The Communication of Science in the COVID-19 Pandemic and its Disseminators

Abstract

Faced with the phenomenon of the COVID-19 pandemic, a random descriptive study on communication of science was carried out on open digital television, print newspapers and cybermedia in Mexico, in addition to monitoring activities in digital social networks. The main results are the following: there was a growth in communication of science on television, newspapers and cybermedia. On the Internet and social networks, only minimal scientific divulgation of real impact was developed; while the museums in the country became the only space to restore direct communication, albeit to a minimum. At the same time, in September 2020, a survey was applied to 120 science disseminators, from all over the country regarding their activity as divulgators in the COVID-19 pandemic during that year. Some of the results show that there is no training of science popularizers in educommunicative skills, because during the pandemic they have not been updated. The respondents noted that greater skills are needed and that, from their point of view, communication and education are the two fundamental elements for the divulgation of science.