Designing and Validating the Model of Science Journalism in the Age of Modern Media

In the age of digital media, science journalism, on the one hand, has increased the scope and speed of scientific news coverage, and on the other hand, has caused doubts about the accuracy and credibility of the news in this field. The purpose of this research is to design and validate the model of science journalism in the age of modern media. In terms of purpose, this research is applied-developmental. The statistical population included experts in the field of science journalism (20 in the model presentation section and 169 journalists in the quantitative section). The selection of the experts was done through purposive sampling and the selection of the journalists was done via random sampling. The data collection tool is questionnaire. Structural-interpretive modeling method was used to design the model and the partial least squares method was used to validate the model. Components of education and promotion of science journalism are communication and trust between the scientific community and the public, using the new media, empowerment of science journalism, content development tailored to the public needs, removal of barriers to the growth and development of science journalism, science journalism infrastructure, policy-making of science journalism in Iran, participation and accompaniment of academics, the supervisory and claiming role of the science journalists. By strengthening the infrastructures and removing the obstacles to the growth and development of science journalism, it is possible to influence the training and promotion of science journalism and to empower science journalists. By empowerment of science journalists, in turn, production of the content suitable for the needs of the public and increasing the claiming of the science journalists can be achieved.