New Distribution Patterns Of Science Communication Under The New Media Situation

We are living in such an era when science communication is of great significance and needs to be researched timely. It will be displayed mainly in the following three aspects.First, the Sixth Plenary Session of the17th CPC Central Committee approved the decision to promote the development and prosperity of China’s cultural industry, and boost its soft power. Science culture now becomes a critical component of socialist culture. To build a harmonious society and construct an innovative country, it requires science communication. The CPC Central Committee has determined to build a modern communication system with wide coverage and advanced technologies. So it is of practical significance to accelerate the capacity building of science communication to a level that commensurate with the level of China’s economic and social development, and build new science communication distribution patterns.Second, competitions among countries in the context of globalization depend on the innovation capacity. Meanwhile, innovation capacity requires highly qualified nationals for which scientific literacy is essential. To improve Chinese scientific literacy and to promote cultural progress and the development of modern science and technology, it requires science communication theories and system meeting the practical needs. Modern science communication, which includes research of science popularization and public understanding of science, owns unique theoretical connotation and characteristics of the times. Also it has precursory value in communicating the public with science and the scientific community, and promoting the healthy development of science.Third, the development of new media technologies and the advent of new media era completely broke the communication patterns of traditional media, and rapidly changed the original patterns of science communication. And so, science communication faces the challenge of new media and it is urgent to open a new phase of science communication by new media technologies. So it needs in-depth discussion of how science communication should better play its new features in the new era.Based on the aforementioned considerations, we target this research in science communication.Science communication is a big concept. To integrate theories with practice, and to guide the practical work, this research focuses on problems and challenges science communication facing in the new media environment. On the basis of in-depth study of basic theoretical issues, it explores characteristics of science communication in the new era, and then brings forward the issue of strategic change of science communication.Science communication not only involves relationship of science with the public, the scientific community and the society, but also involves interaction of science and media. Now in the age of new media, it also involves new media technologies.The substance of science communication is to adjust the relationship between science and the public. And it has gone through three stages:science popularization, public understanding of science, and science communication. Among researches on science communication, some scholars also propose the "two stage" classification from the hierarchy analysis on the content. In fact, no matter for the first stage or for the second stage, it needs to be determined whether the public is the accepter or the dominator. The public needs science, because their scientific existence is inseparable from the scientific knowledge and ideas. And the development of science also needs understanding and support from the public, without which the scientific career is unable to be carried out.This research is divided into six chapters.The first chapter describes the basic problems of science communication, and introduces its philosophy, history, content, and features.The second chapter clarifies the relationship between new media and science communication, and analyzes medium change of science communication and the new context it faces in the new media era. It also analyzes the features of science communication under the new media environment, and stresses to reshape the science communication structure.The third chapter focuses on the opportunities and challenges of new media for science communication, and reveals the status and role of mass media in science communication. Science media’s status quo and problems is studied in this chapter. Besides, it also includes new media application in science communication, and analyzes scientific information dissemination, application of mobile internet, and interactive experience among the social circles in the multi-media context.The fourth chapter tries to create a science communication system commensurate with the new media environment, and analyze the evaluation system of science communication capacity. It also tries to propose some recommendations on better carry out science communication in the new media context.The fifth chapter summarizes and analyzes science communication theory and practice of international new media.The sixth chapter analyzes science communication strategies in the new media era, using China Science Daily as an example. As the only science medium founded by the top academic group in the natural and engineering science area, China Science Daily has been engaging in science communication for more than50years and have carried out fruitful exploration in new media.Aimed at advancing innovative practice and theory, this research has made some prospective study and theory construction in the field of science communication. It uses a number of new concepts and new terms, showing new thoughts of science communication. Main features of this research can be concluded into five aspects.Firstly, it tries to clarify important concepts as clearly as possible. We made great efforts and brought forward unique insights in concept of science communication, relationship between the public and the scientific community, and relationship between science communication and the "two cultures". Also we made in-depth study of the concept and features of new media, and the relationship between new media and science communication.Secondly, this study focuses on sorting out the practice of new media and science communication, clarifying the influence of new media on science communication, revealing a new-media oriented public science communication mode, and raising reasonable judgment of a science communication system which can adapt to the new media environment.Thirdly, this study combines theory and practice of domestic science media with that of international new-media science communication, focuses on reality and the future, and grasps transcendent features of the development of new media. It studies the application of technologies like Web2.0, IPv6, and Internet of Things, in science communication, and analyzes features and roles of social media and video media in the implementation of science communication by a lot of examples.Fourthly, this research has wide vision. It studies the nature of science and science communication, displays change of science media and rules of science communication, and reveals the process and value of science communication in the contemporary human civilization.Finally, it focuses on practice. Proceeding from the status quo of science communication, it makes in-depth study of effective case and tries to achieve demonstrative effect.