A number of medical experts have become famous overnight in China since the outbreak of COVID-19. This research investigates four representative Chinese scientists by employing search analytics of the Baidu index (from December 2019 to May 2020) and content analysis of answers and commentaries on the Zhihu website (from January 2020 to May 2020). We find that the four scientists present different images and spark unprecedented publicity. In particular, the key to the transformation from scientists into public intellectuals is to demonstrate moral responsibility in public images, or to realize humorous and effective communication with the public. The birth of celebrity scientists has not only reshaped the public's traditional perception of scientists but also played a crucial role in the governance of pandemic risks by guiding the public's behavior and offering scientific ways to cope with risks.
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The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic as a major public health emergency has brought a great impact on social systems worldwide. Since the outbreak of the pandemic in China, various measures, such as city lockdowns and personal health codes, have been taken to curb the further spread of the pandemic. Under this abrupt catastrophe, the public is suddenly expected to understand scientific knowledge of clinical medicine, epidemiology, and immunology to make decisions in everyday life. Thus, there is an urgent need for the popularization of related medical knowledge.
To guarantee the delivery and acceptance of correct scientific knowledge, a large number of medical experts come into the sight of the public. The rapid increase of their media exposure and public popularity makes their private lives, together with the scientific knowledge they spread, a hot topic in the public arena. Under this crisis, the relationship between scientific experts and the public has been pushed to the forefront of the times. Previously, Chinese scientists often presented a “passive” image in media reports (Shi Citation2019). Besides their individual scientific achievements, they rarely express their personal opinions in public. For instance, Tu Youyou, who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine, is simply known for her discovery of artemisinin. Why do not Chinese scientists take the initiative to carry out science communication in the media? Some possible reasons include an adverse environment for speaking in public (Wang et al. Citation2018), and the fact that the popularization of science is not included in the evaluation system of scientific research in China (Jia and Liu Citation2014; Shi Citation2019; Zhang Citation2015).
