False-science (pseudoscience) in the mass media. A study of the discursive strategies of social insertion in the Spanish press(2011-2016)

Authors

Downloads

Abstract

Pseudoscience is understood as “false science” or “that which claims to be conceived as scientific without being so”. As a piece of essential cohesion in a democratic society, the media have the responsibility to ensure the imperative need to educate and inform the population with rigor and adherence to true knowledge about social news. Although sometimes this premise doesn't correspond to reality, when inserting pseudoscientific content in its media agenda. The present study aims to identify the social insertion strategies of pseudoscience through the empirical analysis of the Spanish press coverage between June 2011 and May 2016. The results obtained show a majority of pieces contrary to pseudoscience, but there is still some permissiveness on the part of the press. The pseudoscientific discourse is characterized by using a more emotional and direct language to pass on beliefs as scientific evidence. In order to improve this situation it is necessary, on behalf of scientists and scientific journalists, to pay greater attention to the diffusion of solid and robust scientific information that enables the formation of a critical judgment on pseudoscience. The authors also propose that the term pseudoscience be replaced by false science, since it would be clearer and would help to capture the full depth of this concept.

Keywords

pseudoscience, mass media, press, dissemination of science, scientific communication

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

• Abella, A. (5 de juny de 2011). El Larsson periodista – El charlatán y timador Uri Geller. El
Periódico, pp.13.
• Alonso, F., & Cortiñas, S. (2014a). La pseudociencia y el poder de los medios de comunicación.
La problemática ausencia de bases teóricas para afrontar el fenómeno. Historia
y Comunicación Social. 19, 93-103. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.5209/rev_HICS.2014.v19.45111
• Alonso, F., & Cortiñas, S. (2014b). La pseudociencia como (des) información tóxica. Una
taxonomía para comprender el fenómeno y sus manifestaciones. Ámbitos: Revista Internacional
de Comunicación. 24, 61-70. Recuperado de: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.
oa?id=16832255007
• Álvarez de Toledo, C. (2016, abril 26). Los responsables. El Mundo, p.6.
• Arendt, F. (2016). Journalists’ attitudes towards homeopathy: survey data from Germany.
Focus on Alternative and Complementary Therapies. 21(1), 17-21. doi:10.1111/fct.12244
• Ashwell, D.J. (2016). The challenges of science journalism: The perspectives of scientists,
science communication advisors and journalists from New Zealand. Public Understanding
of Science. 25(3), 379-392. doi: 10.1177/0963662514556144
• Bauer, M., Howard, S., Romo-Ramos, Y., Massarani, L., & Amorim, L. (2013). Global Science
Journalism Report. Working Conditions & Practices, Professional Ethos and Future Expectations.
Londres: Science and Development Network.
• Bracanović, T. (2012). From Integrative Bioethics to Pseudosciencie. Developing World
Bioethics. 12(3), 148-156. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-8847.2012.00330.x
• Bruno, F., & Vercellesi, L. (2002). Science information in the media: An acadèmic approach
to improve its intrinsic quality. Pharmacological Research. 45(1), 51-55. doi: https://doi.
org/10.1006/phrs.2001.0901
• Bunge, M. (1972). La ciencia, su método y su filosofía. Buenos Aires: Siglo XX.
• Coles, E.M., & Veiel, H.O.F. (2001). Expert testimony and pseudoscience: How mental health professionals are taking over the courtroom. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry.
24, 607-625. doi: 10.1016/S0160-2527(01)00100-5
• Cortiñas, S. (2015). La pseudociencia en los medios. La ineficacia de los mecanismos de
control hace que los mensajes sin rigor científica se cuelen en la televisión y confundan
al público. Investigación y Ciencia, 463, 42. Recuperado de: https://dialnet.unirioja.es/
servlet/articulo?codigo=5036983
• Cortiñas-Rovira, S.; Alonso-Marcos, F.; Pont-Sorribes, C. & Escribà-Sales, E. (2015). Science
journalists’ perceptions and attitudes to pseudoscience in Spain. Public Understanding
of Science, 24 (4), 450-465. doi: 10.1177/0963662514558991
• Cosculluela, F. (2011, novembre 22). Guardianes de la ciencia. El Periódico, p.35.
• Chalmers, A. (2010). ¿Qué es esa cosa llamada ciència? Madrid: Siglo XXI.
• Dodds, R., Tseelön, E., & Weitkamp, E. (2008). Making Sense of Scientific Claims in Adverstising.
A Study of Scientifically Aware Consumers. Public Understanding of Science.
17(2), 211-230. doi:10.1177/0963662506065559
• EGM, Estudio General de Medios. (2016). Resumen general del 3r año móvil del 2016 comprendido
entre Febrero y Noviembre de 2016. 1-17. Recuperado de: http://www.aimc.es/
a1mc-c0nt3nt/uploads/2017/05/resumegm316.pdf
• Ericson, R., Baranek, P., & Chan, J. (1989). Negotiating Control. A Study of News Sources.
Milton Keynes: Open University Press.
• Ernst, E. (2009). Winnowing the Chaff of Charlatanism from the Wheat of Science. eCAM.
7(4), 425-426. doi: 10.1093/ecam/nen089
• Ernst, E. (2010). Homeopathy: what does the “best” evidence tell us?. MJA. 192(8),
458-460. Recuperado de: https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2010/192/8/homeopathy-
what-does-best-evidence-tell-us
• Escales, C. (2 de septiembre de 2014). Homeopatía pros y contras. El Periódico, pp. 16.
