Science communication in a post-fact world

Livestream
Panel
Plenary

Time

Thursday 23 February
9:35am

Location

Auditorium

Producer

Lisa Bailey

Chair

Lisa Bailey

Panellists

Anna-Maria Arabia

Tory Shepherd

Political Editor, Senior Columnist

The Advertiser

Simon Torok

Science Communicator

Scientell

Susannah Eliott

Chief Executive Officer

Australian Science Media Centre

When we’re faced with wicked problems like climate change, solutions will be difficult.  But if we don’t agree that there’s even a problem to start with, how do we move forward?

2016 saw post-fact, post-truth, fake news and filter bubble all enter the mainstream. But the disregard or denial of scientific evidence is not new, we’ve seen it in debates about climate change, vaccination, water flouridation and more.  What’s changed is the way in which we are consuming information.  Exposed to our curated twitter and facebook feeds, surrounded by views that mirror our own, we’re presented with arguments that sound convincing and feel true, and it’s tempting for any of us to accept what we’re seeing at face value, regardless of it’s veracity.

How do we start conversations when we can’t negotiate any common ground to start from?  How do we, those whose job it is to digest, interpret and present that information in a useful and accessible way, go forward in this brave new world?

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