The Covid-19 pandemic has illustrated both the need for timely public communications from academics as well as high public interest in expert comments.
The print, radio and TV media required continuous and urgent input from academics (among other stakeholders) who could provide pragmatic and informed comment on the evolving public health emergency.
The UK-based Science Media Centre (SMC) was set up in 2002 to act as a bridge between journalists and academics, predominantly on the back of scientific scandals that were the result of poor journalism and lack of engagement from the scientific community.
The misinformation of Andrew Wakefield and the false “MMR vaccine causes autism” claims is one example from that time.
