Global health. The current scenario and future perspectives

297 20. When data is not enough: Challenges and lessons for post- pandemic health communications Mariela Ravanal Ponce, Claudia Lagos Lira, Ximena Póo Figueroa Introduction The pandemic is a warning of what may come (such as other pandemics or the destruction of the planet) if we do not respond with profound transformations; if, in the Anthropocene era, those of us with high responsibilities over our communities do not change our lifestyles . Dr. Rosa Devés, rector of the University of Chil e 54 Communicating science is much more than publishing an article in a journal. (León et al., 2022: 18). For several years now, various studies have documented a sustained drop in trust among audiences and citizens towards the media in general and journalism in particular (Newman et al., 2022). This can have various reasons which depend on the context or specific crises. For example, in Chile, the social uprising in October 2019 increased social criticism towards media outlets, particularly television (Lagos, 2020). Trust in media and journalism only partially recovered during the early months of the pandemic. As an example, by May 2020, Chileans were watching about seven hours of television per day (CNTV, 2020a). One significant element of this lack of trust is that media and journalists are perceived as part of local and/or global elites 55 who themselves face discredit, particularly political and economic elites. With local colors and flavors, the traditional institutions of liberal democracies have seen their prestige eroded. In Chile, different surveys show approval ratings for institutions like Congress or political parties barely reaching 10 points and in steady decline since democracy was restored in Chile in 1990. Trust in television only reaches 16 percent and radio stations do not exceed 50 percent of mentions (CEP, 2022). Globally, some level of distrust and even contempt toward “technical knowledge” or “experts” is also evident (Kakutani,2019; Waisbord,2021). In 54 Award ceremony “Recognition for the communication of scientific evidence during the pandemic”. Public Health Institute (ISP) and Millennium Institute in Immunology and Immunotherapy (IMII), August 4 th , 2022. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Fp1Ab64jP0 (Retrieved on August 5 th , 2022). 55 News anchors have been part of big advertising campaigns for big retailers and other corporations. News anchors are hired, also, under more privileged contracts than the rest of the media workforce (Carmona, 2016; Contreras, 2021; Ramos & Guzmán, 2013)