Abstract
Thanks to our long-standing dichotomy of repulsion/fascination with death in Western culture, popular press items dealing with both ancient and modern skeletons grab the public’s attention and are shared widely on social media. Web 2.0, however, is less a singular platform and more a diverse array of fragmented methods that can be harnessed to engage in anthropological outreach, to boost the signal of work covered by the mainstream media, and even to propagate half-truths and outright falsehoods about past and present humans and their cultures. This contribution provides direction for bioarchaeologists and other scientists who want to engage in or support factual, relevant, and useful science communication.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
The video has since been taken down from presstv.ir, which is unfortunate as it was the only primary source material for the piece. The burial, as of this writing, has not been published in a scholarly journal. See also Chap. 10, for more information on this skeleton and the popular press reaction.
- 2.
Churnalism is the practice in which a journalist, blogger, or media outlet presents a press release or a story written by someone else as reported news, often with no changes or very few changes to the original piece. The term was coined nearly a decade ago. See Jackson and Moloney (2016) and Knight (2011) for scholarly takes on the practice as it relates to traditional journalism.
- 3.
Stojanowski and Duncan (2015) produced an earlier list of press release outlets but only touched vaguely on blogging and other forms of outreach.
References
Ahmed, H. (2016). We need to do more for women in science. Science Magazine. Retrieved January 25, 2017, from http://www.sciencemag.org/careers/2016/05/we-need-do-more-women-science
Andersen, D. L. (Ed.). (2004). Digital scholarship in the tenure, promotion, and review process. London: M. E. Sharpe.
Andrews, E., Weaver, A., Hanley, D., Shamatha, J., & Melton, G. (2005). Scientists and public outreach: Participation, motivations, and impediments. Journal of Geoscience Education, 53(3), 281–293.
Bird, S. E. (2010). Anthropological engagement with news media: Why now? Anthropology Newsletter, 51(4), 5–9.
Blickenstaff, J. C. (2005). Women and science careers: Leaky pipeline or gender filter? Gender and Education, 17(4), 369–386.
Borgman, C. (2007). Scholarship in the digital age: Information, infrastructure, and the internet. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Cassimally, K. A. (2016). How to set up a science blog. In C. Wilcox, B. Brookshire, & J. Goldman (Eds.), Science blogging: The essential guide (pp. 21–29). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Clack, T., & Brittain, M. (Eds.). (2007). Archaeology and the media. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press.
Clancy, K. (2016). I’m not going to tell you how to be a woman science blogger. In C. Wilcox, B. Brookshire, & J. Goldman (Eds.), Science blogging: The essential guide (pp. 116–124). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Daily Mail. (2011). The oldest gay in the village: 5,000-year-old is ‘outed’ by the way he was buried. Daily Mail. Retrieved January 20, 2017, from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1374060/Gay-caveman-5-000-year-old-male-skeleton-outed-way-buried.html
de Koning, M. (2013). Hello world! Challenges for blogging as anthropological outreach. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 19(2), 394–397.
Ecklund, E., James, S., & Lincoln, A. (2012). How academic biologists and physicists view science outreach. PLoS One, 7(5), e36240.
Flesch, R. F. (1979). How to write plain English: A book for lawyers and consumers. New York: Harper Collins.
Gast, P., & Aarthun, A. (2011). Scientists speak out to discredit ‘gay caveman’ media reports. CNN. Retrieved January 20, 2017, from, http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/europe/04/10/czech.republic.unusual.burial/
Gbur, G. (2016). Blogging on the tenure track. In C. Wilcox, B. Brookshire, & J. Goldman (Eds.), Science blogging: The essential guide (pp. 162–171). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Goldman, J. (2016). Communicating science as a graduate student. In C. Wilcox, B. Brookshire, & J. Goldman (Eds.), Science blogging: The essential guide (pp. 153–161). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Griffin, M., & Taylor, T. (2013). Of fans, friends, and followers: Methods for assessing social media outreach in special collections repositories. Journal of Web Librarianship, 7(3), 255–271.
