Rapid Reactions: responding to breaking news. The demands of the 24-hour media machine mean that news journalists often don’t have the luxury of time to track down the best scientists when a science story lands on their desks, so availability can sometimes win out over expertise. This is where the Science Media Centre steps in. When a story breaks – whether it’s the latest flu epidemic, health scare or a potential nuclear crisis – the SMC persuades leading experts to drop everything and engage with the story, then contacts journalists at all the major news outlets to offer those experts for interviews or immediate comment.
Roundups: putting new research into context. One of the other ways the SMC ensures that the media have easy access to scientists and their views is by offering journalists a variety of comments from scientists reacting to the latest research. This service differs from our ‘Rapid Reactions’ as scientists have time to react before new research is announced, rather than in response to breaking news.
With access to embargoed journals before publication, we can pick stories of most interest to journalists, asking third party experts to provide comments and information to put research into context before it appears in the media. The SMC’s unique Roundups help busy journalists critically analyse the strengths and weaknesses of new research, and highlight when studies are very preliminary or display a correlation that should not be read as causation. Equally, when leading scientists are excited about a significant study this can reassure journalists that the study should feature strongly in their coverage.
The Office for National Statistics, have released data on ethnic differences in life expectancy and mortality from selected causes in … read more
A study, published in Nature Climate Change, looked at the probability of record-breaking heatwaves occurring. Dr Karsten Haustein, Climate … read more
Following thunderstorms on Sunday 25th July there have been incidences of flash flooding in parts of London, as well as … read more
Data for case numbers of COVID-19 published on the government online dashboard have shown falling numbers for 5 consecutive days. … read more
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) have released the latest data from their COVID-19 Infection Survey. Prof Kevin McConway, Emeritus Professor … read more
A preprint, an unpublished non-peer reviewed paper from the PITCH study, looks at sustained T cell immunity, protection and boosting … read more
A preprint, an unpublished non-peer reviewed study, looks at data from a trial of the impact of a policy of … read more
A comment from Professor Paul Hunter and Dr Simon Clarke on the latest figures on the DHSC COVID-19 Dashboard. … read more
A research letter published in The Lancet looks at spike-antibody waning after the second dose of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or … read more
There have been several media reports discussing the impacts of the high number of isolation alerts being received from the … read more
The Governments’ New Innovation Strategy and R&D People and Culture Strategy have been published today. Prof Alice Gast FREng, … read more
A study published in Brain Communications looks at white matter abnormalities in active elite adult rugby players. This Roundup accompanied … read more
A study published in JAMA Psychiatry looks at cannabis use disorder in schizophrenia in Denmark. Prof Terrie Moffitt, Chair … read more
A study published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association looks at speech-in-noise hearing impairment and risk … read more
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) have released the latest report from the COVID-19 infection survey, looking at antibody and vaccination data … read more
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) have released provisional counts of the number of deaths registered in England and Wales in the … read more
A case report published by BMJ Case Reports looks at a patient who experienced facial palsy after each dose of … read more
A narrative review published in BMJ Global Health looks at the health impacts of lockdowns. Sarah Shenow, Head of … read more
At the Downing Street press conference today, Boris Johnson announced that 2 COVID-19 vaccine doses is planned to be a … read more
A statement from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on COVID-19 vaccination of children and young people aged … read more
