Storytelling and public engagement in Brazil: TV coverage on regenerative medicine

Abstract

Public access to media contributes to public understandings of science and medicine. This paper explored patterns in television coverage on Brazilian regenerative medicine, as presented in You Tube videos that reproduce some of the main recent scientific and medical news in TV national or regional programmes regularly broadcast at peak times. The study built upon the coproduction approach to civic epistemologies in an emerging economy – i.e. the way the wider public makes sense of public policies and demands proof of their validity, as well as, verification of their implementation. The coproduction approach was discussed in relation to twoof its main analytical concepts: the public understanding of science and public engagement in science. Using textual analysis, the article chose selected narratives on scientific sense-making processes according to the representations of reporters, scientists, as well as patients and their families. Among other, similarities were found between global and local reporting of scientific and medical news in the videos studied: news segments validated benefits while downplayed uncertainties and legal, ethical and social concerns. Sense-making in TV news coverage was based onreductionist imaginaries of science and medicine. Also, news contents transmitted a top-down communication model that influenced the shaping of public understandings.