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Fill the Gap
(October 4, 2004) -
London, autumn 2030. Britain’s audiovisual landscape is about
to get a whole new kind of television reality show. The concept:
an innocent participant sees his genetic profile unravelled in
front of millions of viewers. Initially flattered by all the attention,
he quickly becomes disillusioned when he learns he’s carrying
the cystic fibrosis gene. He even goes so far as to provoke an
unscheduled commercial break out of consternation when he realizes
his insurance company or employer might be watching!
Plausible? That’s not the point. Actually,
this "show", presented as a stageplay by the team of
Frank Burnet, Director of Graphic Science at the University of
West England in Bristol, is intended to get audiences thinking
about the social issues related to rapid advances in genetics.
For the past seven years Burnet’s team has
been developing interactive communication tools (plays for schools,
quizzes for bars and supermarkets, workshops for science fairs)
so that ordinary people can get a better understanding of the
complexity of new technology and its impact on everyday life.
In so doing, the scientist hopes to "revive people’s
interest in science as well as reconcile them with scientists,
who are often seen as oddballs far removed from public concerns".
It’s an urgent necessity if one can believe
various studies and especially a 2001 Eurobarometer survey that
found almost two thirds of Europeans consider themselves poorly
informed about science and technology. Poorly informed citizens
are likely to lose interest and eventually question the value
of footing the bill for activities they consider irrelevant.
According to Burnet, science journalists are in
no way to blame. Rather, this situation is the result of a gap
between the "inevitably one-way" direction of
information conveyed by the media and the new needs of neophytes
facing increasingly complex subjects.
Add to this information gap a little food scandal
that undermines the credibility of scientists, as was the case
during England’s mad cow crisis, and the situation becomes
untenable. It has already reached the point, Burnet notes, where
"in the United Kingdom, the scientific community is seriously
worried the public might refuse to continue funding it."
Attend Frank Burnet’s keynote address, Some Bad News for
Science Journalists, on the future of science journalism from
8:30 to 9:45 a.m. on Tuesday, October 5.
Erwan Le Fur
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