What Do We Know About the Entertainment Industry’s Portrayal of Science? How Does It Affect Public Attitudes Toward Science?

Because the entertainment media command most of the attention of the mass audience most of the time, across the years scholars have devoted significant energy to understanding their impact. However, despite the large amount of entertainment content that is science-focused, the field of science communication has focused comparatively little attention on it. Not many researchers have assumed that entertainment bears an important relationship on how we understand science issues. The research that does exist reveals that early on scientists were portrayed on television in distorted ways that may have led to fear of science. Recent work, though, has shown a more complex picture. Some aspects of science are more positively cast, which may contribute to the resilience of science as a trusted institution. Future, more complex, entertainment environments are likely to yield even more complex effects.

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