What's hot and what's not in the aquatic sciences—Understanding and improving news coverage

Abstract

The frequency of news reporting about scientific topics is positively related to public interest as well as to public support for science funding and public policy change. This correlation can also have positive impacts on individual scientific careers depending on the chosen subject area of research. Analysis of a public news database shows the frequency and trends in news reporting of several popular research areas in the aquatic sciences. The frequency of appearance of topics in the news varies over more than three orders of magnitude. Temporal trends in reporting vary from steeply increasing (+25% per year) to declining (−4% per year). Suggestions are offered concerning the framing of research topics and overall better communication of research findings to journalists and the general public. This understanding may increase news prominence, public interest, science funding, and policy change in aquatic research areas.