Halcrow, S. (2017). The bioarchaeology of childhood. Retrieved January 27, 2017, from, https://childhoodbioarchaeology.org/
Harley, D., Acord, S. K., Earl-Novell, S., Lawrence, S., & King, C. J. (2010). Assessing the future landscape of scholarly communication: An exploration of faculty values and needs in seven disciplines. Resource Document, Center for Studies in Higher Education. UC Berkeley: Center for Studies in Higher Education. Retrieved January 27, 2017, from https://escholarship.org/uc/item/15x7385g
Hartmann, M. (2011). Scientists ruin “gay caveman”’s coming out party. Jezebel. Retrieved January 20, 2017, from http://jezebel.com/5790086/scientists-ruin-gay-cavemans-coming-out-party
Hawks, J. (2011). The “gay caveman.” John Hawks Weblog. Retrieve January 20, 2017, from http://johnhawks.net/weblog/topics/meta/communication/gay-caveman-prague-2011.html
Hernandez, D. (2015). Science is embarrassingly white. That’s a huge problem. Fusion. Retrieved January 25, 2017, from http://fusion.net/story/244971/white-science-problem/
Humphreys, A. (2016). Social media: Enduring principles. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Irving, J. (1992). Obituary: Froelich Rainey. Independent. Retrieved January 25, 2017, from http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-froelich-rainey-1557430.html
Jackson, D., & Moloney, K. (2016). Inside churnalism: PR, journalism and power relationships in flux. Journalism Studies, 17(6), 763–780.
Johnson, E. M. (2011). The allure of gay cavemen. Wired Science. Retrieved January 20, 2017, from https://www.wired.com/2011/04/the-allure-of-gay-cavemen/
Joyce, R. A. (2011). “Gay caveman”: Wrecking a perfectly good story. Ancient bodies, Ancient lives. Retrieved January 20, 2017, from https://ancientbodies.wordpress.com/2011/04/07/gay-caveman-wrecking-a-perfectly-good-story/
Killgrove, K. (2011). Gay caveman! ZOMFG! Powered by Osteons. Retrieved January 20, 2017, from http://www.poweredbyosteons.org/2011/04/gay-caveman-zomfg.html
Killgrove, K. (2012). AAA, AIA, and open science. Powered by Osteons. Retrieved January 25, 2017, from http://www.poweredbyosteons.org/2012/02/aaa-aia-and-open-science.html
Killgrove, K. (2014). Teaching public engagement in anthropology. In D. Rocks-Macqueen & C. Webster (Eds.), Blogging archaeology (pp. 36–43). Sheffield, UK: Landward Research Ltd.
Killgrove, K. (2015a). 10 boneheaded interpretations of ancient skeletons. Forbes. Retrieved January 27, 2017, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/kristinakillgrove/2015/09/06/10-bonehead-interpretations-of-ancient-skeletons/
Killgrove, K. (2015b). Castration affected the skeleton of famous opera singer Farinelli. Forbes. Retrieved January 27, 2017, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/kristinakillgrove/2015/06/01/castration-affected-skeleton-famous-opera-singer-farinelli/
Killgrove, K. (2016a). Don’t share that Daily Mail link about archaeology. Just… don’t. Powered by Osteons. Retrieved January 20, 2017, from http://www.poweredbyosteons.org/2016/06/dont-share-that-daily-mail-link-about.html
Killgrove, K. (2016b). Skeleton of Medieval giantess unearthed from Polish cemetery. Forbes. Retrieved January 20, 2017, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/kristinakillgrove/2016/10/19/skeleton-of-medieval-giantess-unearthed-from-polish-cemetery/
Killgrove, K. (2016c). How castration changed the skeleton of 19th century singer Pacchierotti. Forbes. Retrieved January 27, 2017, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/kristinakillgrove/2016/06/28/how-castration-and-opera-changed-the-skeleton-of-19th-century-singer-pacchierotti/
Killgrove, K., & Montgomery, J. (2016). All roads lead to Rome: Exploring human migration to the eternal city through biochemistry of skeletons from two imperial-era cemeteries (1st-3rd c AD). PLoS One, 11(2), e0147585.
