Overview

Do you remember the ‘Climategate’ email leak? Or the ‘Frankenfoods’- style headlines about the perils of GM foods? What about the time the government sacked its own science advisor for challenging drug laws? We rely on the media to help us make sense of complicated scientific developments that could transform our world. Yet in the past, media coverage was often less fact than fiction, while scientists frequently either avoided engaging with the press or were actively prevented from doing so. The result? Media hype, political spin and misinformation from those with vested interests. The Science Media Centre was set up by scientists to change this, encouraging openness and accuracy in science communication. Founding director Fiona Fox has had a front row seat at the major scientific media controversies of the past twenty years and takes us through each crisis, from Climategate to Covid, showing us what happened, how things have changed and why we still need to defend openness as a crucial principle. With interest in public health at an all-time high, these gripping dispatches from the frontlines of science are essential reading for everyone.

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9781783966929

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Reviews

‘A lively insider’s account’ Times Literary Supplement   ‘When science hits the headlines, Fiona Fox ... is at the heart of the action’ Financial Times   ‘This is how to talk about science’ Justin Webb ‘A candid inside account . . . [Fox] reveals how frontline science can be just as messy, complex and feudal as any political drama.’ Anjana Ahuja, co-author of Spike: The Virus Versus the People ‘The way the media covers science stories and breakthroughs has never been more important or relevant . . . This book should be recommended reading’ Jim Al-Khalili, presenter of The Life Scientific ‘The pandemic has repeatedly shown the vital necessity for accurate reporting of science . . . Fox provides some riveting stories about the ups and downs of this continuing struggle.’ David Spiegelhalter, author of The Art of Statistics ‘Engaging, illuminating, important’ Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, Director of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism ‘A vivid account of how journalists and scientists interact’ David Willetts, former Minister for Universities and Science

Author Information

Fiona Fox became the founding director of the Science Media Centre in 2001. She has won several awards for her achievements, and in 2014, she was awarded an OBE for her services to science. She holds honorary fellowships at the Royal Society of Biology, the British Pharmacological Society and the Academy of Medical Sciences, and an honorary doctorate from the University of Bristol. She writes regularly for science publications and occasionally for national newspapers.

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