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30 Issue. 30 QUA- January - June 2008 DERNS DEL CAC www.cac.cat Scientific knowledge on audiovisual media Quaderns del CAC issue 30, January - June 2008 Contents E-mail: [email protected] .Introduction 2 Editorial Board: Santiago Ramentol i Massana (editor), Dolors Comas .Monographic: Scientific knowledge on audiovisual d’Argemir i Cendra, Rafael Jorba i Castellví, Elisenda media Malaret i Garcia, Esteve Orriols i Sendra, Josep Pont Ethics and engagement in scientific communication 3 i Sans Milagros Pérez Oliva Science documentaries and their coordinates 11 Director: Bienvenido León Josep Gifreu 2001 odysseys through space-time: (uncon)science 19 in the cinema? Executive Director: Maria Corominas Jordi José Playing at scientists: video games and popularising 27 General Coordinator: science Sylvia Montilla Óliver Pérez, Mercè Oliva, Frederic Guerrero and Fermín Ciaurriz Sections: Internet users are shaking the tree of science 37 Carles Llorens (Book Reviews Editor) Luis Ángel Fernández Hermana Núria Fernández and Pablo Santcovsky The scientific popularisation of environmental problems 43 (Book Review, Journal Review, Website Review) by the media. The case of the documentary An Inconvenient Truth Translation: Nel·lo Pellisser Tracy Byrne Doctors in TV fiction 51 Charo Lacalle Page Layout: Health on the internet: proposals for quality and 61 Yago Díaz certification Miquel Àngel Mayer, José Luis Terrón and Angela Leis Legal diposit book: B-17.999/98 ISSN: 1138-9761 Science and technology on Catalan area television 69 Gemma Revuelta and Marzia Mazzonetto Popularising science and technology on generalist radio 81 Catalan Audiovisual Council Maria Gutiérrez President: Josep Maria Carbonell i Abelló .Observatory Vice president: Domènec Sesmilo i Rius Independent television production in Catalonia 91 Secretary: Santiago Ramentol i Massana in a changing market Members of the Council: Dolors Comas d’Argemir i Cendra, David Fernández Quijada Rafael Jorba i Castellví, Elisenda Malaret i Garcia, Josep New interactive advertising formats on television. 103 Micaló i Aliu, Esteve Orriols i Sendra, Josep Pont i Sans, A proposal for their analysis and classification Fernando Rodríguez Madero Laura Aymerich General Secretary: Jordi Pericàs i Torguet .Agenda Entença, 321 Critical Books Review 113 08029 Barcelona Tel. 93 363 25 25 - Fax 93 363 24 78 Book Review 121 [email protected] Journal Review 125 Generalitat de Catalunya www.cac.cat Website Review 129 1 Contents Introduction Growing interest in popularising science and technology is linked to the spectacular advances made in research in various fields of scientific knowledge, especially in those closely related to people’s wellbeing, quality of life and health. In the process of socialising this new scientific knowledge, the mass media operate as a second ring of dissemination, after the increasingly more decisive filter of leading scientific journals. It is on this second level, and particularly with regard to the audiovisual media and formats, that edition 30 of our Quaderns del CAC focuses. In fact, this edition contains a wide range of contributions exploring the relations between science, image and the popularisation of science and technology, from the origins of the moving image to the internet, naturally also including radio and television. In the first article, Milagros Pérez Oliva talks of the great responsibility of scientific journalism today (“Ethics and engagement in scientific communication”). The initial block offers a diverse view of how science and technology have always been present in the development of audiovisual culture: Bienvenido León examines the rich history of the science documentary (“Science documentaries and their coordinates”); Jordi José tackles the image of science in contemporary cinema (“2001 odysseys through space-time: (uncon)science in the cinema?”); the team made up of Óliver Pérez, Mercè Oliva, Fermín Ciaurriz and Frederic Guerrero analyse the videogaming world (“Playing at scientists: Video games and popularising science”), and Luis Ángel Fernández Hermana examines the new relationships between the scientific community and social communities resulting from the internet (“Internet users are shaking the tree of science”). The three subsequent articles present case studies: Nel·lo Pellisser studies the impact on environmental awareness (“The scientific popularisation of environmental problems by the media. The case of the documentary An Inconvenient Truth”); Charo Lacalle identifies archetypes of doctors in serialised fiction (“Doctors in TV fiction”) and the team made up of Miquel Àngel Mayer, José Luis Terrón and Angela Leis studies the value of certification for health-related information on the internet (“Health on the internet: proposals for quality and certification”). The final two articles present results from empirical research carried out in Catalonia on the popularisation of science and technology on television (Gemma Revuelta and Marzia Mazzonetto, “Science and technology on Catalan area television”) and on the radio (Maria Gutiérrez, “Popularising science and technology on generalist radio”). In the “Observatory” section we include two articles on recent work carried out by Catalan researchers: David Fernández presents the status of independent audiovisual production (“Independent television production in Catalonia in a changing market”) and Laura Aymerich investigates the new forms of interactive advertising on television (“New interactive advertising formats on television. A proposal for their analysis and classification”). Last, but not least, the Quaderns del CAC journal is pleased to announce that, as from this 30th issue, it will promote the section “Critical Books Review”. Coordinated by lecturer Carles Llorens, this section will use reviews by specialists to draw attention to the most important recent publications on communication and broadcasting of the time. Josep Gifreu Director 2 Introduction Ethics and engagement in scientific communication Milagros Pérez Oliva . The information related to science, technology and, Over the last few years there has been a considerable especially, biomedicine, attracts increasingly the increase in the attention paid by the media to themes of attention of the media, not only because of the science and technology and, most particularly, biomedicine. growing interest on the part of the public, but also for This increase may be attributed to three key factors. Firstly, the economic growth of the sector or the spectacular the growing interest in this kind of news on the part of the nature of the advances obtained in the last times. In public, as different market surveys have shown that the this context, and due to the characteristics of the subjects of biomedicine and science have gone up the information to spreading, the scientific journalism has ranking in terms of public preference. On the request of to assume the challenge of guaranteeing the rigor of press editors, a study carried out by the Spanish Centre for the information and the accuracy of the contents, as Sociological Research shows, for example, that the health well as a treatment of the news as objective as and biomedicine supplements come second in the list of possible. most-read.1 In a special edition of the Eurobarometer pu- blished in 2007 on which news items interest European Union citizens most, those related to scientific research Keywords came fifth, with 31% of the preferences.2 Science, biomedicine, quality information, scientific Secondly, science in general and biomedicine in particular communication, journalism ethics are among the most dynamic and fastest growing sectors, with millions of professionals interested in learning about anything new as quickly as possible, not just in their own area but also that of science in general. These are particularly demanding receivers, accustomed to working under highly competitive conditions and with a methodo- logical rigour which they also wish to see reflected in the news products they receive. The third factor that explains the growing interest in news lies in the spectacular nature of advances occurring over the 1 CIS. Estudio n.º 2.537. Hábitos de lectura de diarios. September 2003. <http://www.cis.es/cis/opencms/-Archivos/ Marginales /2520_2539/e253700.html>. La investigación científica en los medios de 2 EUROBARÒMETRE. comunicación. Brussels: Eurobarometer, 2007. No. 282. Milagros Pérez Oliva <http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_282_en. Chief Editor of El País pdf> 3 Monographic: Ethics and engagement in scientific communication last few years. We have still not finished exploring all the used to use it for their own benefit, and that direct disclosure paths for organ transplants, with face transplants being the empowers the public, i.e. their decision-making capacity. latest landmark, but we can already find the first bio-artificial But the knowledge that arrives via the media is, by heart built with tissue engineering techniques. Human definition, provisional knowledge. There has often not been cloning is resisting but it’s very close and while a probe is enough time to validate it and it is frequently modified, exploring the surface of Mars and is sending us images of corrected or directly refuted in later stages. The episode of an impressive quality, terms such as quantum computation, false human cloning on the part of the Korean scientist proteomics and nanotechnology appear increasingly more Hwang Woo-Suk is the latest and most infamous