Literate and Critical? Characterizing Users of Alternative Scientific Media

Zils, Lena; Wintterlin, Florian; Metag, Julia; Mede, Niels G.; Schäfer, Mike S.

Abstract

Science is of crucial importance in contemporary societies. Concurrently, legacy news media outlets are losing their position as the main fora for discussing and providing information on science and politics. In the hybrid media system, a broader range of news media have emerged. Among them are alternative news media, which position themselves as corrective voices to “mainstream” news media—including when it comes to reporting on science. In this context, our focus is on individuals who come into contact with science-related information via alternative news media. We draw on the “Science Barometer Switzerland,” a nationally representative online survey of attitudes, beliefs, and knowledge about science and research in Switzerland conducted in 2022 (n = 1,122), to investigate science- and media-related predictors of the use of alternative news media to access information about science. Our results indicate that the clear majority—more than two-thirds—of the Swiss population do not use alternative news media as sources of science-related information. Respondents who do use alternative news media were more confident about their scientific and media literacy and viewed themselves as information elites who are highly skeptical of established societal elites. However, they do not seem to reject the scientific system in principle.