2010: An exciting year for science journalism?

As we discussed last month, 2010 shows signs that science journalism is flourishing. January started off with the publication of a report from the Science and Media Expert Group, one of five science and society expert groups convened by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills. The group reported threats to science journalism in the form of budget cuts and changes to the structure of journalism in general. However, they also discussed a pride in their profession and in particular highlighted a number of encouraging schemes which support scientists and journalists to improve the quantity and the quality of science reporting, with more springing up all the time.

For example, the NHS Behind the Headlines provides an invaluable service by dissecting how stories about science are reported by the media, where they came from, and the strengths and weaknesses of the study behind the story. Journalists were very supportive of a suggestion by the Expert Group that this be extended to a ‘Before the Headlines’ service, so that they could read the analysis before writing the stories. They also said it would help them convince editors to take more of a balanced approach to science reporting.

The BBC has made 2010 its year of science and has had a number of additional programmes, both educational and journalistic. These include some more participative projects such as ‘So you want to be a scientist’ which supports, funds and broadcasts amateur scientists to run their own research, and ‘Lab UK’ which carries out research with the help of thousands of voluntary participants. As part of their commitment to making sure the surge in science programmes is fair as well as entertaining, they also made science the subject of their annual impartiality review.

The relationship between science, the public and the media still needs development. In particular, the BIS report highlighted that there is a distinct lack of traditional investigative journalism applied to science, and that science reporting often has the primary aim of public education and is mainly lifted straight from a few major journals. It is crucial for public trust in science that the media take on a more independent and critical role. A new generation of well-trained, science-literate journalists will be needed to ensure that the public are engaged in a genuine debate about science through the media.