INVESTIGACIONES Y DOCUMENTOS Estudios sobre el Mensaje Periodístico ISSN-e: 1988-2696 https://dx.doi.org/10.5209/esmp.72837 Understanding the Lack of Science on Tv: Network Decision-Makers’ Opinions towards Televisual Science1 María T. Soto-Sanfiel2, Isabel Villegas-Simón3 y Ariadna Angulo-Brunet4 Recibido: 3 de diciembre de 2020 / Aceptado: 28 de octubre de 2021 Abstract. The lack of science on the Spanish TV is explained through the people responsible for content production, scheduling and offer. Two focus groups made up of five decision-makers identified the professionals’ opinions: science on TV is needed, the function of televisual science is educating audiences, public channels are responsible for showing such contents, government should urge scientific programming, science on TV contributes in increasing the cultural level of audiences, and people holding power positions are not interested in improving society´s level of literacy. Later, the generality of those opinions was measured through a questionnaire applied to 450 TV managers. A latent profile statistical analysis showed that individual characteristics of professionals (i.e., gender, age, educational level) do not play a role in shaping their opinions but work related (i.e., area of coverage, TV ownership) do. Keywords: Science communication; opinions; attitudes; TV Managers; Science on TV; Spanish TV. [es] Comprendiendo la falta de ciencia en la TV: opinión de los responsables de las cadenas sobre la televisión científica Resumen. La falta de ciencia en la televisión española puede ser explicada mediante las personas responsables de la producción, programación y oferta de contenidos televisivos. Dos grupos focales formados cada uno por cinco personas responsables de tomar decisiones sobre dichos aspectos en cadenas televisivas permitieron identificar sus opiniones: la ciencia en la televisión es necesaria, la función de la ciencia televisiva es educar a la audiencia, las cadenas públicas son las responsables de mostrar contenidos científicos, el gobierno debería obligar a programar contenidos científicos, la ciencia en la televisión contribuye a aumentar el nivel cultural de la audiencia, y las personas que ocupan puestos de poder no están interesadas en mejorar el nivel de alfabetización de la sociedad. Posteriormente, la generalidad de esas opiniones se observó mediante un cuestionario aplicado a 450 personas con cargos directivos de televisión. Un análisis estadístico de perfil latente mostró que las características individuales de los profesionales (i.e., el género, la edad, el nivel educativo) no influyen en la formación de esas opiniones, pero sí influyen los aspectos relacionados con el desempeño profesional (i.e., el área de cobertura, la titularidad de la televisión). Palabras clave: comunicación científica; opiniones; actitudes; directivos de televisión; ciencia en televisión; televisión en España. Sumario. 1. Introduction 1.1. Science on Television 1.2. Media professionals and science 2. Method 2.1. Phase 1: focus group 2.1.1. Participants 1.2.2. Procedure 2.1.3. Data Analysis 2.2. Phase 2: response analysis 2.2.1. Participants 2.2.2. Procedure 2.2.3. Data Analysis 3. Results 3.1. Phase 1: focus group 3.2. Phase 2: response analysis 4. Discussion 5. Conclusions 6. References. Cómo citar: Soto-Sanfiel, M.T., Villegas Simón, I., & Angulo-Brunet, A. (2022). Understanding the Lack of Science on Tv: Net- work Decision-Makers’ Opinions towards Televisual Science. Estudios sobre el Mensaje Periodístico 28 (1), 621-637. https://dx.doi. org/10.5209/esmp.72837 1. Introduction The presence of science in the media has already been studied from the perspective of journalism (Besley & Tanner, 2011; Poliakoff & Webb, 2007). However, newsroom staff are not the only employees of media com- panies who influence the content that is broadcast. Specifically, in terms of television, producers, managers and executives also decide what content to show (Jones, 2011). In fact, scheduling decisions are usually made at 1 Acknowledgements. The authors are grateful to all of the TV professionals who kindly participated in this study. This research has been funded by Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT). Reference: FCT-15-9831. 2 National University of Singapore (Singapore) E-mail: cnmmtss@nus.edu.sg 3 Universitat Pompeu Fabra (España) E-mail: isamarvillegas@gmail 4 Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (España) E-mail: ariadna.angulo@uab.cat Estud. mensaje period. 28(1) 2022: 227-240 227 228 Soto-Sanfiel, M.T.; Villegas Simón, I.; Angulo-Brunet, A. Estud. mensaje period. 28(1) 2022: 227-240 the senior management level, from where conditions In short, producers tend to create the kind of televi- are imposed that limit the options for production and sion that they personally like to watch (Hesmondhal- creation at lower levels of the hierarchy (Löffelholz, gh & Baker, 2011), despite claiming to judge, speak 2009). Despite this, there has been very little study and act on behalf of the viewers (Ross, 2014), who of the relationship between TV schedulers, directors, often belong to very different demographic groups producers, managers, and screenwriters with science to their own (Zafirau, 2009). In addition, when the and scientific content. media targets specific issues and broadcasts a certain The academic literature notes that the association kind of content, this very choice of content can go on between the supply and demand for television