Información sobre salud. La función del periodista [Health information. The role of the journalist]

Ferrer-Pérez, Sergio and Peñafiel-Saiz, Carmen Información sobre salud. La función del periodista [Health information. The role of the journalist]. Infonomy, 2024, vol. 2, n. 1. [Journal article (Unpaginated)]

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English abstract

Journalism always requires ethics and responsibility from those who practice it, and sci-ence journalism is no exception. However, health journalism is a particularly delicate field within the profession: alarmist, sensationalist, or less rigorous communication from other areas of science can lead the reader to misunderstand the Higgs boson or, at most, believe that a meteorite could impact Earth. In the case of health, there is a danger of creating confusion, alarm, false hopes, and over-expectations on such delicate and personal matters as cancer and Alzheimer's, or matters of public health importance such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, one of the most important and challenging tasks of the science journalist in urgent contexts is, paradoxically, not to publish. In other words, deciding which information, preprints, studies, reports, press releases, and even debates deserve to reach the public opinion and which ones do not.

Spanish abstract

El periodismo siempre requiere de ética y responsabilidad por parte de quienes lo ejercen, y el periodismo de ciencia no es una excepción. Sin embargo, el periodismo de salud es un campo especialmente delicado dentro de la profesión: una comunicación alarmista, sensacionalista o poco rigurosa de otras áreas de la ciencia puede hacer que el lector no entienda el bosón de Higgs o, como mucho, crea que un meteorito puede impactar contra la Tierra. En el caso de la salud existe el peligro de crear confusión, alarma, falsas esperanzas y sobreexpectativas en temas tan delicados y personales como el cáncer y el alzhéimer, o de importancia para la salud pública como la pandemia de covid-19. Así, una de las tareas más importantes y difíciles del periodista científico en contextos de urgencia consiste, paradójicamente, en no publicar. En otras palabras, en decidir qué informaciones, preprints, estudios, informes, notas de prensa y hasta debates merecen llegar a la opinión pública y cuáles no.

Item type: Journal article (Unpaginated)
Keywords: Información; Salud; Periodismo; Desinformación; Periodismo científico; Ciencia; Salud pública; Opinión pública; Medios y redes sociales; Information; Health; Journalism; Fake news; Scientific journalism; Science; Public health; Public opinion; Media and social networks.
Subjects: B. Information use and sociology of information > BH. Information needs and information requirements analysis.
C. Users, literacy and reading. > CE. Literacy.
Depositing user: Tomàs Baiget
Date deposited: 22 Jan 2024 11:19
Last modified: 22 Jan 2024 11:19
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10760/45355

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