Zhang YANG, National Academy of Innovation Strategy in China, China
Up to now , COVID-19 has spread around almost the whole world, becoming a global pandemic disaster. Though the source of the virus has not yet been determined, China is the first country facing the epedemic crisis. When this new type of coronavirus began to large-scale spread in a short time in China, a series social crises followed with the public health crisis.
In order to quickly and effectively set up a coherent conversation in the chaos of crisis overflowing with rumor, useless information, scary talk, Chinese mainstream media and related experts have formed an alliance with common motivations and goals. We can temporarily call it the science communication community. The establishment of such a science communication community may be a strategy for effective risk communication in the era of new media. However, we need to reflect on whether this has affravated the strength and arrogance of the communicator of science, and whether the conversation set up by this has been out of the track of public understanding of science. We also need to think more deeply whether we can accept that if this is the price of quickly and effectively alleviating the scial crisis brought about by the epidemic.
Weibo is one of the most important social media platform in China, attracts many mainstream media, and its hot searches ranking represents the network agenda to a certain extent, so Weibo naturally becomes an important space for science communication. "CCTV News" , the official Weibo of CCTV, has more than 100 milion fans, and it is an immportant network node in social network communication, so it is a very appropriate case for study.
At the beginning of this study, a combination method of quantitative and qualitative will be used to statistically process the information and related feedback information relased on the official Weibo of "CCTV News" since the epidemic, so as to analyse by what means the science communication community formed by the mainstream media and experts, what characteristics and structure it presents, and how to achieve effective communication. In addition, with the development trend of the epidemic and changes in public opinion, we should know the science communication community how to adjust and change the specific goals and ways.
However multiple factors, not only science, are working together in risk communication, promoting public understanding of science is the prerequisite to reach a real conversation ultimately. Therefore, the science communication agreement established by Jane Gregory and Steve Miller in order to promote public understanding of science will be taken as the conceptual framewok to examines this science communication community.