Knight, M. (2011, September 8–9). The origin of stories: How journalists find and create news in an age of social media, competition and churnalism. Paper presented at future of journalism conference, Cardiff University, Wales. Retrieved January 20, 2017, from https://www.academia.edu/10974765/The_origin_of_stories_how_journalists_find_and_create_news_in_an_age_of_social_media_competition_and_churnalism
Kutner, M. A., Greenberg, E., & Baer, J. (2005). National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL): A first look at the literacy of America’s adults in the 21st century. National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved January 27, 2017, from http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS67831
Lee, D. N. (2016). The deal with networks. In C. Wilcox, B. Brookshire, & J. Goldman (Eds.), Science blogging: The essential guide (pp. 60–69). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Lende, D. (2012). American Anthropological Association takes public stand against open access. Neuroanthropology. Retrieved January 25, 2017, from http://blogs.plos.org/neuroanthropology/2012/01/31/american-anthropological-association-takes-public-stand-against-open-access/
Lutkehaus, N. C. (2008). Margaret Mead: The making of an American icon. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Maldonado, A. (2016a). The serialized past. Advances in Archaeological Practice, 4(4), 556–561.
Maldonado, A. (2016b). Reporting archaeology in the post-truth era. Almost Archaeology. Retrieved January 20, 2017, from http://almostarchaeology.com/post/154387752118/archaeologypost-truth
McClain, C., & Neeley, L. (2014). A critical evaluation of science outreach via social media: Its role and impact on scientists. F1000Research, 3, 300.
Mellow, G. (2016). Using science art and imagery in a blog. In C. Wilcox, B. Brookshire, & J. Goldman (Eds.), Science blogging: The essential guide (pp. 30–41). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Meyers Emery, K., & Killgrove, K. (2015). Bones, bodies and blogs: Outreach and engagement in bioarchaeology. Internet Archaeology, 39. https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.39.5
Montgomery, J., Evans, J. A., Chenery, S. R., Pashley, V., & Killgrove, K. (2010). ‘Gleaming, white and deadly’: Using lead to track human exposure and geographic origins in the Roman period in Britain. Journal of Roman Archaeology, 78, 199–226.
Pappas, S. (2011). ‘Gay caveman’ story overblown, archaeologists say. LiveScience. Retrieved January 20, 2017, from http://www.livescience.com/13620-gay-caveman-story-overblown.html
Pew Research Center. (2012). Demographics and political views of news audiences. Retrieved January 27, 2017, from http://www.people-press.org/2012/09/27/section-4-demographics-and-political-views-of-news-audiences/
Purdy, J. P., & Walker, J. R. (2010). Valuing digital scholarship: Exploring the changing realities of intellectual work. Profession, 2010(1), 177–195.
Rapp, R. (2003). After Mead. The Scholar and Feminist Online, 1(3). http://sfonline.barnard.edu/mead/rapp.htm
Roblyer, M. D., McDaniel, M., Webb, M., Herman, J., & Witty, J. V. (2010). Findings on Facebook in higher education: A comparison of college faculty and student uses and perceptions of social networking sites. The Internet and Higher Education, 13(3), 134–140.
Roca, A. I. (2016). Using social media to diversify science. In C. Wilcox, B. Brookshire, & J. Goldman (Eds.), Science blogging: The essential guide (pp. 104–115). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Rocks-Macqueen, D. (2014). Archaeology and the press, part 1 - why does the news get it so, so, so wrong? Doug’s Archaeology. Retrieved January 20, 2017, from https://dougsarchaeology.wordpress.com/2014/08/18/archaeology-and-the-press-part-1-why-does-the-news-get-it-so-so-so-wrong/
Rocks-Macqueen, D., & Webster, C. (Eds.). (2014). Blogging archaeology. Sheffield, UK: Landward Research Ltd.
Rogers, S. (2014). What fuels a tweet’s engagement? Twitter. Retrieved January 27, 2017, from https://blog.twitter.com/2014/what-fuels-a-tweets-engagement
Rowlands, I., Nicholas, D., Russell, B., Canty, N., & Watkinson, A. (2011). Social media use in the research workflow. Learned Publishing, 24(3), 183–195.
Sabloff, J. (1998). Distinguished lecture in archeology: Communication and the future of American archaeology. American Anthropologist, 100(4), 869–875.
Sabloff, J. (2011). Where have you gone, Margaret Mead? Anthropology and public intellectuals. American Anthropologist, 113(3), 408–416.
