Without the right of reply. Political delegation to technology in COVID-19 communication

In Italy, we have witnessed an overlapping of science, technology, and politics in institutional and media communication concerning COVID-19. So, it emerges from the collection and analysis of the debate in the national media between experts, the Scientific Technical Committee, and the transversal Pact for Science. We believe that Weber’s analytical thoughts, and particularly those expressed in Wissenschaft als Beruf and Politik als Beruf, can be used to reflect on some of the elements thus underlined. We aim to highlight the contrast and confusion in Italian public debate between rational actions oriented towards a value, i.e., truth, which should be specific to scientific actions, and actions regulated according to the ethics of responsibility – which should, instead, shape actions in the field of politics.