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The pandemic crisis has made the relationship between journalism and science, particularly in the medical and public health spheres, more strained than ever. In an unexpected way, professional journalists have had to re-evaluate and filter information, data, opinions and consider the international scientific community and research findings. Studies show that health journalism becomes credible and responsible when it contextualises events and documents material based on experts, medical authorities, prestigious research institutions, studies validated by international evaluations, etc. The period of global health crisis has highlighted more than ever the role and responsibility of professional journalism, its reporting to relevant research sources and its inherent links to science. This theoretical article aims to highlight key concepts such as science journalism and to exemplify how they are reflected in Romanian health journalism practices.

The relationships between journalism and sustainability are seen as interdependent and mutually beneficial. On the one hand, sustainable development also includes a free, autonomous and strong press that can support itself economically, and on the other hand, responsible journalism brings the problems of the current world to the public and it can also involve experts to talk about the solutions possible to these issues, which generates a media discourse about sustainability and resilience now and in the future. The present paper examines the conceptualization of constructive journalism, interrogating, at the same time, its normative and societal role, as well as the resistance of this alternative direction, in the current context, marked by political instability and post-pandemic economic crisis. In Romania, the DoR experience, its course, but also the announced end of this journalistic project, shows the difficulties that constructive journalism encounters.

After pointing out - in the first part of this study - the persuasive quality of memes, once they are created, re-mixed and shared publicly, we attempt to further analyze and discuss the social and ethical implications of this type of humour, meant for mainstream entertainment and specific to the digital era, while insisting on the relevance of its reception; when the derision hides, in fact, hostility, the use of humour can affect the image of vulnerable groups and can contribute to the exclusion of their members. The attached case study presents and analyses anti-trans memes created and shared during a notorious legislative episode in the United States, referring to the use of gender-inclusive public restrooms. This episode has provoked controversies in the American public space and has served as a new reason for discriminatory manifestations online, using internet memes.

Starting March 2020, Romania has been faced with a health crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, a crisis reflected in media communication. In such situations, media play a crucial role in making relevant information timely and accessible, to help people learn about and understand what this pandemic is and how it is assessed, how to protect themselves, and what measures are taken by the authorities. This study aims to analyse how Romanian students keep informed during this national and global crisis, which also generates adjacent media phenomena such as an increase in misinformation, lack of transparency in communicating with the public or over-abundance of information. To this end, we applied a questionnaire which was answered by 426 students from a public university in Romania. The results show that students use many sources to get the information they consider important, believe that the types of messages that help them feel properly informed about the pandemic and its implications: data, figures, accurate facts, and the information received from authorities or experts and that they prefer multimedia digital content. Young people tend to be cautious concerning the transparency of official communication and continue to consume information transmitted by the mainstream media, perceived as being more credible than other news sites.