The Challenges and Hindrances to Science Journalism in Iran

The aim of the present study is to investigate “the challenges and hindrances to science journalism in Iran” using in-depth semi-structured interviews with science journalists and experts. The results of the study show that some of the challenges to science and science policy in the country are the same as the challenges to science journalism. The elitist view of science, academics’ charge of populism against any involvement in the production of media content, the prevalence of a technocratic model in the atmosphere of science policy-making rather than a model of public participation, the ideologization of science and technology, and the consideration of science as power by science policy-makers are among the challenges a science journalist has to confront in Iran. Science journalists have not been trained for a professional presence in this field. This, coupled with the lack of an educational institution for the public sphere, has turned science journalism into an arena of trial and error experience which allows many errors and undermines confidence in the scientific community. Quality products are not encouraged and quantity is valued over quality, which results in failure to publish desirable works. Moreover, due to an exaggerated elitist consideration of scientists in the public opinion, journalists lose their critical power against scientists, and content is presented to the audience without being simplified.