When Science Becomes Politics, Prof. Øyvind Ihlen

When Science Becomes Politics: The media coverage of national dietary guidelines

When science enters the political arena, it is forced to compete on terms that do not always favour expertise. Robust, well-established research may lose ground when political actors elevate other values or strategic considerations. As a result, scientific knowledge becomes woven into wider political conflicts.

A recent Nordic case involving national dietary guidelines illustrates this dynamic clearly: critics accused researchers of “pulling numbers out of thin air.” Such controversies reveal how authority has to be negotiated when scientific assessments collide with political interests. This talk explores how that negotiation unfolds in the media, how scientific recommendations become politicized, and what this means for institutions tasked with communicating evidence-based public advice.

Dr. Øyvind Ihlen is a Professor in the Department of Media and Communication (IMK) at the University of Oslo (UiO) and a Visiting Professor at the University of Eastern Piedmont, Italy. He is the co-director of POLKOM – Center for the Study of Political Communication. His research focuses in particular on the strategic communication of political issues.