Communicating scientific uncertainty during the COVID-19 pandemic: A turning point for journalism?

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed media professionals to the complex challenge of communicating scientific uncertainty. Using an automated, dictionary-based approach, we examined how different types of publications addressed scientific uncertainty at both the onset and the declared end of the pandemic. In the early stages of this health crisis, both general interest and science-focused media showed increased scientific uncertainty scores, with specialised outlets using scientific uncertainty markers more frequently. When the pandemic was declared over, science-focused publications maintained high scientific uncertainty levels across all stories, while general interest media reverted to pre-COVID-19 levels. The findings provide insights for journalists and science communicators.