Russian Amateur And Professional Popular Science Channels On Youtube

Abstract

This study examines popular science journalism the media direction that is currently relevant. Interest in it gradually grows up in the mass consciousness, and more and more new media are beginning to specialize in popular science content. At the moment, there are not so many examples of successful scientific media in Russia, and their format itself is often clumsy and academic. With the development of new Internet resources, the blogsphere and amateur journalism, a “new generation” of popularizers of science has emerged and chose a different approach to creating their own content. They not only prove that science can interest the audience and bring millions of views, but also gradually change the attitude toward education, the power of scientific knowledge and freedom from pseudoscientific stereotypes. Through the analysis of two popular Russian channels “Toples” and “PostNauka” we note the specific advantages and disadvantages of professional and amateur content on popular science topics. In the course of a detailed analysis of the content, audiovisual and genre characteristics, we concluded that the quality work on the selection of scientific material of both channels. However, the amateur channel in this case more effectively copes with the popularization mission, making the material clearer and more interesting for the viewer. These findings were also confirmed through the work with the focus group. This work allows us to formulate recommendations for the creation and promotion of popular science content for a mass audience.