Opinion: The growing imperative for civic science journalism
Civic Science is a growing field characterized by its focus on community engagement and democratic action to tackle diverse challenges at the many intersections of science within society [1–4]. Among other definitions, it actively promotes a two-way dialogue between scientists and communities, fostering mutual learning and shared understanding. The field is the nexus of diverse approaches such as science communication, public engagement, science policy, science journalism, participatory science, and others. The focus on community makes civic science a unifying framework that invites deeper dialogue and engagement with interested parties. As civic science continues to expand, there is also an accompanying need to chronicle its growth — such as understanding what the term means to different communities, engaging the growing number of practitioners, spotlighting community voices and innovative approaches, discussing new civic science research — and most importantly, analyzing the lessons being learned.
So with that framing in mind, what then is civic science journalism?
Well, as an emerging branch of journalism, civic science journalism doesn’t have a formal definition yet. The likelihood is that it will end up meaning different things to different people. Rather than try to come up with a definition of my own, I would like to provide a framework whereby civic science journalism exists at the intersection of three areas — civic life, science, and journalism (see Figure 1a). Using this framework allows us to think about some of the critical functions of civic science journalism in uncovering the civic nature of science (Figure 1b).
In the 1999 article titled “Civic Duties: Newspaper Journalists’ Views on Public Journalism,” Paul Voakes writes that “civic journalism [also known as public journalism] involves journalistic initiative rather than reactive coverage; it involves an interest in moving toward solutions to community problems that takes journalism far beyond the detached reporting of problems; it involves an ongoing, long-term commitment to the betterment of public life; and it involves not only the reporting of important public issues, but also published efforts to probe citizen’s concerns and engage them in public life.” I envision the practice of civic science journalism tapping into this framing in covering the civic nature of science (i.e., how the various actors across the scientific enterprise are interacting with local communities to solve real-world problems and foster informed decision-making.
Well, with that in mind, I believe civic science journalists are motivated to unearth narratives and insights where science and local communities are converging around science-related societal challenges— within science festivals, citizen science projects, community events, and the broad spectrum of spaces where scientists and science interact with local communities and vice versa. Through the lens of civic science, civic science journalists examine the full range of activities from their conceptual stages to their local community-level impacts. Their exploration might include examining ways in which artists and scientists are co-creating new knowledge, the impact of community citizen science projects, the launch of innovative community engagement initiatives, the lessons learned from new research, documenting relevant events, exploring the experiences of participants and practitioners that have gone unrecognized from conversations, dissecting the development of new civic science education initiatives, and so much more.
The potential topics for exploration are as diverse as the ecosystem of civic science. Ultimately, civic science journalists will likely strive to illuminate and analyze the multi-directional relationships between science and society by engaging with community members, leaders, researchers, advocates, science communicators, science journalists, policymakers, and other stakeholders, spotlighting and critiquing how the connections are driving change and empowering local communities. At the end of the day, it is about documenting how the work within civic science is tangibly affecting local communities and society at large.
Yet, as civic science journalism takes its first steps, important questions are emerging. Among these is better articulating the core objectives, which will likely vary across stakeholders. Identifying the target audiences is also critical — should this journalism be targeted to a specialized group of folk such as academics, students, leaders, policymakers, journalists, and social entrepreneurs, or should the goal be to make it accessible to everyone? This leads to examining the current landscape of coverage for civic science: how is civic science being covered by journalists? How should the practice be codified? What are the stakeholder needs for such reporting? Answering the landscape questions will assist in determining the actual needs of diverse audiences. Assessing the impact of civic science journalism presents another challenge; it necessitates the usage of metrics that can effectively capture the reach, influence, and impact.
Moreover, it will be worthwhile to think about the sustainability of such journalism. For example, what type and level of support is needed to ensure its longevity and independence? Each of these questions underscores the need for a strategic framework to organize civic science journalism’s practice, principles, and boundaries.
Despite these unknowns, there are some promising signs of growth. The Rita Allen Foundation, in collaboration with the Center for Cooperative Media, recently launched the Cross-field Collaboration Civic Science Journalism pilot initiative specifically designed to seed and nurture new civic science journalism efforts and collaborations. On their website, Foundation President and CEO Elizabeth Christopherson notes that “these award partners are pioneering new ways to amplify the voices of diverse publics and deliver the critical currency of information through journalism cross-field collaborations” [5].
