The Representation of Graphene in the Online Press of the United States, the United Kingdom, and Spain

Authors

  • Blanca Guasch ELISAVA Barcelona School of Design and Engineering
  • Sergi Cortiñas Universitat Pompeu Fabra
  • Marta González ELISAVA Barcelona School of Design and Engineering
  • Santiago Justel-Vázquez International University of Catalonia
  • Javier Peña ELISAVA Barcelona School of Design and Engineering

Keywords:

graphene, science and the media, science communication, popularization of science and technology, representations of science and technology, communication of graphene, online press analysis

Abstract

Graphene is the first two-dimensional material discovered by humans. It was isolated for the first time in 2004 and is being established as a revolutionary material for the 21st century. This study presents an analysis of the quantitative and qualitative contents from all news about graphene published online in The New York Times (United States), The Guardian (United Kingdom), and El País (Spain) from October 2004 to October 2017. We evaluate the media’s coverage of a new, revolutionary material such as graphene in terms of the volume of news items per year and the authorship and treatment, thematic focus, and content of the articles—from both a quantitative and a qualitative perspective. This analysis offers insights into the knowledge transfer about graphene and can serve as a model to the materials science communication field.

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Published

2019-02-26

Issue

Vol. 13 (2019)

Section

Articles