – what I call the responsiveness model of trust in science. By highlighting the process of science over its product, the responsiveness model requires scientists to respond to empirical evidence and the public’s values to warrant the public’s trust. I then show why this model requires journalists to be the public’s watchdogs by verifying and communicating whether scientists are being properly responsive both epistemically and non-epistemically.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Schipani, Vanessa schipani@sas.upenn.edu 0009-0001-8707-0997
Keywords:	Trust in science; Journalism; Scientific consensus; Scientific disagreement; Values in science; Inductive risk; Responsiveness
Subjects:	General Issues > Ethical Issues General Issues > Science and Society General Issues > Science and Policy General Issues > Values In Science
Depositing User:	Ms. Vanessa Schipani
Date Deposited:	08 Jul 2024 15:00
Last Modified:	08 Jul 2024 15:00
Item ID:	23677
Subjects:	General Issues > Ethical Issues General Issues > Science and Society General Issues > Science and Policy General Issues > Values In Science
Date:	2024
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/23677

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