Science and the media

The traditional view of the popularization of science, if it was ever corre ct, is being challenged in the new arrangement between science and the medi a. The paper discusses the changes in that arrangement and gives three part icular cases of what is termed an increasingly closer science-media-couplin g : pre-publication of results in the media, the role of media prominence i n relation to scientific reputation, and the cassandra syndrome in some are as of research, i.e., the initiation of catastrophe discourses in order to catch public attention. The coupling with its problematic consequences seem s inescapable given the increased dependency on public support on the part of science, and the media's enhanced role in providing legitimation. (C) 19 98 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.