• Escribà, E. (2014). «La convivència del rigor i la llibertat d’expressió a “La contra” de La
Vanguardia. Estudi de cas de les entrevistes amb contingut pseudocientífic». Comunicació.
31(2), 71-91. doi: 10.2436/20.3008.01.125
• Escribà-Sales, E., Cortiñas-Rovira, S., & Alonso-Marcos, F. (2015). La pseudociència en los
medios de comunicación: estudio de caso del tratamiento de la homeopatía en la prensa
espanyola y británica durante el período 2009-2014. Panace@. 16(42), 177-183. Recuperado
de: http://www.medtrad.org/panacea/IndiceGeneral/n42_tribuna-EEscribaEtAl.pdf
• Fecyt, Fundación Española para la Ciencia y la Tecnología. (2016). VIII Encuesta de Percepción
Social de la Ciencia y la Tecnología. Recuperado de: https://www.fecyt.es/
• Friedman, D.B., Tanner, A., & Rose, I.D. (2014). Health Journalists’ Perceptions of Their
Communities and Implications for the Delivery of Health Information in the News. J Community
Health. 39, 378-385. doi: 10.1007/s10900-013-9774-x.
• Fuller, S. (1985). The demarcation of science: a problem whose demise has been greatly
exaggerated. Pacific Philosophical Quarterly. 66, 329-41. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-0114.1985.
tb00257.x
• Galán, L. (11 de mayo de 2014). La homeopatía sale del limbo legal. El País, pp. 36.
• Galtés, M. (2013, maig 19). L’empresa filosofal. La Vanguardia, p.87.
• Giralt, E. (30 de julio de 2012). Sustitutivos de la fe. La Vanguardia, pp. 20.
• Gutiérrez, M. (14 de mayo de 2016). La Vanguardia, pp. 16.
• Iaboli, L., Caselli, L., Filice, A., Russi, G., & Belletti, E. (2010). The Unbearable Lightness of
Health Science Reporting: A Week Examining Italian Print Media. PLoS ONE. 5(3), 1-6. doi:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0009829
• Kuhn, T. (2006). La estructura de las revoluciones científicas. Madrid: Fondo de cultura
económica de España.
• Kurtz, P. (1978/1981). Is parapsychology a science?. The Skeptical Inquirer. 2(3), 14-23.
• Lakatos, I. (1993). La metodología de los programas de investigación científica. Madrid:
Alianza.
• Leaf, J. B., Kassardjian, A., Oppenheim-Leaf, M. L., Cihon, J. H., Taubman, M., Leaf, R.,&
McEachin, J. (2016). Social Thinking®: Science, Pseudoscience, or Antiscience?. Behav
Analysis Practice. 9,152-157. doi: 10.1007/s40617-016-0108-1
• Lilienfeld, S.O., Ammirati, R., & David, M. (2012). Distinguishing science from pseudoscience
in school psychology: science and scientific thinking as safe-guards against human
error. J. Sch. Psychol. 50, 7-36. doi: 10.1016/j.jsp.2011.09.006
• Linde, P. (22 de enero de 2012). La fe del escéptico mueve montañas. El País, pp.30-31.
• Macip, S. (12 de julio de 2014). <<Ami vecino le funcionó>>. El Periódico, pp. 8.
• Makgoba, M.W. (2002). Politics, the media and science in HIV/AIDS: the perill of pseudoscience.
Vaccine. 20, 1899-1904. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0264-410X(02)00063-4
• Matute, H., Blanco, F., Yarritu, I., Díaz-Lago, M., Vadillo, M.A., & Barberia, I. (2015). Illusions
of causality: how they bias our everyday thinking and how they could be reduced. Frontiers
in Psychology. 6(888), 1-14. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00888
• Matute, H., Yarritu, I., & Vadillo, M. A. (2011). Illusions of causality at the heart of pseudoscience.
British Journal of Psychology. 102, 392-405. doi: 10.1348/000712610X532210
• Miranda, G.F., Vercellesi, L., & Bruno, F. (2004). Information sources in biomedical science
and Medical journalism: methodological approaches and assessment. Pharmacological
Research. 50, 267-272. doi:10.1016/j.phrs.2003.12.021
• Moynihan, R. (2003). Making medical jounalism healthier. The Lancet. 361, 2097-2098. doi:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(03)13729-4
• Popper, K. (2011). Realismo y el objetivo de la ciencia. Post-scriptum a la lógica de la investigación
científica, Volumen I. Madrid: Tecnos.
• Ramírez, N. (15 de diciembre de 2013). Sanidad regulará en España la homeopatía sea o
no eficaz. ABC, pp. 62.
• Ramoneda, J. (2012, desembre 24). El dinero como patria. El País, p.2.
• Rincón, R., y Muñoz, A. (27 de diciembre de 2011). Resituando las dudosas terapias alternativas.
El País, pp. 30-31.
• Rebossio, A. (17 de enero de 2015). El psicoanálisis y otras seudociencias son dañinos”. El
País, pp.13.
• Robinson, A., Coutinho, A., Bryden, A., & McKee, M. (2013). Analysis of health stories in
daily newspapers in the UK. Public Health. 127, 39-45. doi: 10.1016/j.puhe.2012.10.001
• Rowe, M.P., Gillespie, B.M., Harris, K.R., Koether, S.D., Shannon, L.Y., & Rose, L.A. (2015).
Redesigning a General Education Science Course to Promote Critical Thinking. CBE-Life
Sciences Education. 14, 1-12. doi: 10.1187/cbe.15-02-0032
• Russell, B. (1975). La perspectiva científica. Barcelona: Ariel.
• Schwarz, M.J. (29 de mayo de 2013). Pseudociencia, anticiencia, paranoia y demagogia. La
Vanguardia, pp.5.
• Van-Eperen, L., Marincola, F.M., & Strohm, J. (2010). Bridging the Divide between Science
and Journlism. Journal of Translational Medicine. 8(25),1-3. doi: 10.1186/1479-5876-8-25
• Vieta, E., Colom, F., Bueno, D., Redolar, D., Bufill, E., y Sánchez, X. (26 de enero de 2013). Las trampas de las falsas ciencias. La Vanguardia, pp.38-41.
• Yarritu, I., Matute, H., & Luque, D. (2015). The dark side of cognitive illusions: When an
illusory belief interferes with the acquisition of evidence-based knowledge. The British
Psychological Society. 106, 597-608. doi: 10.1111/bjop.12119
• Ziman, J. (2003). ¿Qué es la ciencia?. Madrid: Cambridge University Press.