content to influence audience behavior and shape their own is a reflection of the relationship between media profes- interests (Corbett & Mori, 1999). sionals and their viewers (Lehmkuhl, 2014). Studies of the TV industry suggest that professionals in executive 1.1. Science on Television positions are credited with being especially talented at understanding their audiences (Draper, 2014). They ob- Science on television has been extensively stud- tain this knowledge from market research data, by in- ied for its educational potential (Ezquerra, 2003, ternalizing the creation-production ideologies imposed 2007; Ezquerra & Pro, 2006; McSharry & Jones, by their networks and their superiors’ expectations of 2002; Perales, 2006). Some studies have observed them, and through their familiarity with industry stand- the informative nature of science-based content on ards. This perceived awareness of their audiences influ- TV, as well as its appeal to audiences, especially ences their behavior and attitudes, but might also imply younger viewers (Moya & García Molina, 2013), the hegemonic maintenance of certain types of content particularly focusing on the way science and scien- (Draper, 2014), and reproduce established production tists are represented on TV (Leon & Erviti, 2013) patterns (Caldwell, 2008) that are subsequently reflect- and how this affects the way children view sci- ed in what goes on air (Havens, 2013). ence. Therefore, research has also been conducted Research has also consistently shown that television on televised science as an educational resource for producers prefigure or theorize about their audiences use in schools. (Dornfeld, 1998; Caldwell, 2008) and use these mental Moreover, the study by Lelmkuhl, et al., (2012) images of consumer habits, behaviors and preferences to explores which factors affect the volume and struc- guide their decisions in professional practice (Caldwell, ture of science on TV in the European market. The 2008; Dornfeld, 1998; Gans, 1957; Pool & Schulman, authors have identified three main aspects: a) Seg- 1959; Ross, 2014; Schramm & Danielson, 1958; Za- mentation/fragmentation of television markets; b) firau, 2009; Zimmerman & Bauer, 1956). A large num- The presence of medium-sized commercial chan- ber of these images stem from objective data obtained nels, and c) The dependency of public service TV from market studies, but they can also be inspired by di- channels on commercial revenue. Regarding Spain, rect personal experiences (Gans, 1957). In fact, research these authors note that public television is so ex- has shown that the way TV managers define their audi- posed to market forces that the amount of scientific ences and make production decisions tends to be based content aimed at large audiences is particularly low. on their own personal aesthetic considerations and lim- However, there has been little in-depth study about ited social circles (Gitlin, 1983; Ross, 2011a; Zafirau, the role of the professionals who produce, create and 2011), whereby such professionals view audiences as broadcast such scientific content, and observation they view themselves and use their own preconceived has usually focused on the journalistic perspective. beliefs and intuitive knowledge to decide what to air The aforesaid are the motivations for this study (Dornfeld, 1998; Zafirau, 2009) to the extent that they of the relationship between the people who run can be reluctant to process and accept new information TV networks and science. The responsibilities of about their audiences (Zimmerman & Bauer, 1956) or professionals such as managers, screenwriters, learn more about them (Brake, 2009). As a matter of producers, directors and/or schedulers include the fact, television executives believe in their capacity to design, production and airing of successful shows spot quality, to train and educate audiences, to recognize that their audiences will enjoy. The available lit- what is good for their broadcasting company, to analyze erature maintains that these professionals are re- and interpretate ratings and to take decisions (Kuipers, sponsible for the presence of science in the media 2012, p. 20). Indeed, television producers take deci- (Soto-Sanfiel & Latorre, 2014; Soto-Sanfiel & Vil- sions after considering their budget, team’s skills, avail- legas, 2018) and that it is by no means the exclu- able resources and the expectations of the broadcasting sive competence of newsrooms, whose main pur- company about the final show. The creative possibili- pose is to cover current affairs. Science can also ties surrounding television producers vary within the inspire shows in other genres (e.g., fiction, reports, audiovisual sector (Tunstall, 1993). Finally, gender and interviews and documentaries) for a variety of au- ethnical background are also influential variables within diences and for different reasons (e.g., entertain, the television creative process which affects topics and inform and disseminate). The creative and market treatments of television shows. Television professionals potential offered by science for creating content reflect their own characteristics on the aesthetics of their therefore depends on the attitudes to the subject audiovisual production (Henderson, 2001). among professionals with decision-making capac- Soto-Sanfiel, M.T.; Villegas Simón, I.; Angulo-Brunet, A. Estud. mensaje period. 