ABSTRACT Science communication has emerged as a new field over the last 50 years, and its progress has been marked by a rise in jobs, training courses, research, associations, conferences and publications. This paper describes science communication internationally and the trends and challenges it faces, before looking at the national level. We have documented science communication activities in Brazil, the training courses, research, financial support and associations/societies. By analyzing the publication of papers, dissertations and theses we have tracked the growth of this field, and compared the level of activity in Brazil with other countries. Brazil has boosted its national research publications since 2002, with a bigger contribution from postgraduate programs in education and communication, but compared to its national research activity Brazil has only a small international presence in science communication. The language barrier, the tradition of publishing in national journals and the solid roots in education are some of the reasons for that. Brazil could improve its international participation, first by considering collaborations within Latin America. International publication is dominated by the USA and the UK. There is a need to take science communication to the next level by developing more sophisticated tools for conceptualizing and analyzing science communication, and Brazil can be part of that.

O texto faz uma reflexão sobre o uso da imprensa na sala de aula e sua relação com o processo de aprendizagem. Questiona a excessiva inserção de fragmentos do discurso jornalístico nos livros didáticos em detrimento de outros gêneros. Discute a qualidade da narrativa jornalística e os riscos que ela encerra se não houver uma leitura crítica da mídia. Defende a necessidade de trabalho integrado entre educadores e jornalistas para a real compreensão do processo de produção da imprensa, construção da linguagem e da linha editorial dos veículos de comunicação.

This paper focuses on the classroom use of newspaper and magazine texts and its connection with the learning process. It criticizes the excessive usage of fragments of journalistic discourse in school textbooks, to the detriment of other text forms. The quality of journalistic narration is questioned and the risks incumbent on an acritical reading of the media. It advocates the necessity of cooperation between educators and journalists to foster an effective understanding of the news production process, to improve language construction, and to generate awareness of the media's editorial lines and policies.