Author Biographies

Sergi Cortiñas Rovira, Universitty of Pompeu Fabra

PhD in Social Communication, he is a professor and researcher in the Department of Communication at UPF. At the moment, he is an associate professor (hired a doctor) and vice-dean-director of Journalism studies at the university. Currently and until December 31, 2017, he is the principal investigator of a project on pseudoscience and society (CSO 2014-54614; 2015-2017) competitive R&D of MINECO. As a researcher, he is specialized in the field of pseudoscience, false knowledge, scientific journalism and the dissemination of science. Director of the Scientific Communication Observatory (OCC) and director of the Degree in Journalism (UPF).

Miguel Ángel Moya Arrabal, Universitty of Pompeu Fabra

Associate researcher of the Grup de Recerca en Comunicación Científica (GRECC), of the Department of Communication of the Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF). Miguel is a Graduate in Human Nutrition and Dietetics from the University of Barcelona (UB) and a Master's Degree in Food Safety from the University of Barcelona (UB), the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) and the Pompeu Fabra University (UPF). His professional relationship with the GRECC began in 2016, and to date he has carried out research tasks in the field of food, pseudoscience and false knowledge.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.33115/udg_bib/cp.v7i13.21988

Published

2018-05-25

How to Cite

Cortiñas Rovira, S., & Moya Arrabal, M. Ángel. (2018). False-science (pseudoscience) in the mass media. A study of the discursive strategies of social insertion in the Spanish press(2011-2016). Communication Papers. Media Literacy and Gender Studies., 7(13), 129–144. https://doi.org/10.33115/udg_bib/cp.v7i13.21988

Issue

Section

Articles