Among the funding recipients, the Institute for Advanced Study’s Science Journalism Workshop is working to enhance the connections between science journalists and diverse audiences. The Media Alliance — The Sanctuary for Independent Media is engaging citizens in science and advocacy, focusing on the Hudson River ecosystem. In Chicago, the MuckRock Foundation engages community volunteers on an air quality project and shares community science knowledge through local media. Planet Detroit is telling the stories of Detroit’s air quality crisis through a blend of investigative journalism and community science. Further west, the Salt Lake Tribune is developing a citizen scientist network to compile water usage data across Utah and making it accessible to local media. I encourage you to explore the full list of the funded projects to learn about the innovative ways they are tapping into various elements of civic science journalism.
I believe that a collaborative effort from various stakeholders is essential to continue nurturing this branch of journalism. Newsrooms could allocate resources and time, enabling staff journalists to investigate and report on diverse civic science topics. They could also spotlight civic science initiatives in their regular reporting, weaving it into the fabric of daily news and documentaries. Existing journalism training programs could develop more seminars, workshops, and courses that provide the necessary skills and knowledge for civic science journalism. These educational offerings could also incorporate field experiences that connect trainee journalists directly with civic science projects and practitioners.
Creating new civic science journalism initiatives is also worth considering since it would provide a dedicated space for the co-creation of such stories. For example, my lab has created such a space where we are interrogating and unraveling the civic nature of science across multiple dimensions. Our journalistic approach allows us to pose probing questions to various stakeholders to elicit new insights that we present in an engaging manner to researchers, practitioners, and community leaders. What we learn from our reporting allows our lab to publish research articles and reports, construct new databases, engineer new online tools, and also provide one of the few, if not the only, summer internship opportunities for STEM undergraduates around the world interested in civic science journalism. Our first-ever undergraduate intern in the lab was Reilly Mach, a rising college senior at the time, from Concordia College in the US. At the conclusion of the internship, she summarized her findings in a published paper titled “Evolving Structure and Diversity of Human Narratives in the Journal of Stories in Science.” After her undergraduate studies, she joined the Scripps Research Institute as a graduate student. She reflected on her summer experience in the following way:
“Having the opportunity to join the Civic Science Media Lab for the summer to work on studying the landscape of personal narratives in science really opened my eyes to the wide range of ways scientists are connecting science and society. The research experience inspired me to start asking new types of questions at the intersection of my own scientific interests and the broader society, which I know has contributed strongly to my ongoing development as a scientist.” Reilly Mach
Anchoring all our projects is our flagship project called the CivicSciTV Network which is exclusively focused on covering the civic nature of science. One argument for such a dedicated broadcasting network is that it allows for more in-depth, nuanced reporting on civic science developments, which would be difficult to achieve in more mainstream news outlets where civic science has to compete for space and time with other stories since it is not the focus. The dedicated space allows for more experimentation around various elements of civic science journalism such as the selection of sources, what to cover, how to visualize information, mentorship for the workforce, and so much more. Of course, funders have an opportunity to support such initiatives and the next generation of civic science journalists by creating grants like those discussed above, individual journalism research opportunities, awards, and/or fellowships.
In summary, as all these efforts take root, civic science scholar-journalists have the potential to become an important part of the ecosystem of civic science practitioners. There is still a ton to figure out, but similar to the original 2018 imperative for civic science, I believe there is now a growing imperative for civic science journalism.
Last Updated: June 23, 2024
Additional Reading
1. Navigating the Future: Civic Science Career Roadmap. Civic Science Fellows https://civicsciencefellows.org/stories/navigating-the-future-civic-science-career-roadmap/ (2023).
2. Christopherson, E. G., Scheufele, D. & Smith, B. The Civic Science Imperative. Stanford Social Innovation Review (2018).
3. Remarks by Dr. Neal F. Lane at AAAS Annual Meeting, 2/9/96 | NSF — National Science Foundation. https://www.nsf.gov/news/speeches/lane/slaaa.htm.
4. Garlick, J. & Levine, P. Where civics meets science: building science for the public good through Civic Science. Oral Dis. 23, 692–696 (2017).
5. Rita Allen Foundation Supports Civic Science Journalism Cross-Field Collaborations. Rita Allen Foundation https://ritaallen.org/stories/rita-allen-foundation-supports-civic-science-journalism-cross-field-collaborations/ (2023).
