Table_2_Use of the word “evolution” in the time of a global pandemic.XLSX

IntroductionThe media can play a vital role in determining to what extent the general public understands scientific concepts. The understanding and acceptance of evolution are often influenced by factors beyond scientific knowledge alone, including education, politics, and media consumption habits. Although discussion of the COVID-19 pandemic and evolution had fixed itself in public discourse on many fronts, the media often avoided the usage of the word “evolve” and showed a preference for alternatives such as “emerge” or “mutate.”
MethodsWe conducted a systematic analysis to gauge the prominence of the concept of evolution in media discussions across seven English-speaking countries. This involved assessing the frequency of the term “evolve” concerning viral evolution within newspaper articles using electronic databases. Of the 4,951 newspaper articles examined in this study, 11% discussed viral evolution. Out of those articles, 12% explicitly used the word “evolve.”
ResultsWe found that countries did not significantly differ in their “evolve” usage, which may reflect similarities in views about COVID-19 and its evolution across countries or reliance on shared information sources when reporting on COVID-19. We also found that, as the pandemic progressed, the discussion on viral evolution as a topic had increased, but the frequency with which the word “evolve” was explicitly used had decreased.
DiscussionThe COVID-19 pandemic has had a substantial impact on science and health news reporting. Although evolution plays a crucial role in the progression of the COVID-19 pandemic, the term “evolve” is not frequently highlighted in COVID-19 news coverage. Our research underscores the significant implications of language choice when describing evolutionary events, particularly in shaping the public’s understanding of evolution, both in general and in the context of pandemics and infectious diseases.

引言
媒体在决定公众对科学概念的理解程度方面可发挥至关重要的作用。公众对演化（evolution）的理解与接受，往往受科学知识之外的多重因素影响，包括教育水平、政治立场以及媒体消费习惯。尽管新冠疫情（COVID-19 pandemic）与演化的讨论已在诸多层面融入公共话语体系，但媒体往往避免使用“evolve（演化）”一词，转而偏好“emerge（出现）”或“mutate（突变）”等替代表述。

研究方法
本研究开展系统性分析，以评估演化概念在七个英语国家媒体讨论中的受关注程度。本次分析借助电子数据库，对报纸文章中涉及病毒演化（viral evolution）的“evolve（演化）”一词使用频率进行统计。本研究共纳入4951篇报纸文章进行分析，其中11%的文章涉及病毒演化，而在这些涉及病毒演化的文章中，仅有12%明确使用了“evolve”一词。

结果
研究发现，各国在“evolve”一词的使用频率上并无显著差异，这或许反映出各国对新冠疫情及其演化的认知较为相似，或是各国在报道新冠疫情时依赖共同的信息来源。此外，研究还发现，随着疫情的发展，作为议题的病毒演化相关讨论有所增加，但“evolve”一词的明确使用频率却有所下降。

讨论
新冠疫情对科学与健康类新闻报道产生了深远影响。尽管演化在新冠疫情的发展进程中发挥着关键作用，但“evolve”一词在新冠疫情相关新闻报道中并未得到高频突出使用。本研究强调了描述演化事件时语言选择的重要意义，尤其是在塑造公众对演化的整体认知，以及在疫情与传染病背景下的认知方面。