Sah, P. (2016). The evidence is in: Greater gender diversity in science benefits us all. The Conversation. Retrieved January 25, 2017, from https://theconversation.com/the-evidence-is-in-greater-gender-diversity-in-science-benefits-us-all-55643
Saunders, T., & Janiszewski, P. (2016). Blogging at scientific conferences. In C. Wilcox, B. Brookshire, & J. Goldman (Eds.), Science blogging: The essential guide (pp. 192–203). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Shankman, P. (2016). When cultural anthropology was popular: A quiz. Savage Minds. Retrieved January 25, 2017, from http://savageminds.org/2016/09/16/when-cultural-anthropology-was-popular-a-quiz/
Sheridan, S. G. (2017). Bioarchaeology in the ancient Near East: Challenges and future directions for the southern Levant. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology, 162, 110–152.
Shipman, M. (2016). Metrics: Measuring the success of your blog. In C. Wilcox, B. Brookshire, & J. Goldman (Eds.), Science blogging: The essential guide (pp. 172–180). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Smith, M. E. (2012). American Anthropological Association joins the dark side of the force. Publishing Archaeology. Retrieved January 25, 2017, from http://publishingarchaeology.blogspot.com/2012/01/american-anthropological-association.html
Sperling, S. (2000). Ashley Montagu (1905-1999). American Anthropologist, 102(3), 583–588.
Stemwedel, J. (2016). Ethical considerations for science bloggers. In C. Wilcox, B. Brookshire, & J. Goldman (Eds.), Science blogging: The essential guide (pp. 50–59). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Stojanowski, C., & Duncan, W. (2015). Engaging bodies in the public imagination: Bioarchaeology as social science, science, and humanities. American Journal of Human Biology, 27, 51–60.
Telegraph. (2011). First homosexual caveman found. Telegraph. Retrieved January 20, 2017, from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/8433527/First-homosexual-caveman-found.html
Tilden, F. (1957). Interpreting our heritage: Principles and practices for visitor services in parks, museums, and historic places. Durham, NC: University of North Carolina Press.
Turner, T. R. (2002). Changes in biological anthropology: Results of the 1998 American Association of Physical Anthropology Membership Survey. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 118(2), 111–116.
Wade, N. (2010). Anthropology a science? Statement deepens a rift. New York Times. Retrieved January 25, 2017, from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/10/science/10anthropology.html
Waterston, A., Williams, B., Clancy, K., McGranahan, C., & Frankel, A. (2017). American Anthropological Association guidelines for tenure and promotion review: Communicating public scholarship in anthropology. Retrieved May 11, 2017, from http://s3.amazonaws.com/rdcms-aaa/files/production/public/AAA%20Guidelines%20TP%20Communicating%20Forms%20of%20Public%20Anthropology.pdf
Wilcox, C. (2016). To blog or not to blog. In C. Wilcox, B. Brookshire, & J. Goldman (Eds.), Science blogging: The essential guide (pp. 1–12). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Williams, M. E. (2011). The ‘gay caveman’ media mystery. Salon. Retrieved January 20, 2017, from http://www.salon.com/2011/04/08/gay_caveman_absurdity/
Yong, E. (2016). Building an audience for your blog. In C. Wilcox, B. Brookshire, & J. Goldman (Eds.), Science blogging: The essential guide (pp. 41–49). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Acknowledgments
This paper is based on a talk given in 2016 at the American Anthropological Association in a session organized by Jane Buikstra and Deb Martin, and I appreciate the invitation to present there and the feedback from fellow session participants. For tips on rhetoric and heritage communication, Bre Garrett and Mike Thomin at UWF were extremely helpful. My foray into international-level scicomm was made possible by my Forbes editor Alex Knapp, and my continued success there is aided by conversations and commiseration with fellow academic bloggers Shaena Montanari and Sarah Bond.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Killgrove, K. (2019). Bioarchaeology and the Media: Anthropology Scicomm in a Post-Truth Landscape. In: Buikstra, J.E. (eds) Bioarchaeologists Speak Out. Bioarchaeology and Social Theory. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93012-1_14
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93012-1_14
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-93011-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-93012-1
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)