28(1) 2022: 227-240 229 ity, and also on their perceptions about what audi- for all genres of radio, television and multimedia, ences think of science. Hence this study raises the and also to work in the management of media com- following research questions: panies. Such graduates are the natural employees of the Spanish media industry. RQ1: What kind of opinions do television profes- Based on the theory of reasoned action (Azjen sionals hold in relation to scientific dissem- & Fishbein, 1980) and its development, the theory ination on TV? of planned behavior (Azjen, 1985), the research as- RQ2: Are those opinions related to the type of sumed that those students’ attitudes towards the pro- firm, the professional area and the owner- duction of science-based media, subjective norms ship of the firm the television professionals learned about the nature of media work and the per- work for? ception of their ability to understand and master the RQ3: To what extent do individual characteristics creation of scientific content could be predictors of shape their opinions? their intentions to work with science during their pro- fessional careers. The results of the study confirmed The ultimate goal of this research is to enhance that the students agreed that society needs to know our understanding of whether these opinions are un- about science, but they were also extremely skeptical favorable towards increased production and broad- about the suitability of science for media creation and cast of science-based television. The study was conducted in Spain, a country consumption. They found science difficult, dull and where science is not a prominent feature on TV inaccessible, felt it required much more documentary screens (Soto-Sanfiel & Villegas-Simón, 2018), research than other sources and thought it was much with very little scientific content on the news or in harder to adapt science to media production routines, its shows (Grosso, 2017; Gutiérrez, 2002; León, languages and audiences. According to the partici- 2002; Moreno-Castro, 2010; Revuelta & Mazzonet- pants, scientists do not understand the peculiarities to, 2008). In fact, Spanish audiences do not believe of the media industry, which makes it even harder that TV networks are interested in covering science to produce this kind of content. The difficulty in un- and that there are other forms of media that are more derstanding scientific content also produced negative suited to the topic (FECYT, 2015). There are a vari- feelings, and they felt that it could be humiliating or ety of reasons for this. Some are structural, alluding frustrating to appear ignorant in comparison to their to the marginal role of scientific knowledge in the scientific sources. After taking the course, and despite recent history of Spanish society, the lack of state in- saying that they enjoyed it, the students preferred to vestment in R&D programs, financial crises and even continue working with other sources of inspiration, the weight of the Catholic religion in Spanish culture particularly those related to entertainment and the and education (Cortiñas-Roviera et al., 2015). Other arts. The researchers stated that those attitudes were reasons for Spain’s lack of interest in science relate so strong that they were highly unlikely to shift to- to the media itself, such as the downsizing of staff, wards a more positive view of science in the media, the variety of the offer and the awarding of television and recommend that a greater love of science should licenses on the basis of interests that are far-removed be fostered at earlier stages of the education process from those of the audience (Francés & Llorca-Abad, (Soto-Sanfiel & Latorre, 2014). 2017). It has also been claimed that scientific content Another study explored the attitudes of employ- is unprofitable (León, 2002; Lehmkuhl, 2014), at- ees of Spanish TV networks of different scales (local, tracts limited advertising (Moreno Castro, 2004) and regional and national) and ownership (public, private is unappealing to Spanish audiences (Cortiñas-Rovi- and mixed) to scientific communication (Soto-Sanfiel ra et al., 2015). All of the above could explain the & Villegas-Simón, 2018). The sampled professionals attitudes to science among senior Spanish TV deci- felt that science has a highly specific audience and sion-makers, who form part of that same professional that its viewers seek scientific information on media and social culture (Ross, 2014). other than television. However, they did agree with 1.2. Media professionals and science the expressive potential and social benefits of the creation of scientific content for TV, despite it only There has been limited academic study of the rela- having a minority audience. The researchers there- tionship between Spanish television professionals fore recommended future studies to throw additional and televisual science-inspired content. Soto-Sanfiel light on the views of Spanish TV professionals about & Latorre (2014) observed the attitudes to science the commitment of television with scientific dissem- among final-year students on an Audiovisual Com- ination, and on the perceived effects of televised sci- munication degree, who were about to seek employ- ence on the cultural level or knowledge of citizens. ment in the Spanish media. The study observed the Consistent with the previous literature, the research- subjects before and after taking a course on the pro- ers believed that, if confirmed, this might help to ex- duction of radio shows of all genres on the topic of plain the limited presence of the topic in the country’s science. In Spain, audiovisual communication stu- media and, consequently, in Spanish society. This re- dents are trained to create, produce and direct content search is a response to that suggestion. 