The media coverage of techno-science: A reading from the STS point of view

Abstract

This paper has two basic aims. The first one is to propose a discussion about the journalistic potential of information regarding patents, trying to identify, using some experiences, the characteristics of this techno-scientific product that, somehow, draws the attention of the media. The second one is to understand the relationship between media and patents from the perspective of the studies on Science, Technology and Society (STS). The following assumption is made: the media treatment of patents is still strongly marked by economic bias and follows the logic of the supply-linear model, under which, among other important ideas, basic research is followed by applied research and, then, by technological developments that allow the launch of a new product bringing benefits for society. The paper presents results from case studies of science communication involving patents of the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar), Brazil, indicating that they are an important source of news for the media, and emphasizing the importance of the media in the national and international discussions about the protection of intellectual work.