1

The Current State

of
Science Journalism
in Ireland
By
Jarlath Moloney

Research Supervisor: Michael Foley

1
st
October 2012
MA in Journalism
Dublin Institute of Technology



2
Table of Contents

Title .......................................................................................................................................... 1
Table of Contents ..................................................................................................................... 2
Declaration ............................................................................................................................... 3
List of Abbreviations ................................................................................................................ 4
Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................. 5
Abstract .................................................................................................................................... 6
Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................................................ 7
Chapter 2: Literature Review ................................................................................................... 9
Introduction .................................................................................................................. 9
Current State of Science Journalism ............................................................................ 9
Problems: News Values and Sources ......................................................................... 12
Conclusions ................................................................................................................ 15
Chapter 3: Research Methodology.......................................................................................... 16
Chapter 4: Background............................................................................................................ 19
Chapter 5: Education & Interest ............................................................................................. 24
Chapter 6: Diversity & Presentation....................................................................................... 27
Chapter 7: Quality of Reporting & Sources ........................................................................... 35
Chapter 8: Absence of Science Coverage............................................................................... 40
Chapter 4: Conclusions & Recommendations........................................................................ 46
Bibliography............................................................................................................................ 52
Appendices
Appendix 1. Survey on the Current State of Science Journalism in Ireland............... 54
Appendix 2. Newspaper Study Results....................................................................... 58
Appendix 3.Interview Transcripts............................................................................... 63

3


DECLARATION

I hereby certify that this material, which I now submit for assessment on the programme
of study leading to the award of

[MA in Journalism]
Is entirely my own work and has not been submitted for assessment for any academic
purpose other than in partial fulfilment for that stated above.


Signed (Candidate)

Date .

Plagiarism of any kind and falsification of data in any way are strictly forbidden and
constitute serious breaches of examination regulations.


4
List of Abbreviations
BMJ British Medical Journal
DCU Dublin City University
EPA - Environmental Protection Agency
HB Higgs Boson
Indo Irish Independent newspaper
IT Irish Times newspaper
LC the Leaving Cert
MIT Massachusetts Institute of Technology
NUIG National University of Ireland, Galway
PR - Press release/ public relations
SFI - Science Foundation Ireland
SJ Science journalism/journalism














5
Acknowledgements


First and foremost I would like to thank Michael Foley, dissertation supervisor for this
research. He provided me with guidance, knowledge and assistance when it was needed.

I would also deeply indebted to Dr Andrew Flaus, Prof Noel Lowndes, Prof Bob Lahua, Prof
Eugene Kennedy, Brian Trench, Anna Nolan, Dick Ahlstrom and Claire OConnell for being
interviewed for the course of this research.

I am also deeply indebted to the members of the Irish Science and Technology Journalists
Association and Science Communicators group for assisting with this research and filling in
the survey.

I wish also to thank Barbara OShea for allowing me to submit this dissertation when work
commitments permitted.

A special thanks goes to Kate Corrigan for assistance with interview arrangement.

6
Abstract


International research lists many problems with science journalism. The aim of this
dissertation is to ascertain if these problems are true in the Irish mainstream newspapers.
Areas looked at in this study include the relationship between scientists and journalists, news
sources, bias behind the news desk, lack of coverage and diversity and how education affects
science journalism.
Science journalism is of huge importance given Irish government reports stating the need for
research to drive economic development. Coverage can affect issues and research, by
bringing more funding to an area or causing research to be banned; meaning science
journalism must be of a high standard.
For this research, nine candidates were interviewed, including scientists, journalists and one
science communications educator. Three newspapers, The Irish Independent, Irish Examiner
and Irish Times were also studied to see the prominence and positioning of science news. To
give a quantitative element, 15 science journalists also filled in a survey on their experiences.
The main findings of this research are that science journalism is of a good standard when it
does appear, but there is very little coverage in general and there is a lack of diversity in areas
of research covered. Communications between both groups are also not a major issue in this
country, but every newspaper or lab should have someone who has taken a specialist training
course. This research has also shown that the public are interested in reading about science in
newspapers, but education is important for both the public and journalists.


7
Chapter 1
Introduction


International research and literature has suggested that science journalism in mainstream
newspapers is a problem area. Scientists claim they are misrepresented by the journalists and
journalists in turn say that scientists are difficult to communicate with. Other problems
discussed abroad include many factual errors in reporting, over reliance on PR material, poor
diversity in areas covered and bias against science in general by the news desk.
These factors will be examined by interviews with several scientists, journalists and a science
communications intermediary, by studying newspapers to see where their coverage appears
and surveying a larger number of science journalists. The aim of these interviews is to
improve understanding of the news values of journalists, what pressures they operate under
and what their relationship with scientists is like. Interviews with scientists will be carried out
with the aim of understanding their opinions of, and experiences with science journalism,
where they think the faults and benefits of it lie and how they interact with journalists.
This dissertation is being undertaken to see how these international theories hold up against
science journalism in Ireland, to better understand these relationships and the role of PR and
sources. This area is also of particular interest to this researcher, as he has background in
science, carrying a degree in Biotechnology from the National University of Ireland, Galway
(NUIG).
Following this introduction will be a literature review which looks at the current state of
science journalism via international literature, focusing on the problems associated with its
news values and use of sources. The education and communication abilities of scientists and
journalists and also the benefits of science journalism will be reviewed here.
After this, the research methods used will be discussed and will be followed by the focus
chapters. These will comprise the research findings from interviews with scientists and
journalists, the surveys of science journalists and the results of a study of three newspapers

8
and in what sections science articles appear. The final chapter will come to conclusions about
the current state of science journalism in Ireland and what can be done to improve its
coverage, if any improvement is needed.
Research into this area is vitally important as the government has said repeatedly that science
research and innovation are the means through which Ireland can leave the current economic
recession behind and develop the national economy for the future. Also, as so little research
is available on the topic in Ireland, more research is needed in the area to constantly improve
coverage and reporting on science. This topic is also of huge importance as many studies
have shown that news coverage of research can result in it receiving more funding or being
shut down altogether. To this end, science journalism can directly affect scientific research
and if it has serious problems it will hamper people from going into a scientific career and as
such needs to be of the highest standard.
The main outcome of this research is to highlight what faults are inherent in Irish science
journalism so that those involved, the public and policy makers will be more aware when
they need to be make important decisions on the matter.












9
Chapter 2
Literature Review


Introduction
Many scientists and journalists have documented issues with the area of science journalism
internationally. There exists a large amount of literature on the topic of journalists use of
sources, news values and communication difficulties between both groups. Both books and
studies have been written alongside many newspaper articles on the area, with commonly
studied areas including news selection and values as well as meta-studies analysing science
content in the media, how science journalism affects science research and the attitudes of
editors and journalists to science. These areas are examined in this literature review to obtain
a preliminary understanding of editorial news values that can affect science reporting, so that
these international theories can be tested against the situation in Ireland.

Current State of Science Journalism
Problems with Science Journalism
The dissatisfaction both scientists and journalists feel about science journalism has been well
documented globally (Reed, 2002). The notion of scientists feeling their work is
misrepresented was looked at in depth by Nelkin, who comes to the conclusion that science
stories are often oversimplified or sensationalised due to the different goals of both scientists
and journalists (Nelkin, 1995). The mainstream media is also thought to be specialised in the
areas it covers, with the life sciences, medicine, earth science and technology receiving more
coverage, with physics and chemistry being largely ignored (Hyden, 2006). Scientists also
believe that media is to blame for the lay peoples interest in science: public ignorance of

10
science and consequent lack of support for science is directed towards journalism,
(McIlwaine, 2001).
A scientific report on the coverage of medical research in two British newspapers came to
similar conclusions (Bartlett et al., 2002). The study found that good and bad news were
equally press released, but bad news was more often reported in papers, suggesting a
tendency towards sensationalism in newspapers. Another recent study on the reporting of
health science in Italian newspapers also found that research was misrepresented on a large
scale (Iaboli et al., 2010). The articles reviewed in the study were found largely to be overly
sensational and never mentioned conflicts of interest; the study also suggests that similar
news values are maintained in other countries.
Ben Goldacre, journalist with The Guardian, wrote in his 2010 book that, The people who
run the media are humanities graduates with little understanding of science, who wear their
ignorance as a badge of honour. He also goes on to say in his book that the mainstream
media dumbed down science stories in order to bring in the uninterested and ignorant
readers (Goldacre, 2010).
Another major criticism with the reporting of new drugs or treatments is that they are often
treated as either wonder treatments with no faults, or as hugely dangerous.
In the rare instances that risk is reported in either type of article, there is a greater
likelihood of exaggeration. In contrast, benefits are emphasized in both scientific and
newspaper articles. This trend may contribute to a general hyping of genetic research,
potentially inflating the expectations of the general public and special interest groups
such as patient groups and investors (Bubela and Caulfield, 2004).
Journalists covering science stories are also in competition with other stories and must
increase their articles news value and impact in order to be selected by editors (Entwistle,
1995).
However, the problems with science journalism may not lie entirely with the journalists
responsible. A Ugandan study looked at communication of health science information to the
public by carrying out interviews with 80 scientists and 24 science journalists. It concluded
that the main barriers to more accurate science communications were an inability to
communicate clearly, from both scientists and journalists, and a failure to realise the benefits
of this communication compared to the research itself. It also noted that other major problems

11
with communication included bad attitudes and lack of a supportive environment for the issue
from employers (Kaye, 2011).
Despite all of these current issues with science journalism, this was not always the status quo.
Science coverage in the mainstream media has varied in nature since the Second World War.
It has changed from enthusiasm in the 1940s, to scepticism in the 1970s and 1980s, to the
current state where it is widely considered sensationalist public relation (PR) regurgitation
(Hyden, 2006).

Why Science Journalism is Necessary
Despite these criticisms, the importance of science journalists in the mainstream media must
not be overlooked. A news feature in the scientific journal, Nature, notes the confusing
amount of raw scientific data that ends up online due to social networking sites. This vast
amount of information, which can be accessed by anyone unselected by journalists for news
worthiness, is considered overwhelming and can be potentially misleading or lead to scare
mongering among readers (Brumfiel, 2009). Another Canadian study noted how press
coverage of a health risk helped to accelerate the implementation of an important policy
(Wilson et al., 2004).
Thus, the need for legitimate science journalism is ever present. As Brian Trench points out
in M. Bauers science communication review, scientific information intended for peer review
use is freely available to the public and can be difficult for the public to understand:
This creates a crowded, noisy space, where discerning valid and valuable
information becomes ever harder. The difficulty is compounded by the way in which
scientific societies, research institutions, funders, governmental bodies, and others use
the web for marketing or other promotional purposes.
He also goes on to write that this information is presented as news, despite existing for the
purpose of promoting the profile or reputation of the organisation (Bauer, 1998).




12
Problems: News Values and Sources

News Values
As many studies now suggest, newspapers have become revenue focused and do not fulfil
their remit as gatekeepers who bridge the gap between ordinary people and research scientists
(Conrad, 1999). It has been suggested, as far back as the 1950s, that journalists news
priorities are no longer influenced by public benefit, but by what stories they see make it to
print. Editors are thought to influence the news in this way, as journalists conform to
whatever standards are set by editors to get published (Breed, 1955, Weaver, 2007).
A book which looks at the relationship between media and health notes that the modern
media has contributed to a culture of fear, where the consciousness of safety issues has
reached chronic levels (Seale, 2002). In America, overblown fear about minor risks have
been attributed to PR and media groups trying to increase newspaper sales (Glassner, 1999).
This culture of fear feeds into one of Galtung and Ruges news values, negativity, and is
thought to be one of the main reasons science journalism is often perceived as being
inaccurate or sensationalist. Galtung and Ruge suggest that a story with a negative outcome
or fear has a greater chance of being published, which would account for many of the stories
which seem to be scaremongering (Galtung and Ruge, 1965). Many current scientific articles
would fall into this area, with some suggesting that everyday cancer threats are sunscreen,
stress, certain vegetables, etc (Mann, 1995).

Sources
It is believed that PR material has become much more widely used of late, with interviews
with journalists confirming this belief:
The great majority (38 out of 42) indicated that PR plays a greater role in todays
newsroom, suggesting that the use of PR has increased over the last 10 years (Lewis
et al., 2008).

13
Journalists use of sources is a major problem with science coverage in the popular media and
is covered in many studies. One of the most relevant publications on the topic is Flat Earth
News, written by The Guardian journalist, Nick Davies. In this book, Davies discusses the
decline in use of traditional sources in modern newspapers. He writes that journalists now
have three times the amount of work load as in the 1980s and are forced by budgetary and
time constraints to recycle information from official sources. These official sources include
PR material and wires, and he notes how easy it is for companies and groups to get their
information into these sources (Davies, 2009). Although he does not expressly mention it, the
same themes also run through literature on science reporting.
In a similar case with TV and video reporting, it was found that one third of science news
reports were attributable to broadcast useable footage made by PR companies. This material
also gained longer reporting than typical press releases (Machill et al., 2006).
There are thought to be many problems with over reliance on PR material. The newspaper
editorial team may have errors incorporated in their copy before they even write an article, as
a large amount of this PR material does not list the limitations of studies. Also, press releases
often do not mention size limitations or other shortcomings in study boundaries and do not
list the corporate funding, and thus corporate interest in certain research (Woloshin and
Schwartz, 2002).
When dealing with science stories, journalists do not research and source science articles in
the same way they cover other stories. There are many contributing factors to this
phenomenon which have been well documented.
Journalists are under continuous pressure from editors and deadlines and cannot fully
research stories (Entwistle, 1995, Davies, 2009). They have also said that with tight deadlines
they have sparse time to identify which stories are most important. Many can also find it
difficult to understand complex research articles in a short time, if they do not possess science
qualifications. For these reasons, journalists have to utilise PR material to access a wide
variety of stories in order to select the most news worthy ones liable to make it to print
(Entwistle, 1995).
Another report, on the use of sources and competency of British journalism over the past 20
years, again notes the difficulties faced by over-worked journalists in the modern world. It
again notes that nearly two-thirds of science stories are wholly or in part from press releases,

14
with most of the PR material coming from corporate sources (Lewis et al., 2007). A similar
study looking at the utilisation of news sources also comes to the conclusion that there is an
over-reliance on PR material and the wires, to the detriment of news quality (Lewis et al.,
2008).
It has also been suggested that scientists are ineffective at communicating their research
accurately. Studies have claimed that articles in newspapers were less scientifically accurate
than the press releases they were derived from. It also goes on to say that when journalists
were in contact with someone familiar with the research, the resulting stories were more
accurate than where journalists had spoken to the researchers involved with a particular
project (Brechman et al., 2011). This thought is backed up by an American study, where
science communication experts largely agree that communication training for scientists
would be hugely beneficial (Besley and Tanner, 2011).














15
Conclusions
The over reliance on PR material is a worrying trend, and part of the motivation behind this
dissertation. An American study, which looked at research articles covered in the New York
Times, found these studies received 73% more citations than similar research which was not
covered. This leads to the conclusion that coverage of research in newspapers can have a
direct influence on scientific research in the future (Phillips et al., 1991). For this reason, the
research reported on, and the information it provides, must be of the highest standard.
While it is difficult to ascertain from the available literature whether scientists or journalists
are more at fault, it seems reasonable that both groups benefit from more sensationalised
coverage. Journalists get to write interesting stories and some researchers get low key
research touted as the next wonder treatment and receive more funding and public interest as
a result(Ransohoff and Ransohoff, 2001).
As one problem with science journalism could be researchers communication issues, a study
looking at the matter went on to say that scientists should receive communication training. It
also comes to the conclusion that the media should put journalists working more closely with
scientists to solve these problems in the future (Kaye, 2011).
Most literature on the topic of science journalism in the mainstream media points to many
problems with the area. These problems are thought to range from over reliance on PR
material, extra workload, pressure and less time for journalists to research and fact check
stories. Other problems with the area are thought to include scientists difficulties in
communicating their research to lay people.
It is to ascertain the exact reasons behind these trends that this research is being carried out
and to establish what the professionals of both fields could do to improve this situation in
Ireland.





16
Chapter 3
Research Methodology


To fulfil the independent research quotient of this dissertation, three primary forms of
research were engaged with, some of which were qualitative and some quantitative.
Survey
In order to obtain the opinion of a wider number of science journalists (SJ) and to create a
quantitative estimation of science journalism (SJ) in Ireland a survey method of research was
used. The survey was sent out to individuals currently or previously involved in science
journalism in Ireland. However, the pool of potential candidates involved in the field is quite
small. It was sent to the 20 members of the Irish Science & Technology Journalists'
Association (ISTJA), the 782 members of the Science Communicators Ireland group and a
selection of other individuals who were known to the researcher to be involved in SJ, from
professional recommendations.
While it would have been desirable to interview a large number of these individuals,
interviewing a large number of candidates would have been too time-consuming for the scope
of this dissertation. As a result, surveying as many members of the wider SJ community was
a compromise.
However, there were considerable difficulties in getting the survey completed by such a
select group. Firstly, contact and acceptance to the two above groups had to be made before
an invitation to complete the survey could be extended to their members. Secondly, looking
for contact information for individual SJs was very time consuming and people were often
slow to reply. Eventually, 15 SJs agreed to fill out the survey and return it.
When all the completed surveys had been returned, the information had to be collated and
personal opinions which were expressed had to be considered. All surveys were carried out

17
anonymously and comments which would make respondents identity known were omitted.
These results are presented in Appendix 1.
Interviews
Nine interviews with a range of people engaged with, and interested in, science journalism
were carried out. The interview candidates consisted of four scientists, four SJs and/or editors
and as an intermediary, the head of a science communications course. These interview
candidates consisted of Doctor Andrew Flaus, Professor Noel Lowndes and Professor Bob
Lahue of the Centre for Chromosome Biology, National University of Ireland, Galway
(NUIG) and Professor Eugene Kennedy who is the Former Vice-President for Research at
Dublin City University (DCU) and Science Secretary at the Royal Irish Academy (RIA).
Science journalists interviewed consist of Claire OConnell and Anna Nolan, freelance
science journalists, Leo Enright, a former science journalist who is currently Chairman of
the Irish Government's science awareness programme, Discover Science & Engineering, and
Dick Ahlstrom, Science Editor at the Irish Times. The intermediary science communications
editor was Brian Trench, who is the former head of the Science Communications course in
DCU.
It was felt that these interview subjects would have an insight into the area of SJ after a career
directly or indirectly involved in it and the personal experiences they had dealing with it.
Carrying out face-to-face interviews was also time-consuming to organise. Firstly, a suitable
group of people had to be determined with the help of the research supervisor, Michael Foley
and then contact details had to be sought out for the candidates. Organising the interviews
was often difficult as many candidates were either remotely located or had to schedule the
interviews around their holidays. Following this, notes and audio recordings had to be
compiled and the large quantity of data had to be studied to garner the most essential
information. The transcripts of these interviews are found in Appendix 3.

Newspaper study
To back up the findings of previous research, and ascertain whether there is a noticeable lack
of, or problem with SJ in Ireland, a selection of newspapers were studied. As the area of this

18
dissertation covers SJ in the mainstream Irish print media, no online or specialist media were
selected for this section of research. The newspapers studied were The Irish Times, Irish
Independent and the Irish Examiner. These three papers were studied for a period of two non-
consecutive weeks to determine the prevalence of science coverage. The papers were studied
for number of articles, in what section they appeared, the subject area of the articles and the
journalist who wrote the articles.
Relatively, this was the most simple form of research undertaken in this dissertation, copies
of the Irish Times, Irish Independent and the Irish Examiner were studied in the DIT library.
This information was then compiled in Appendix 2.















19
Chapter 4
Background


When this researcher chose what courses to put on the CAO form in 2006, Ireland was in an
economic boom and the government was espousing the benefits of a science education to the
Irish people. Due to the push for science graduates and an underlying interest in the area, this
researcher studied the degree in Biotechnology in NUIG. The government realised the
benefits science and research could have for Ireland in the future when they released reports
with statements such as:
Ireland has the potential to achieve a step change in the performance of R&D over
the period to 2010. Ireland has a strong enterprise base and the potential to increase its
R&D capability and absorptive capacity. It also has a growing public research base.
The determinant of Irelands future economic well-being will be its success in
stimulating business to do more R&D, promoting innovation and a culture of
entrepreneurship amongst researchers and fostering effective linkages between
enterprise and academia (Forfs, 2004).
Upon finished the degree in 2010, few research jobs were to be found across the country and
there was a scarcity of PhD positions to be found, so in 2011 this researcher undertook the
MA in Journalism in DIT. However, eight years on from that Forfs report, research funding
is being cut across the country despite the government still touting the benefit of the
knowledge economy, with a recent report listing one of five key action areas as: Building
the Ideas Economy - Creating The Innovation Island (Report, 2010).
With science and research being promoted as necessary for the Irish economy to recover from
the current economic recession, this researcher began to search the Irish mainstream
newspaper to see how science was being promoted to the Irish people. Surprisingly, given the
governments emphasis on research, science coverage was found to be omitted as an outlier
in topics of interest to the print media. The vast amounts of money being spent by the
government through Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) also appeared to receive scant
coverage.

20
The reasons behind this absence of science coverage are interesting, given various studies
which confirm the publics attitude to science. A recent Eurobarometer by the EU
Commission confirmed that 79% of Europeans are moderately or very interested in new
scientific discoveries and technological developments. This figure becomes even more
relevant when compared with 69% of respondents interested in culture and arts and 65%
interested in sports news (Figure 1).
Fig.1 Irish and European interest levels in science (Commission, 2012)
Though Irish interest levels are slightly lower than the EU average, 71% of people here are
still interested in scientific developments and discoveries, which is higher than the EU
average for sport (Figure 2)(Commission, 2012).
This isnt the only study to suggest that most people have an underlying interest in scientific
research and discoveries. A similar study carried out by Reuters in the UK, USA, Germany,
France and Denmark concluded that science and technology news is important to 21-28% of
respondents. Though this study only allowed people to choose five areas, science was more
important than sport in some countries and more important than entertainment and celebrity
news by 2-15% in every country (Figure 3)(Journalism, 2012).

21











Fig.2 Irish and European interest levels in science (Commission, 2012)

Fig.3 International study on news interest levels (Journalism, 2012)

22
The public also seems to confirm this interest in science with how they spend their spare
time. Hodges Figgis book store on Dawson St, Dublin fills six bays with popular science
books and when science is searched in Easons online book shop, it returns more than
50,000 titles. In addition to this, the Science Gallery had its millionth customer over the
summer after only four years of business. As the government puts a huge emphasis on
science for the future of the state and research suggests that the public has an interest in
science, its lack of coverage in the Irish mainstream print media became of interest to this
researcher.
The role education plays in peoples attitudes is also of interest to this researcher. A US study
of c 25,000 people on when attitudes to science are formed showed that people who, at the
age of 13, want to have a career in science, are 51% more likely to have completed a four
year in mathematics, 34% more likely to have completed a degree in a physical science. The
study also showed that people who expected a nonscience career were only 19% likely to
have a career in science later in life (Tai et al., 2006). Given that the governement has put
such emphasis on the importance of science and international studies have shown that
education is hugely important in later attitutudes to science, this was also an area of research
that seemed of importance.
This led to researching the matter through the international literature. International studies on
science journalism noted the huge influence reporting of research can have on funding. The
dangers of misinformation caused by poor science journalism have also been well
documented in the literature review part of this dissertation. These studies also noted many
problems with the field such as issues with overuse of PR by research bodies and the
government, and the dangers this presented when coupled with lazy journalism or increased
workloads or times pressure. The cause of agenda journalism was mentioned in these studies
and the news values behind the coverage of science were also scrutinized. The results seemed
to suggest worrying trends in science journalism of misinformation, bias, inaccuracy and a
very narrow area of research covered in the media.
Despite these issues being well studied in the international media, there has been little
research on the matter in Ireland. While scholarly research has been carried out in Ireland,
mostly by one person, Brian Trench, there is a relatively small body of work on the matter.

23
Due a background in science and the small amount of research on science journalism in
Ireland, this researcher decided to focus on this area as the subject matter of this dissertation.
It is hoped this research will ascertain why coverage is so scant in this country and if
international trends in science journalism hold true here.




















24



Chapter 5
Education & Interest



Science teaching is crucial and maybe were
not teaching it well, so fewer people are
interested than should be interested, but its
still down to what a person wants to read.

- Dick Ahlstrom,
Science Editor of the I rish Times



25
As previously stated, education is of huge importance to science and science journalism, both
for readership, helping journalists understand science better and giving a more interested
readership for science news. The role it has as a determinant factor in science making it to the
news pages will also be investigated in this chapter.
Leo Enright, a former science journalist, suggested there is a gulf between those in the media
and those in science that goes back to university. He says that during his time as an under
graduate in UCD:
There was a huge gulf in those days between the Arts block and the Science block
and I see that today, 40 years later, in the gulf between the scientists of my day who
are all now senior people and the arts block people of my generation who are now
many of the senior people in RTE and the newspapers.
Another science journalist, Anna Nolan came to a similar conclusion about the influence
peoples education had on science coverage:
Certainly in previous times, it may have changed lately, a lot of the commissioning
editors in news papers, in general, would not have studied science for the Leaving
Cert or above and would have therefore had a bias to sports, politics, the arts, etc and
would have found science less interesting. Therefore they were less open to science
stories.
A similar theme arose in all the interviews, suggesting that peoples attitudes were formed in
their time spent in college. The people on the news desk are the gatekeepers between the
public and new research findings and if they do not see the benefit science news can give to
the public then they may ignore a potential story (Conrad, 1999). Dick Ahlstrom, Science
Editor with the Irish Times contends that if the editors in charge of the news desk lack
interest in science or dont see a story as important, even if a scientist thought otherwise, it
wont get into the paper.
Ahlstrom cites the lack of someone championing science at the Irish Independent news
desk as a key reason behind their lack of regular science coverage. However, the apparent
lack of coverage will be discussed in a later chapter. The people on the news desk may not be
complete aberrations as their interests may reflect that of the actual public. If the news desk
represents the ordinary people in Ireland, perhaps its a failing of science teaching if they
dont automatically recognise the importance of a science story, Ahlstrom said on the
matter.

26
Not only is a persons science education at Third level important, many interview candidates
believe these attitudes are influenced from as early as Primary and Secondary level. Prof
Eugene Kennedy stated that attitudes formed in youth could influence perceptions throughout
life and mentioned studies which showed this:
International research has shown that attitudes to science are determined around 11,
12 and 13 years of age. In fact, a longitudinal study carried out in the states showed
that school kids, around eight years of age, who said they would be interested in a
career in science were more likely to take up careers in science later in life, because
they had already developed an interest.
50% of respondents to the survey agreed or strongly agreed that peoples attitudes to science
are formed at Primary and Secondary level, but 50% also disagreed with this statement,
showing no significant opinion among survey respondents (Appendix 1, Q12). 35.71% of
candidates also agreed that education is responsible for problems which may exist in the
mainstream science journalism in Ireland, with 28.57% having no opinion and 35.71%
disagreeing or strongly disagreeing with this statement (Chart 1; Appendix 1, Q9).

Chart 1. Is science education at Primary, Secondary and Third level partly to blame for any
problems which may exist in the wider science journalism in Ireland? (Appendix 1, Q9)
With literature and interviews showing that education has a huge effect on peoples attitude
to, and interest in science, Irelands education system must be taken into consideration;
however this line of research goes beyond the scope of this dissertation.
0.00%
5.00%
10.00%
15.00%
20.00%
25.00%
30.00%
35.00%
40.00%
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree No Opinion Agree Strongly Agree

27
Survey respondents were much more unified when considering if people with non-science
backgrounds are interested in reading about science. 66.67% of respondents agreed that
people are always or often interested in reading about science. The nine interview candidates
unanimously agreed that the general public are interested in reading about science, irrelevant
of any science background or education, provided a story can be presented in the right way.
Though Irish coverage of science may fall down when compared with the US and UK, Prof
Bob Lahue, originally from America, thinks Irish interest levels are much higher here than
they are in the US. The Irish readership is more interested in whats going on in the world. I
give them credit for that, he said.
Prof Kennedy and Brian Trench agree that popular culture indicates how interested people
are. They cited the wide selection of popular science books in the likes of Hodges Figgis
bookstore on Dawson St, Dublin, the recent one millionth visitor to the Science Gallery on
Pearse St, Dublin and the huge success of the recent European Science Open Forum (ESOF
2012) also in Dublin as indicative factors of peoples interest.
However, several interviewees said this interest must be balanced with peoples knowledge
levels. Claire OConnell said I think they can be [interested] if the story is well told and
particularly on certain subjects that have mass appeal. Scientists themselves realise that the
public may not be interested by the hard science part of articles, as Prof Kennedy stated:
There is a deep interest in science, without the mathematics and the hard science part, if
people get clued in at some stage.








28



Chapter 6
Diversity &
Presentation

One example is recent research into deep
ocean smokers, which are interesting as they
are literally the earths core bubbling up to the
surface. The science was written as the one
eyed shrimp, this was the hook for the public,
but would not be of interest to the scientist.

- Professor Eugene Kennedy,
Science Secretary at the Royal Irish Academy (RIA)

29
It was shown in the previous chapter that the public are interested in reading about science,
but they might have an increased interest and improved attitude to it if they are engaged from
an early age. However, what areas of science are they interested in reading and what is
covered in newspapers? In this chapter, common themes of science journalism, what is cover
and how journalists look to present science will be discussed.
All interview candidates were asked for their opinion on the diversity of science coverage and
most respondents felt it was lacking in variety, which is in keeping with international
literature on the matter.
What little coverage there is here would be mainly focussed on medicine and the life
sciences, but particularly on medicine. People are particularly interested in health. For
example cancer: 1 in 3 of us gets cancer; 1 in 4 of us will be killed by it. It makes you
interested in it, said Prof Lowndes.

Chart 2. Graphical representation of the sections in which science articles appear in the
Irish Independent from Monday 13
th
- Friday 17
th
August 2012 (Appendix 2)
However, outside of several larger areas such as the God Particle, or the Higgs Boson and
genetically modified organisms (GMOs) much of the science coverage in the Irish
mainstream newspapers revolves around health. When considering coverage of science in the
Irish Independent, we can see that there are 21 science stories over the five day period from
Monday 13
th
to Friday 17
th
August. In this period, we can see that nine of the 21 articles
appeared in the Health & Living Section and a further eight were presented in the World
News section (Appendix 2). This coverage gives very little space to Irish science discoveries
world News (8)
Health & Living (9)
News - Farming (2)
News (2)

30
and news and puts a premium on foreign research, health and medical research. We can see in
the following weeks coverage in the Irish Independent, that when health articles are not
accounted for, the amount of science articles halves.

Chart 3. Graphical representation of the sections in which science articles appear in the
Irish Independent from Monday 2
nd
Friday 6
th
July 2012 (Appendix 2)
These figures are in line with the responses from interview candidates (Appendix 3). Mr.
Enright, a well known science journalist said that when considering publications abroad:
There is no depth or innovation in coverage [here] when compared with SJ internationally.
Ms. Nolan also said that coverage mainly involves the reporting of discoveries and new
events, with very little criticism or diversity of coverage. Over 27% of respondents to the
survey also agreed that diversity was poor or very poor and 60% only thought diversity of
areas covered was fair, as shown in Chart 4 (below).
Irish Independent 2-6 July 2012
world News (6)
Health & Living (1)
News (1)
Comment (1)

31

Chart 4. Survey results to Q1. How would you rate coverage of science in the Irish
mainstream print media in terms of diversity of areas covered? (Appendix 1)
Areas that are quoted as receiving too much coverage include GMOs, GM crops, nuclear
science, space, astrophysics and the financial and political side of science research. Things
that are more real to people interest them, said Prof Lahue. Coverage of major hook topics
has also gone beyond reasonable coverage some scientists said. The power of science
coverage can be seen in the coverage of stem cells according to Prof Lowndes:
Both GMOs and stem cells are over sensationalised, in my own field there is a lack
of rational debate and they are beyond rational debate now, they are an emotive
debate. Its now black or white and science should never be black or white.
Prof Lowndes goes on to make the point that because of the coverage of stem cells, their use
has been banned in this country. He also said that HEK (human embryonic kidney) cells are
widely used in Ireland, despite their origins:
These things came from an aborted foetus in the Netherlands. So they are not stem
cells, because they came later in the development, but they still have the ethical
implications of an aborted foetus. Yet we can use these, but not cells called stem cells.
The ethical use of stem cells is beyond the scope of this dissertation, but their banning and
continued use of another similar cell type shows the power of effective science coverage.
As these interviews took place over the months of July and August 2012, the discovery of the
Higgs Boson, also known as the God Particle, featured heavily among both newspaper
studies and interviews. There is an appetite for journalism with a hook, such as the Higgs
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
70.00%
1. Very Poor 2. Poor 3. Fair 4. Good 5. Very good
How would you rate coverage in
terms of diversity of areas covered?

32
Boson, said Mr. Enright, with similar statements from Dr Flaus, and other people
interviewed. Major themes such as the Higgs Boson are innately interesting to the public as
seen by the amount of articles on the week of Monday 2
nd
7
th
July 2012 (Appendix 2). As
Chart 5 below shows, the number of articles in the Home News and News section shot up in
the week the Higgs Boson was discovered, increasing the total number of articles also.
The impact of the Higgs Boson can also be seen by the articles which were written, with one
article on the Wednesday, before the announcement was made: World waits for revelation of
God Particle by Cern today and five articles the following day. The headlines on this day
read Scientific breakthrough: Discovery believed to be the elusive God particle, to a
Q&A on the Higgs Boson (Appendix 2).


Chart 5. Science coverage in the Irish Times comparing Monday 2
nd
Friday 6
th
July 2012
(when the Higgs Boson was discovered) to Monday 13
th
- Friday 17
th
August 2012
(Appendix 2)


0
2
4
6
8
10
12
(Home) News Health Related Comments &
Letters
Opinion Science Today Innovation
Science coverage in the Irish Times
2 - 6 July 2012 (16 articles) 13 - 17 August 2012 (12 articles)

33
Outside of these major themes, science articles must be presented with a hook.
They have to tell it around a good story. Science journalists want a hook to bring an
audience, but where the science journalist loses some control, is when sub-editors
might change the headline/spirit of a story, said Prof Kennedy.
The same words were used by one of the journalists interviewed, Claire OConnell: I look
for a hook or angle that won't compromise, misrepresent or oversell the science. Ms
OConnell then went on to say that Editors are interested in stories that they think will in
turn interest their readers, and science stories are no exception.
One scientist also criticized the labelling of scientists as boffins. The term boffin is
described by the Oxford Dictionary as A person engaged in scientific or technical research:
a person with knowledge or a skill considered to be complex or arcane. Prof Lowndes went
on to say that:
The term boffin is used very derogatorily in the mainstream media. To be
described as a boffin is a negative for most people. I dont like to be called a boffin. I
wouldnt like it; it loosely means a nerd in a white coat.
However, outside of this criticism, most scientists are happy with the coverage their articles
receive, barring uncommon articles that misrepresent a story with either headlines or stand-
firsts.
Despite it being part of the mainstream print media, several scientists said that coverage in
the Irish Times is of a level that is not accessible to most people without a science
background. One researcher, Dr Flaus said that there is a lot of coverage of the financial and
political side of science funding which would be beyond the grasp or interest of most people.
This last element appears to be an oddity of Irish coverage, which has ceased to occur in the
international media, according to Dr Flaus:
I think the Irish Times seems to have a level of dominance in the engagement of
scientists but I think the Irish academic community sometimes treats the Irish Times
as its own personal blog site in that people are putting opinions out in there and using
it almost as a chat room for scientists.
Mr Ahlstrom, the Science Editor at the Irish Times also said that many of the sections
readers are not completely devoid of scientific backgrounds: a lot of scientists, science
teachers and people with general interest in science read it. However, he did go on to say
that he often gets letters from people with a non-science background on the science articles.

34
Despite the criticisms of science journalism in general lacking diversity, most interviewees
hold the coverage of the Irish Times in high regard. The other print media I couldnt speak
too much about it, but the Times do a pretty good job and do cover a wide range of topics,
said Prof Lahue.




















35



Chapter 7
Quality of Reporting &
Sources

Some people arent very good at selling what they
do... Whereas on the other hand, there are
charlatans out there who are good at the publicity
and not good at the science, so its a balancing act.

- Professor Noel Lowndes
Centre for Chromosome Biology, NUIG


36
In this chapter the quality of science journalism, in terms of editing ability of editors and sub-
editors and how their educational backgrounds affect this, will be looked at. The accuracy of
journalists coverage and also their use of sources and PR will also be discussed in this light.
Science journalists were asked what percentage of their work originates as PR material to
ascertain if the global trend in over reliance on PR holds true for the Irish press media
(Hyden, 2006). In the global media, due to increased time pressures on journalists, over
reliance on PR is considered to be a huge problem for science journalism and journalism in
general. When asked if they use PR material much, 73% of journalists said they use it from
20-80% of the time, while the first column shows that 27% of journalists use PR very little,
from 0-20% of the time (shown in blue, Chart 6; Appendix 1). While this could be a worrying
figure in light of the international research on the matter, 60% of respondents said they back
up stories article 80-100% of the time by going to the original research, researcher or source
when possible due to time constraints (shown in red, Chart 6).

Chart 6. Science journalists response to what percentage of their articles originate as
PR or other promotional material (Blue) and what percentage of articles are backed
up by going to the original research articles/scientists (Red) (Appendix 1)
Ms OConnell said she always states that a press release is the source if she only uses that and
tries to back up all article by going to an original source:
There are vanishingly few cases where it is not possible to access the published study
or to get a pre-embargo copy and I think not to pull it up and read through it is doing
everyone a disservice.
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
70.00%
1. 0-20% 2. 20-40% 3. 40-60% 4. 60-80%; 5. 80-100%
% articles from PR vs % backed up
from original source
% from PR % backed up by source

37
Mr Ahlstrom, science editor at the Irish Times also said that he would have to go to the
original source, saying for me, if it was for the paper, as a matter of course I would have to
talk to the researchers and get them to explain the research to me. Mr Enright similarly said
he utilises PR, as it useful for drawing a journalists attention to a topic.
Editing competencies
When asked about how competently editors and sub-editors can edit science articles, 64% of
survey respondents stated that they can sometimes competently edit science and 36% said
they can do so often. 85% also said that there work has only been misrepresented 0-20% of
the time, and the remaining 15% of replies stated that there only 20-40% of their work had
been misrepresented by the editing or headline of their article.


Chart 7. 60% of respondents said they back up stories by going to the original source
article or researcher to verify facts 80-100% of the time (Appendix 1)
Over half of the respondents to the survey said they go back to the original articles or
scientists behind a story to verify facts, when it is possible time wise (Chart 7). That so many
Irish based science journalists are confident to go and talk to the researchers behind a story is
in contrast with the international trend. Kaye and others wrote that both scientists and
journalists are unable to communicate effectively with one another (Kaye, 2011). The reason
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
1. 0-20% 2. 20-40% 3. 40-60% 4. 60-80%; 5. 80-100%
% of articles backed up with
information from the original
research articles/scientists

38
this does not appear to be a problem is that many science journalists get into this field of
journalism as they come from a background in science or are inherently interested in it.
While this does not appear to be a problem here, Mr Trench, who comes from an Arts
background himself and has been the head of the MSc in Science Communications in DCU,
said that coming from a non-science background could be an advantage in science reporting:
I got interested in science and I am convinced that the disadvantages I had in not
having [an academic background in science]... are at least balanced by the advantage
that as an interviewer I had to keep on asking the questions that I was not clear about
and the reader would not be clear about. Whereas someone with the qualifications
may be restrained from repeatedly asking the questions.
The reasons this may not cause a problem here is that of the 15 survey respondents, five have
completed an MSc in Science Communications, a further three have come from a science
background and only seven have received no training in the area of specialist science
communications (Appendix 1).
Communications from scientists and researchers have also caused problems in the
international spectrum, with a recent study recommending that science communications
courses would be of benefit to scientists (Besley and Tanner, 2011). However, many Irish
research organisations are already advocating or providing these training resources.
Prof Kennedy, who is also the Science Secretary for the RIA says that both DCU, Science
Foundation Ireland (SFI) and the RIA have all made such training available and encourage
their research members to undergo the training. He also goes on to mention the efforts that
have been put into hosting communications between scientists, journalists and the public:
In the RIA there was an event hosted by the Geosciences Academy where scientists
and journalists were brought together to talk. One of the important points which
emerged was that journalists have to develop a trusted relationship.
In the Centre for Chromosome Biology, where Dr Flaus, Prof Lowndes and Prof Lahue carry
out research, communication courses have also been advocated by the SFI. Prof Lahue, who
has since undertaken some of these courses on media training, said that panels with
journalists are often provided by the SFI and NUIG:
I am attending a training course run by NUIG and sponsored in part by Science
Foundation Ireland. Those efforts are ongoing. Another example I can give you is the
SFI summit meeting. Every year they run workshops and one of these workshops is
on communicating with the public via the media.

39
Although both scientists and journalists recognise the merits of such courses, they are not
always practical. When asked if journalists covering science should receive specialist
training, Mr Trench said it would be of use, but it would also be of use in all forms of
journalism:
I think the room for specialists is shrinking daily and more and more journalists will
have to do more and more varied tasks for more and more platforms... Im not sure if
its feasible and practical to provide specialist training in all the tracks we can
imagine, although in principle it might be a good idea.
If you look at specialist science journalism courses around Europe, they dont think
its necessary to provide a specific training in the scientific way because typically the
people coming to do those courses have a science education already.
Prof Lahue also stated that while it is useful and very necessary, not enough scientists take
advantage of the courses on offer, due to being engrossed in their research with some saying
it is impractical given the time constraints of their own career paths. Dr Flaus summarised the
matter as being useful, but low on a long list of prioritised tasks:
There is no question that it is on offer and available and it is probably quite good for
people that have an interest... but it is not one of my priorities at the moment. I would
rather spend my time teaching. To do anything well takes time, concentration and
focus to build your skills and its not one I would put high on my list.
Despite both sides of the science communications divide agreeing that communications are
mutually beneficial and necessary, there is a lack of Irish professional comment in science
coverage in this country. Interview candidates said it would add a local feel to a story, with
Mr Trench saying:
When dealing with issues like the Avian Flu pandemic and Chilean earthquakes
more attention should be paid in the Irish media to what scientific researchers in
Ireland say. Apart from anything else thats a way of making the stories more
accessible. Im sure general journalism training dictates adding a local expert to an
international story, if only as commentators, it adds to a story.
Despite these few criticisms, both scientists and journalists are largely happy with their
dealings with the other group.




40



Chapter 8
Absence of Science
Coverage


Its not good; its not right actually. The Irish
Times is the only newspaper with a fulltime
science reporter. The Irish Independent should
definitely have one given the number of
subjects that could be written about.

- Dick Ahlstrom,
Science Editor at the I rish Times

41
The quality of science journalism in Ireland is thought be of a good level and neither
scientists nor journalists think it is sensational. However, the quality and amount of coverage
science receives in the Irish mainstream print media arose as a concern over this research.
These issues, along with coverage in the Irish Times compared with other newspapers and
how it compares to coverage abroad will be discussed in this chapter.
The Irish Independent, Irish Examiner and Irish Times were all studied for a period of two
non-consecutive weeks to ascertain how many articles appeared over this time, and what
section articles were appearing in. The newspapers were studied from Monday 2
nd
to Friday
6
th
July and Monday 13
th
to Friday 17
th
August 2012 (Chart 8; Appendix 2). The number of
science articles as a percentage of the whole number of articles in a given week appears quite
low, especially when the figures are adjusted to discount health news (Chapter 6: Coverage &
Diversity, Charts 2 & 3). It should also be noted that the Irish Times is the only newspaper
which has regular science coverage, with the Science Today page every Thursday.

Newspaper Date Science Articles Total Articles As a %
Irish Independent 2-6 July 9 595 1.51%

13-17 August 21 543 3.87%
Irish Times 2-6 July 16 889 1.80%

13-17 August 12 731 1.64%
Irish Examiner 2-6 July 6 475 1.26%
13-17 August 11 482 2.28%
Chart 8. Results of newspaper article study (Appendix Z)
All interview candidates rate the coverage of science in the Irish mainstream print media as
being of a very low standard due to the lack of articles, and low depth of coverage. However,
they all unanimously rate the coverage of science by the Irish Times at a much higher
standard than other newspapers. Prof Kennedy said the coverage in the Irish Times is at a
standard more in line with papers in the UK:

42
I think it is below what we would like it to be and it is primarily situated in one
paper, the Irish Times, but it has limited circulation when compared with the Irish
Independent and tabloids and dailies. The Irish Times does a good job through Dick
Ahlstrom, Claire OConnell and William Revilles articles and I would like to see
something comparable in other newspapers.
The Irish Independent has some science but no dedicated science journalist like the
Irish Times, though it does cover science to some extent, but not in a regular expected
way like the Irish Times.
A strong response was also given by survey results, with 86% stating that the coverage in the
Irish Times is good or very good when compared with other print media in the country (Chart
9; Appendix 1).

Chart 9. Coverage in the Irish Times compared with other newspapers (Appendix 1)
The lack of dedicated coverage by other newspapers is the main drawback of science
journalism in Irish newspapers according to all of the interview candidates. Similarly, survey
respondents felt coverage, as judged by number of articles, is lacking, with 53% rating it as
poor or very poor and the remaining 47% rating it as fair (Chart 10; Appendix 1)
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
1. Very Poor 2. Poor 3. About the
same
4. Good 5. Very good
Rating of coverage in the Irish Times
compared to other Irish Newspapers

43

Chart 10. Survey results of Q2. How would you rate the coverage of science in the
Irish mainstream media in terms of number of articles (Appendix 1)
However, given European and American levels of interest in science journalism, as shown in
Chapter 4we must also consider how Irish science coverage compares to the other nations.
When asked how Irelands coverage of science compares to that in the US and UK, 87% of
respondents said it was poor or very poor by comparison, with only 13% stating it was about
the same (Chart 10; Appendix 1).

Chart 11. Survey results from comparison of coverage in Ireland with the US and UK
(Appendix 1)
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
1. Very Poor 2. Poor 3. Fair 4. Good 5. Very good
Science journalists rating of coverage
in terms of number of articles
published
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
70.00%
80.00%
1. Very Poor 2. Poor 3. About the
same
4. Good 5. Very good
How would you compare coverage in
Ireland with the US and UK?

44
While most respondents said coverage in the Irish Times was comparable with coverage in
other nations, the rest of the mainstream print media is poor in comparison. In New York and
London coverage is said to be much more all encompassing of diverse areas and there is a
greater abundance of articles, interview candidates said. Mr Trench said that coverage in Irish
papers is mainly on foreign research and what does appear in Irish papers from syndication is
decided more by foreign press than Irish decision makers:
In comparative terms with other European countries the coverage is low. The
proportion of coverage which comes through syndication and news agencies is high. I
would say that there is very little evidence of independent judgement being applied by
key decision makers in Irish print media as to what kinds of science should be
covered with what evidence.
Prof Lowndes also said the coverage is lacking across all the media, with the exception of the
Irish Times:
Poor. With the exception of the science section in the Irish Times on Thursday. I
would say its very poor, in TV, Radio and print media... there would be more
coverage in Britain and surprisingly more in New York. In all aspects of the media
theyre not as intimidated by science or as anti-science and theres a more positive
attitude towards science.
The reasons for lack of coverage are harder to determine. One survey respondent commented
that science pages generate no additional ad revenue and the area is not covered as a result.
Others have also commented that funding is an issue. With print journalism suffering both
here and abroad, online news sites are readily providing science coverage to the public.
Online coverage also provides a fuller picture as people can search a topic in great detail, said
Prof Kennedy. With the abundance of editorial space available online, in addition to other
resources that are available to the reader, national papers and journalists find it difficult to
provide as much in depth coverage as people online. Ms Nolan said that funding cuts affect
science journalism in a greater way than other journalism fields:
I think science journalism has to be seen in the context of journalism in general.
Within Ireland, journalism is suffering badly from budget cuts to staff, freelancers and
expenses so that they dont send them off to cover stories as much, etc. Science
journalism suffers in the same way. To an extent it has had a poor relationship with
most editors due to bias for politics, sport, etc.
However, one of the biggest issues facing science journalism, in addition to lack coverage, is
a lack of science journalists. Mr Trench, who is over the Science Communications course in
DCU said the situation here is like the situation stated in a paper from Norway 20 years ago:

45
We have science journalism, without science journalists... Its an interesting
comparison because it is a country with similar population, size, in Europe and
culturally strong. I think thats the situation we have in Ireland. There is a lot of
content about science but not necessarily done by science journalists.
If youre looking for Irish journalists reporting on science on a reasonably regular
basis, youll only find them around the science pages of the Irish Times.
Mr Enright also commented on the shortage of science journalists in Ireland, from his
viewpoint on the British Science Writers board:
I'm on the judging panel for the British Science Writers board... It's open to Irish
journalists also... I asked for a print out. There were four Irish Journalists who
applied. None of them made the shortlist versus hundreds in England.
As the panel is open to applicants in both Ireland and the UK, Mr Enright said it was
shocking that there was such a low level of applicants and must be indicative of the total
number of science journalists in Ireland.














46
Chapter 9
Conclusions & Recommendations


Internationally, scientists often say journalists misrepresent their findings and journalists
often say scientists are difficult to deal with and incomprehensible for a non-science audience
(Nelkin, 1995). However, a different ailment afflicts SJ in Ireland. Scientists say the
journalists they meet are by-and-large of a good quality and normally represent their work
well, as surveys and interviews have shown in Chapter 7: Quality of Reporting. Research
findings presented in this dissertation show that journalists are quite happy to interview Irish
researchers and go back to them to clarify an article if needs be.
Communications training is also available for both groups of professionals, who realise the
benefit it can provide, as is indicated by international literature (Kaye, 2011). However,
scientists feel there are other more important areas of work to concentrate on and that not
enough scientists take advantage of these training courses. Science journalists are largely
trained up in these specialist communications already with many either come from a science
background or have previously studied the MSc in Science Communications.
However, this research did not deal with many generalists and it is not certain how much
training or ability they have in dealing with scientists, though scientists interviewed for this
research say they are largely happy with their dealings with journalists. While there are a
large number of science journalists working in this country, many are working in PR and
science communications. There are very few dedicated science journalists which work in the
media.
One recommendation of this dissertation is that more scientists avail of the training available
or at least nominate a member of their lab or research group to partake in the training as
scientists themselves realise the differences in communications with journalists and the
benefits it can provide.

47
International criticisms of science journalism commentate that health and science stories are
often misrepresented or written in such a way as to be scaremongering (Iaboli et al., 2010,
Seale, 2002, Glassner, 1999), but this does not appear to be the case here. 85% of survey
respondents said their work had only been misrepresented 0-20% of the time by headlines or
editing. Scientists interviewed for this research also said they were mostly happy with science
coverage when it does appear in newspapers and outside of rare stories where articles are
misrepresented, the same holds true for their colleagues.
However, most experts have criticized the lack of depth and diversity in science journalism.
Scientists say that coverage is highly centralised around health and medicine and that outside
of a few major areas such as astrophysics, GMOs, GM crops and stem cells, coverage is
fairly scant. Power of science coverage can be seen in Chapter 6: Coverage & Diversity,
where Prof Lowndes made the point that GMOs and stem cells are banned from use in this
country due to the coverage they have received in the media, despite highly similar HEK
cells, which receive no coverage, being widely used. This stands in line with international
research which makes the point that articles cited by the New York Times receive more
citations and more funding as a result (Phillips et al., 1991).
Lack of diversity of coverage is certainly shown here in the amount of articles in the health
and foreign news sections of papers as shown in Chapter 6 and Charts 2-4, with the amount
of health articles in the Irish Independent often equalling the total of all other science articles.
Both scientists and journalists have also said that more comment is needed from Irish
researchers on international stories.
One area that Irish journalism seems to be doing well in, when compared with international
papers, is in the use of PR and sources. International research has shown that science
journalism is now often considered sensationalist PR regurgitation (Hyden, 2006), but this
does not appear to be the case here. Scientists said they use PR only as a way of
communicating and they are happy with it as long as it is benign and journalists similarly
said that it is useful in that it brings their attention to a good story. Surveys also showed that
science journalists always try to back up any PR information by at least going to the original
article, if not the original researcher.
The issues noted by Woloshin and Schwartz, such as PR having errors incorporated does not
appear to cause a major issue in science journalism, as all research suggests that journalists

48
back up a PR piece by going to the original article or source researchers (Woloshin and
Schwartz, 2002). However, several respondents have noted this is not always possible. It is
one recommendation of this researcher that a study of science articles in newspapers be
undertaken, to verify factual correctness and sources of articles which do go to print.

Lack of science in newspapers
The main problem shown by this research is the lack of science journalists and science
coverage in the Irish mainstream print media as interview evidence has shown in Chapter 8:
Absence of Science Coverage. The study of three newspapers for two weeks showed that
there is very little science coverage, even on a week with events such as the discovery of the
Higgs Boson (Chart 8; Appendix 2). The lowest amount of science articles in any newspaper
was 1.26% of total articles, in the Irish Examiner, up to a maximum of 3.87% in the Irish
Independent. However, this second figure also includes nearly two thirds of articles being
foreign or health related stories.
Several possible reasons were cited by interview and survey respondents as to why science
receives such little coverage in this country. One potential reason is a lack of potential ad
revenue science pages could generate. The model of science supplements established in The
New York Times in the late 1970s, due to a perceived and actual market for more advertising
and interested readership, was thought not to be possible here.
However, the more discussed reason appears to be a biased news desk, as interviews with
candidates have shown. Several candidates discussed during interviews that most of the news
desk have come from arts, sport or backgrounds in politics and have no appreciation for the
value of a science story. While it was not suggested they have agendas against science, they
are not thought to have any interest in science, which falls in line with theories in the current
literature: The people who run the media are humanities graduates with little understanding
of science, who wear their ignorance as a badge of honour (Goldacre, 2010).
It is widely held, as shown by both interviews and surveys, that in depth coverage in the Irish
print media exists in the Irish Times, which despite a few eccentricities is of a good standard,
diversity and coverage. The presence of a regular weekly science page is commended by both

49
scientists and journalists and more regular sections or pages like this would be of huge
benefit to the national science community in other newspapers.
This lack of coverage does not appear to be in line with the publics interest in science either.
Through anecdotal evidence such as the sale of popular science books, the popularity of the
Science Gallery and ESOF2012, the public appears to be interested in science. International
studies have also shown this (Commission, 2012, Journalism, 2012). This evidence is backed
up by research in this dissertation, with two thirds of survey respondents agreeing people are
always or often interested in reading about science and interview candidates discussing the
same. However, both scientists and journalists agreed that all people are not interested in the
hard science part of these stories and that the core story must be presented with an
appropriate hook to engage readers.
Education at Primary, Secondary and Third level may play a role in peoples interest in
science. Research has shown that attitudes to science are formed at an early age (Tai et al.,
2006) and several interview candidates here expressed that the divide they saw in the news
room goes back to the divide they saw in university. Several interview candidates also
expressed that these attitudes were formed at Primary and Secondary level first; they said
people who are now key decision makers received a very poor science education in school
and have no interest in science as a result. They also said that people in their 30s and 40s who
read newspapers also have little interest in science as a result.
Education at Primary and Secondary level may have an effect both in the public by bringing
in more readers and providing more news desk editors with an interest in science, allowing
more science stories to make it to print. It would be of huge benefit to the government, who
list it as a potential future area of growth, and to science as it may receive more funding and
more researchers. However, as education has improved hugely over the last two decades, we
may see these improvements coming soon. Further scholarly research should be carried out
into this area to study changes in the Primary and Secondary syllabi to ascertain what
changes these have had on attitudes and whether or not the governments drive for scientists
is working.
Lack of science journalists
In addition to a lack of coverage, there is also a lack of full time science journalists here.
There are only 20 members of the Irish Science and Technology Journalist Association of

50
Ireland (ISJA) and Mr Trench also confirmed there are very few people working exclusively
as science journalists. Many of the people who study the MSc in Science Communications do
not end up working as science journalists, but instead many go into PR. However, a lack of
dedicated SJs could be a good thing, research has shown. Regular science journalists can
build up a personal connection with scientists they often interact with and lose professional
distance, creating a conflict in editorial values as shown by interviews.
However, arguments have been made for-and-against dedicated science journalists. Mr
Trench, suggested that generalists covering a topic would know what they, and thus the
reader, doesnt understand and ask the correct questions as a result, but Mr Enright said
science journalists would know what areas they are unfamiliar with. Mr Ahlstrom also asserts
that science journalists would have an easier time of getting to grips with more specialist
topics.
Comparisons
Most of the criticisms levelled against science journalism in this study are directed away from
the Irish Times. Researchers, journalists and survey correspondents all felt it was of a higher
quality than other newspapers in terms of dedication to science, regularity and diversity of
topics covered.
The Irish Times is also thought to provide science coverage similar to other countries, where
coverage is thought to be more all encompassing and diverse. Other than the Irish Times
coverage in Ireland is considered worse than the UK and US, according to survey figures.
However, this may be due to larger populations or a greater potential for ad revenue.
However, as none of the respondents to surveys listed themselves as having worked for
tabloids, no generalists or journalists from tabloids were interviewed or surveyed for this
dissertation. Thus, it is unclear what their attitudes to science journalism are, and how
coverage appears in those papers. If generalist reporters for tabloids were interviewed, a
greater number of editing inaccuracies and misrepresentation by headlines, etc may have
occurred. Also, it has been commented by interview candidates that tabloids can cover a
wider range of topics and we may have seen the diversity of newspaper coverage increase. It
is unclear by this research whether specialist science journalists are better equipped to deal
with science over generalists. It is certain that times are becoming more difficult for

51
journalists and there is ever decreasing room for specialists as journalists must now be adept
in many areas.
Recommendations
One recommendation of this research would be to do a study into the impact of science
education in early life, especially at Primary and Secondary levels, on later attitudes to
science. Research data and also international studies suggest this does have a huge impact on
later attitudes, but no research on the matter has been carried out in Ireland. This could be of
huge benefit to interest in science and increase the levels of researchers and innovators being
generated by the state, which the government claims is needed for the future.
Conclusions
If this study looked at the quality of SJ in Ireland, it would conclude that despite international
trends in overreliance on PR and agenda journalism, it is of very good quality here, but the
majority is centred on the Irish Times. PR is not the issue here that it appears abroad. In this
country, the pool of potential scientists and research to write about is so small that science
journalists have an informal network with people and the PR only serves to highlight
journalists to a story.
If this study looked at the amount of science journalism here it would that science journalism
is given very little space in Irish newspapers and there are very few exclusive science
journalists working in this country.
Largely scientists and journalists are happy to deal with one another and many of both groups
avails of specialist communications courses. It also appears unfeasible that all journalists and
scientists receive this training but it would be hugely beneficial for both groups if every
newspaper or lab sent someone to receive this training.
Further scholarly research is needed into these areas, especially the quality of science
education in this country at Primary and Secondary level. In conclusion, the Irish public are
interested in reading about new scientific research and discoveries and the Irish mainstream
print media are currently lagging behind interest levels and should also look to cover wider
areas of science.


52
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54
Appendix 1
Survey on the Current State of
Science Journalism in Ireland
All questions are related to science coverage in the mainstream I rish Print Media.
1. How would you rate coverage in terms of diversity of areas covered?
1. Very Poor 2. Poor 3. Fair 4. Good 5. Very good
13.33% 13.33% 60% 13.33% 0%

2. How would you rate coverage in terms of number of articles published?
1. Very Poor 2. Poor 3. Fair 4. Good 5. Very good
20% 33.33% 46.67% 0% 0%

3. How many of your articles originate as Press Releases or other promotional material?
1. 0-20% 2. 20-40% 3. 40-60% 4. 60-80%; 5. 80-100%
26.67% 40% 20% 13.33% 0%

4. For how many of your articles do you back information up by going to the original
research articles/scientists?
1. 0-20% 2. 20-40% 3. 40-60% 4. 60-80%; 5. 80-100%
0% 6.67% 20% 13.33% 60%

5. How many of your articles do you allow a scientist to read, before publishing, to
check the science facts are accurate?
1. 0-20% 2. 20-40% 3. 40-60% 4. 60-80%; 5. 80-100%
64.29% 0% 21.43% 0% 14.29%

55
6. Would you do this if it was feasible, time wise?
1. Never 2. Rarely 3. Sometimes 4. