Press offices of research institutes as actors of mass communication and science popularization
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47475/2070-0695-2025-56-2-123-132Keywords:
press office, press officers, in-house communication professionals, public relations department, science communication, science popularization, research institutesAbstract
Popularization of science in Russia has become an important area of practical activity, and the press services of scientific organizations and universities, along with the media, play a key role in this process. This article presents the results of an analysis this "communicative function" in practice: what is it in 118 organizations under the scientific and methodological guidance of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. This study draws upon research by Russian and international scholars on the popularization of science in Russia; the functioning of press offices at scientific and educational institutions in various countries; and works on science communication more broadly, which examine the roles and practices of different actors in this field. Websites and pages on social media, as well as closed professional chats, on the one hand, and a survey of relevant employees of scientific organizations, on the other, made it possible to find out whether there are press services or similar units in the structure of research institutes, by whom they are represented, how they see and implement their functions and tasks. The analysis of this relatively new influential actor in the popularization of science has made it possible to expand theoretical understanding of the structure of media communication in the field of science, as well as to specify who these actors are and how they function. In particular, it is shown that most research institutes perform the functions of a press service, but less than half of them have specialized departments, and more often these functions are assigned to administrative and managerial staff or researchers.In cases where the press service or public relations department includes multiple staff members, their activities are typically focused on media engagement and maintaining the organization’s presence on social media platforms. When the department is represented by a single employee, its work is predominantly limited to managing content on the organization's official website.
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