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.
At the coronavirus press conference this afternoon Boris Johnson made a statement on the SARS-CoV-2 variant first identified in India, … 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 study published in American Journal of Psychiatry looks at inflammation in patients with depression, using data from the UK … read more
A preprint, an unpublished non-peer reviewed study, looks at antibody and cellular immune responses in people aged 80 and older … read more
According to the latest Public Health England (PHE) analysis, COVID-19 vaccines have now prevented 33,000 hospitalisations and 11,700 deaths in … read more
A study published in Scientific Reports looks at the symptoms of paediatric COVID-19 patients in the U.S. Dr Julian … read more
A study published in The BMJ looks at the public health impact of delaying the second dose of either the … read more
A report by the British Ecological Society (BES) looks at nature-based solutions for climate change in the UK. This Roundup … read more
According to the DHSC COVID-19 Dashboard, 2,427 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the UK today. Prof Paul … read more
It has been announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has expanded the emergency use authorization for the … read more
A study published in Intensive Care Medicine looks at the use of artificial intelligence (AI) methods to predict outcomes of … read more
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) have released provisional figures on deaths registered involving COVID-19 during wave one (week ending 20 March … 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
Two preprints, unpublished non-peer reviewed studies, by Public Health England (PHE), look at the effectiveness of the Oxford-AstraZeneca and Pfizer-BioNTech … read more
The government has announced that the UK COVID-19 alert level is moving from Level 4 to Level 3. Dr … 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
Public Health England (PHE) have announced that, following a rise in cases in the UK and evidence of community transmission, … read more
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) have released an analysis of deaths registered in 2020 in England and Wales, and … read more
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has issued advice to the UK government on the use of the … read more
An observational study published in Gut looks at sugar-sweetened beverage intake in adulthood and adolescence and risk of early-onset colorectal … read more
