Information about Human Evolution: An Analysis of News Published in Communication Media in Spanish between 2015 and 2017

Jon Ander Garibi,Alvaro Antón,José Domingo Villarroel

doi:10.3390/publications9030028

Abstract

The present study examines a sample of 220 pieces of news related to human evolution, written in Spanish and published over a period of two years, both in digital and print media. The aim of this study is to assess the rigor and coherence of the information in the news in our sample with scientific knowledge on the theory of evolution. To this end, errors and the incorrect use of concepts related to biological evolution are identified, classified according to criteria resulting from the review of previous studies, and finally, the frequency of errors identified in news published in print media is compared with that identified in digital media. The results presented allow us to highlight the significantly high frequency of errors in the news analyzed and the most frequent error categories. Results are discussed within the frame of the important role that scientific journalism plays in the processes of knowledge dissemination, in this case, related to human evolution.

Highlights

The evolutionary theory lies at the core of current biological knowledge and allows us to make sense of biological diversity and its change over time [1]
On a separate but not unrelated issue, the influence that communication media has on shaping public opinion toward science-related issues has been widely recognized [7,8], along with the role that it plays as a source of learning [9,10]
As a consequence, studying the rigor of communication media in disseminating scientific knowledge is a matter of undeniable social relevance [11,18,71]

Summary

Introduction

The evolutionary theory lies at the core of current biological knowledge and allows us to make sense of biological diversity and its change over time [1]. On a separate but not unrelated issue, the influence that communication media has on shaping public opinion toward science-related issues has been widely recognized [7,8], along with the role that it plays as a source of learning [9,10] This fact has inspired an increasing number of research projects with the objective of examining how mass media covers scientific knowledge on topics such as health [11,12], energy [13,14], technology [15], food and agriculture [16], and climate change [17], to mention just a few relevant examples.

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion