The Double-Edged Sword of Popularization: The Role of Science Communication Research in the Popsci.com Comment Shutoff

摘要

The decision by Popsci.com editors to shut off public comments in 2013 surprised many scholars of science journalismparticularly since the decision was justified in large part by reference to science communication scholarship. This commentary engages in a rhetorical analysis of the events surrounding the decisionin particular, the popularization of Anderson et al. (2014), the editorial stance at Popsci.com, and the content of blog comments leading up to the shutoffto better appreciate what led to the foreclosure of a significant forum for protodeliberation on science research and policy.