230 Soto-Sanfiel, M.T.; Villegas Simón, I.; Angulo-Brunet, A. Estud. mensaje period. 28(1) 2022: 227-240 2. Method and opinions addressed in the focus groups, and 2) deductive codes, which arose from the transcribed To achieve the goals and answer the research questions, text itself, mainly due to the repetition of the topic this study adopts a mixed-method approach consisting or opinion, the controversy generated between the of two phases and data collection techniques (Cre- participants and/or how emphatically they expressed swell, 2003; Creswell & Plano Clark, 2007). The first their feelings (Morgan & Krueger, 1997). phase is qualitative and consists of two focus groups The codes were analyzed across several phases made up TV employees with creative, production in which they were inter-related and re-coded, and and content scheduling responsibilities. The sessions eventually filtered down into the items of the ques- served to elicit opinions, attitudes, and beliefs (Os- tionnaire applied in the second phase. borne, Simon & Collins, 2003) about the production, offer and scheduling of science on TV. These opinions 2.2. Phase 2: response analysis were used to formulate a questionnaire that was ap- plied in the second, quantitative, phase that checked 2.2.1. Participants how widespread these opinions are. This involved a convenience sample of professionals from Spanish In the study participated 450 employees of compa- TV networks in different regions, and of varying own- nies from six different regions of Spain [i.e., Anda- ership and scale. The research design responds to the lusia (n = 79), Canary Islands (n = 2), Catalonia (n absence of instruments to define and measure the atti- = 159), Extremadura (n = 49), Galicia (n = 21) and tudes of TV professionals to the topics discussed. Madrid (n = 137)]. Of these, 50.4% were men (n = 227), 46.7% (n = 210) women and 2.9% (n = 13) did 2.1. Phase 1: focus group not reveal their gender. 2.1.1. Participants 2.2.2. Materials Each of the two focus groups involved five active As indicated, the ad-hoc questionnaires included 17 male senior decision-makers of TV networks, none items in the form of statements that reflected the at- of whom were paid for their time. The members of titudes, perceptions and opinions of the members of the first group were from local television, and in the the focus groups with regard to the production, offer second, they were from national networks. and scheduling of scientific content (Onwuegbuzie, et al., 2010). The participants expressed their agree- 2.1.2. Procedure ment with the statements on 5-point Likert scales (1 = Totally agree, 5 = Totally disagree). For example: In both focus groups they were asked questions de- “Television channels dedicated to broadcasting sci- rived from previous research on attitudes to science entific contents are needed”. Figure 1 presents a short (e.g., Cortiñas-Rovira et al., 2015; Lehmkuhl, 2014; version of the items content. Lelmkuhl et al., 2012; León, 2002; Moreno Castro, Participants were asked to report their gender, lev- 2004; Soto-Sanfiel & Latorre, 2014) and the availa- el of education, previous work in the production or ble literature. Methodologically speaking, the focus broadcast of scientific content (familiarity), position groups followed a semi-structured dynamic. The re- (managerial/organizational or production/creation), searchers prepared a set of questions to promote and type of firm (TV network, media producer, or both), guide the discussion about a varied of themes: the ownership of the firm (public, private, mixed) and adequacy of television language for presenting sci- area of coverage (national, regional, local). ence content, the role of television professionals in including science on the audiovisual offer, the degree 2.2.3. Procedure of satisfaction with the current presence of science in Spanish TV, the role of public and private televisions Before the questionnaire administration, a pilot test on promoting science, the effect of consuming sci- was conducted with a similar group of professionals, ence contents on audiences, and the responsible ac- in order to assess the adequacy of items and the fea- tors for lack of science on TV. Other factors emerged sibility of data collection. spontaneously from the discussions. The researchers visited the offices of national and regional networks (Canal Sur, Canal Extrema- 2.1.3. Data Analysis dura, Telemadrid, Televisió de Catalunya, Televisión Española, in Madrid and Barcelona, Televisión de The focus groups were recorded and transcribed Galicia and Televisión Canaria) and local networks word-for-word. During the first phase, content anal- (Barcelona TV, Mataró TV, Televisió a l’Hospitalet; ysis was subsequently applied to the transcripts of Televisión de Badalona; Televisió Sant Cugat) to re- the focus groups using the Atlas.ti software pack- quest the collaboration of the employees with deci- age. Following Onwuegbuzie, Bustamante, and Nel- sion-making capacity with regard to the content that is son, (2010), the analysis used: 1) inductive codes, produced and aired as required by the sample criteria taken from the preliminary literature and the topics (i.e., schedulers, producers, screenwriters, directors, Soto-Sanfiel, M.T.; Villegas Simón, I.; Angulo-Brunet, A. Estud. mensaje period. 28(1) 2022: 227-240 231 managers). The management of each firm helped the it would be a plus for television to make that kind researchers to identify the most suitable candidates, of scientific dissemination. Finally, they stated that and the questionnaires were answered in private. showing scientific content on television makes tele- vision more educational. 2.2.4. Data Analysis Regarding the benefits of showing scientific con- tents on television, participants also considered that All the statistical analyses were done with R (R Core science can give rise to other perspectives and sci- Team, 2020). We performed a latent profile analysis entific facts must be able to explain how the world (LPA) to evaluate the best model considering lowest evolves. They also stated that scientific communica- Bayesian information criterion (BIC) and the lowest tion must emphasise the importance of university and integrated complete-data likelihood (ICL, Biernacki promote scientific careers. Finally, they considered et al., 2000). As there was presence of missing data that the main objective of scientific dissemination is in some variables (0.01%), we imputed missing val- to educate people. However, participants also con- ues using the package mice (van Buuren, Groothu- sidered that people in positions of power act against is-Oudshoorn, 2011) and standardized mean values the disclosure of certain scientific events on media. previous to LPA. In order to study the demographic In fact, they consider that powerful figures in Spain characteristics of the profiles, we drew up contingen- are not interested in improving society´s level of sci- cy tables and performed a Chi-squared test when the entific literacy. Those were the reasons for them, that application criteria were met. In the case where cri- explained the lack of scientific content on TV. teria were not met, we applied the fisher test. Cases In summary, participants of focus groups consider with unknown data in sociodemographic data were the dissemination of science based contents by Span- excluded from our analyses. We performed analysis ish television to be a positive thing since it has the of variance on the quantitative variables (age and ex- ability to improve the scientific literacy and educa- perience). Inferences have not been made for those tion of the society. However, they also believe that in the “Unknown” category. For that reason, the per- people in power are not interested on increasing the centages shown in the annexes do not coincide with scientific literacy of citizens. the ones presented in the figures. All those opinions were transformed into 17 items that formed part of the questionnaire for assessment by the participants in the second phase. Indeed, the 3. Results items are an exact reflection of all the issues that arose from the focus groups and therefore constitute 3.1. Phase 1: focus group a wide range of ideas that Spanish TV profession- als spontaneously produce regarding the production, In the qualitative study, participants did not hold spon- scheduling, and offer of science on TV. Figure 1 dis- taneous and definitive opinions about the issue. The re- plays the items that resulted from this phase. searchers who attended these sessions sensed that the participant professionals had somewhat vague views 3.2. Phase 2: response analysis and several doubts regarding many of the proposed topics, suggesting that they were not matters to which We choose the EEV (ellipsoidal, equal volume and they had given much previous thought. Moreover, shape) model with three components because it was these opinions varied very little between the groups, the one which showed the best performance: it had suggesting that further sessions would not produce a the lowest BIC (-19734.1) compared to the other two wider range of attitudes. In relation to the responsibili- lowest BIC (EEE, 7 components, BIC = –19770.0; ty of broadcasting scientific contents on television, the VEE 3 components BIC –19905.0) and the lowest participants stated that Spain needs television channels ICL (-19734.8). dedicated to broadcasting scientific content. They also We identified three profiles of professionals (Fig- considered that it is the responsibility of public tele- ure 1; See Figure A1 for an alternative representa- vision stations to broadcast such content. Moreover, tion). On the x-axis we see the z-score represented. they believed that the Spanish government should urge A z-score of 0 means that the score is exactly at the private television stations to broadcast quotas for sci- mean. On the other hand, a z-score of 1 means that entific content since TV aims to educate. Indeed, they the score is one standard deviation above the mean believed that media should improve the scientific liter- (in negative cases, it is below the mean). There is acy level of the population. a first group of professionals who showed largely In terms of the consequences of broadcasting neutral opinions (n = 296, 65.8%), a second group scientific contents on television, participants of the who showed positive opinions (n = 120, 26.7%) and focus groups stated that scientific programs on tel- a third group who showed negative opinions to- evision can contribute to raising the knowledge and wards issues related to science communication on cultural level in Spain. They also believed that tele- TV identified on the focus groups (n = 34, 7.5%). As vision is not only a convenient medium for transmit- it can be observed, the largest group of the profes- ting scientific information, but that it should explain sionals of the sample have neutral opinions towards the importance of science. They also considered that science communication on TV. Indeed, this group 232 Soto-Sanfiel, M.T.; Villegas Simón, I.; Angulo-Brunet, A. Estud. mensaje period. 28(1) 2022: 227-240 accounts more than double of the second largest tion related issues on TV significantly outweighs group, and the groups which had positive opinions. (34.2%) the proportion of positive and negative In turn, this second group of professionals with pos- opinions together (68.4%). itive opinions is much larger than the third and last In order to evaluate the differences that exist be- group, which shows negative opinions towards the tween the different profiles, several hypothesis tests issues related to science communication on TV. In have been carried out, which can be found in Annex sum, neutral attitudes towards science communica- 1. The main findings are highlighted below. Figure 1. Standardized Scores by Profile Group We found that the proportion of women and men individual characteristics do not seem to affect the in all the three groups were the same, which means direction of the attitudes of the participants. They there are no differences in their educational level ei- held positive, neutral or negative depending on other ther. There were also no differences between groups factors. when considering age and years of experience in the On the other hand, there were statistically signifi- firm. Thus, neither gender, education level, age, nor cant differences in the type of firm the professionals years of experience in the industry impacts the di- work for (p = .01). As Figure 2 shows, those profes- rection of the opinions towards issues related to sci- sionals holding a positive opinion work to a greater ence on TV of the professionals of the sample. Such extent for both (TV Channel and Producer). Soto-Sanfiel, M.T.; Villegas Simón, I.; Angulo-Brunet, A. Estud. mensaje period. 28(1) 2022: 227-240 233 Figure 2 Type of firm There were also differences depending on the Professionals holding negative attitudes work to a coverage of the TV channel and the field the profes- greater extent for National TVs, than professionals sionals work for (type of TV, (Figure 3, p < .001). holding neutral or positive attitudes. Figure 3 Type of TV There were also differences in the ownership of the than 50% of professionals work for a public firm. How- firm the professionals work for (p <.001, Figure 4). In ever, within the public firm industry, there are more the three profiles (positive, neutral and negative atti- professionals who hold positive and neutral opinions tudes toward issues related to science on TV), more over negative opinions towards science on TV. Figure 4 Ownership of the firm Finally, there were no differences in the attitudes company. Thus, the direction of the professionals´ of professionals who were occupying different roles opinions do not depend on if they work for the pro- nor in their relation to the production area of the duction-creative or organizational-managerial area. 234 Soto-Sanfiel, M.T.; Villegas Simón, I.; Angulo-Brunet, A. Estud. mensaje period. 28(1) 2022: 227-240 They also did not depend on their previous relation stations to broadcast quotas for scientific content. It of the professionals with the production of scientific is worth considering that there are regulatory mech- content (familiarity with them). anisms to obligate private televisions to meet the functions of audiovisual broadcasting services pro- posed by the regulatory framework, which includes 4. Discussion promoting knowledge within society. For instance, the Spanish Private Television Law (10/1988, May This study has identified opinions to televised science 3) states that radio and television are a vehicle for among TV professionals with responsibilities for the informing, educating, and spreading cultural knowl- creation, production and scheduling of TV content. edge within the citizens. Its purpose was to find explanations for the absence Furthermore, participants on this study also re- of science-based content on Spanish TV screens (FE- flected on the functions of science on television. CYT, 2015; Grosso, 2017; Gutiérrez, 2002; León, They agreed that the main objective of scientific 2002; Moreno-Castro, 2010; Revuelta & Mazzonet- content on TV is in educating audiences, explain- to, 2008; Soto-Sanfiel & Villegas-Simón, 2018). Un- ing how the world has evolved, to give rise to dif- til now, the role of science on TV has typically been ferent perspectives when analyzing reality, stressing studied from the perspective of journalism (Besley the importance of science, raising the society´s ed- & Tanner, 2011; Poliakoff & Webb, 2007), but there ucational and cultural level, and to emphasize the are many others such as employees of TV networks relevance of the current research efforts of univer- who have a say in the kind of content that is aired sities. Consequently, these professionals believed in on TV (Jones, 2011). Producers, owners, schedulers, the necessity of understanding general issues related directors and screenwriters also decide what goes to science and technology as relevant competences into TV schedules. In addition to news and current of today´s citizenship (Cámara, Muñoz, & López, affairs, science can also serve as the inspiration for 2017). Scientific knowledge has also been promoted audiovisual content in other genres, which are usu- by regional institutions: the European Union consid- ally produced in departments other than newsrooms ers science popularization a priority within its coun- (Soto-Sanfiel & Latorre, 2014; Soto-Sanfiel & Vil- tries (Cortiñas-Rovira, et al., 2015). As a matter of legas, 2018). This study seeks to fill these gaps in fact, the interest on scientific topics is related to the knowledge. Particularly, it seeks to provide useful in- knowledge and education of societies. Unfortunately, formation for understanding the reasons why science Spain has been declared to be one of the countries in Spanish TV screens is so scarce. with less than average knowledge, particular in wom- The results show that the sampled Spanish pro- en (Bauer & Howard, 2013). fessionals have somewhat vague opinions towards Participants considered TV to be an adequate me- the role of scientific dissemination on TV and the dium for transmitting scientific information and in responsibility of TV on popular science, as previous improving the scientific literacy of its audiences too. researchers in the same context have also identified In spite of that, the Spanish audience noted that pres- (Soto-Sanfiel & Villegas-Simón, 2018). In our quali- ent television does not pay attention to science infor- tative study, participants did not seem to have strong, mation and that there are other more reliable media to existing ideas on these issues. However, they agreed learn scientific topics (FECYT, 2015). Indeed, there that television channels dedicated to broadcasting is not a close relationship between science and televi- scientific content are needed in Spain. The perception sion in the country (Soto-Sanfiel & Villegas-Simón, about the lack of scientific content on Spanish televi- 2018) for a variety of reasons including historical, sion found in our research is consistent with existing structural, religious and economical constrictions academic literature on this subject (i.e., Grosso Mesa, (Cortiñas-Rovira et al., 2015). 2017; Gutiérrez Lozano, 2002; León, 2006; More- Finally, professionals of the sample also consid- no-Castro, 2010; Revuelta & Mazzonetto, 2008). ered that people in positions of power have to act Moreover, professionals of our sample stated that against the disclosure of certain scientific events on it is the responsibility of Spanish public television TV and that powerful figures in Spain are not inter- stations to broadcast scientific content. These atti- ested in improving society´s level of scientific liter- tudes might be related to the fact that, in Europe, air- acy. These opinions might be explained by the fact ing science programs have traditionally been left to that Spanish society has shown an increasing disaf- the discretion of public channels since commercial fection and distrust towards politicians and authority channels do not see economical value on broadcast- figures in the recent years (Coller, Jaime, & Mota, ing them (Lehmkuhl et al., 2012; Moreno-Castro, 2016, 2019). In terms of media, Spanish media pro- 2014). Indeed, according to the law, one of the main fessionals and citizens note that politics tend to exert functions of the Spanish public broadcaster, Radio influence on media contents to satisfy their own in- Televisión Española (RTVE) is in promoting scien- terests (Alsius, 2010; Mauri-Riosm, López-Meri, & tific knowledge (Cano-Orón, Portales-Oliva & Llor- Perales-García, 2020; Rodriguez, López, Merino, & ca-Abad, 2017). Mauri, 2017). Knowledge and information are con- However, participants also considered that the sidered to be decisive aspects of power, economy and Spanish government should urge private television richness (Castells, 2010). Soto-Sanfiel, M.T.; Villegas Simón, I.; Angulo-Brunet, A. Estud. mensaje period. 28(1) 2022: 227-240 235 Having considered the level of agreement with In general, these results would be not just another those opinions in a later quantitative study involving reflection of the dearth of science in the Spanish me- similar professionals, it was found that neutral atti- dia (León, 2002; Lehmkuhl, 2014; Moreno Castro, tudes towards those aspects significantly outweighed 2004), but also of the scant historic and structural im- and almost doubled the proportion of positive and portance of science in the country (Cortiñas-Roviera negative attitudes together. Neutral opinions refer et al., 2015; Francés & Llorca-Abad, 2017). to the items scored in the middle of the Likert scale, suggesting a lack of interest in, or little thought being given to those issues related to the presence of sci- 5. Conclusions ence on TV (DuBois & Burns, 1975; Edwards, 1946; Kaplan, 1972). This research has explored the views and attitudes More specifically, results of the second study of television professionals towards audiovisual sci- show that individual characteristics such as gender, ence-based content in order to identify reasons for education level, age, or previous professional ex- the lack of scientific content on Spanish TV. perience do not affect the direction of the general This study was based on the premise that sen- attitudes towards the majority of the issues related ior decision-makers at broadcasting companies to science on TV. However, variables related to the are knowledgeable about their audiences, and can working environment area are influential. In fact, the be actively implicated in the production culture type of audiovisual firm the professionals work for of both of their companies and society in general. impacts the extent to what they show a positive at- These professionals are therefore the drivers and titude towards the identified topics related to com- implementers of expectations regarding successful municating science on TV. Indeed, employees of TV and desirable media practices (Draper, 2014; Ross, channels show greater positive opinions towards the 2014). Consequently, it should come as no surprise aspects related to the presence of science on TV than that in a society where science is not part of pub- professionals who work for audiovisual production lic discourse and in which scientific content does companies or for both. not feature prominently in its media culture, that The coverage area of the TV channel is also in- the people who run television networks do not have fluential in the opinions of the audiovisual profes- very clear ideas about the topic. As attitudes are sionals. Those working for National TV show greater predictors of behavior and intentions (Azjen, 1985; negative attitudes towards issues related to including Azjen & Fishbein, 1980), it would seem obvious scientific content in TV whereas those working for that Spanish TV managers do not include scientif- Autonomic TV channels show greater neutral or pos- ic content among their priorities. Therefore, and itive opinions towards them. This could be explained consistent with Soto-Sanfiel & Latorre (2014), not by the fact that the majority of the Autonomic TV only does the media need to include more scientific channels participating in the sample featured only content in their television schedule, science needs professionals who worked in public television chan- to also be taught at the earliest stages of the educa- nels. On the other hand, the National TV sample had tion cycle in order to foster an advanced society that professionals for both public and private television is more open to learning and consuming scientific channels. Further studies, consequently, should con- content. firm this result. It would not be fair to attribute all the responsi- Also, results show the ownership of the TV chan- bility for the lack of scientific content on the Spanish nel is a relevant aspect. Within public TV channels media to its professionals. However, they must be there were more professionals showing positive or also considered a relevant variable since they partic- neutral opinions towards the issues related to show- ipate in the decision-making or creative production ing science on TV than negatives than in the rest of of the televisual scene. Given the business-focused the firms (private TV channels or audiovisual pro- and commercial logic of modern-day television, ac- duction companies). All of this is consistent with the tions to raise awareness to promote and increase the study by Lelmkuhl, et al., (2012), which claims that exposure to science, and of scientific content in the the amount of science content on TV declines when media, are the responsibility of public agencies and market logic governs the way public broadcasters op- organizations as the professionals themselves be- erate. lieve. Indeed, future research should study the degree Finally, results show that these opinions are sim- of responsibility assumed regarding the presence of ilar within professionals working for different areas science in society, not only by the managers of Span- of the audiovisual work. TV employees working both ish media corporations (and especially public ones) for the production-creation or managerial-organiza- but also by the employees of institutions that are di- tional area show similar attitudes towards the iden- rectly responsible for ensuring the public promotion tified aspects of the relationship of science with TV. of science education in Spain. 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Estud. mensaje period. 28(1) 2022: 227-240 Annex 1 Table A1 Characteristics of Profiles Negative General Neutral opinion Positive opinion Contrast opinion (N = 450) (n = 296) (n = 126) Statistic(df) (n = 34) Sex (%)1 1.1(2) Woman 46.67 41.18 45.95 50.00 Man 50.44 55.88 51.35 46.67 Unknown 2.89 2.94 2.70 3.33 Education (%)1 11.0(8) 4.00 Primary studies 5.88 4.73 1.67 14.44 Secondary studies 14.71 11.49 21.67 56.00 Professional training 50.00 58.78 50.83 19.56 University studies 26.47 18.92 19.17 5.56 Doctoral studies 2.94 5.74 5.83 0.44 Unknown 0.00 0.34 0.83 Age (M[SD]) 2 45.5[9.9] 43.4[11.1] 45.7[9.8] 45.6[9.8] 0.78 (2, 444) Years of Experience (M[SD]) 2 20.3[9.7] 19.8[10.5] 20.4[9.6] 20.1[9.7] 0.07 (2, 432) Type of firm (%)1 85.11 TV Channel 82.35 84.46 87.50 7.11 Producer 5.88 9.46 1.67 7.33 Both 8.82 5.74 10.83 0.44 Unknown 2.94 0.34 0.00 Type of TV (%)1 36.67 National 70.59 32.09 38.33 55.78 Autonomic 20.59 59.12 57.50 2.44 Local 2.94 2.03 3.33 5.11 Unknown 0.00 0.00 0.00 Ownership (%)1 86.44 Public 58.82 86.15 95.00 9.11 Private 32.35 8.45 4.17 4.22 All 8.82 5.07 0.83 0.22 Unknown 0.00 0.34 0.00 Area (%) 1 5.2(2) 71.11 Production-creation 64.71 67.91 80.83 24.44 Managerial-organizational 23.53 27.36 17.50 4.44 Unknown 11.76 4.73 1.67 Related to production (%) 1 5.5(1) 35.33 Yes 47.06 31.76 40.83 64.00 No 50.00 67.57 59.17 2.94 Unknown 2.94 0.68 0.00 1 Chi-square test; 2 ANOVA test Soto-Sanfiel, M.T.; Villegas Simón, I.; Angulo-Brunet, A. Estud. mensaje period. 28(1) 2022: 227-240 239 Figure A1. Standardized Scores by Profile Group