ABSTRACT
Science is becoming increasingly important for political as well as individual decision-making. At the same time, science, along with other knowledge institutions, like journalism, is facing growing scrutiny and questioning and terms like fake news and post-truths have become part of current public discourse. In these times, issues of public knowledge and trust in science are highly relevant. Being the fundamental platform for public discourse, media affects public opinion and defines what topics that are important and is also thought to influence public trust in institutions and actors in society. In recent decades, there has been increased interest among researchers in communicating through the media and also a growing media interest in reporting on scientific research. This increasing interrelation between science and the media has been described as a mediatisation of science. This chapter addresses issues of public communication and images of science and using Sweden as a case with a mixed-methods approach analyses media representations as well as public trust in science and research.
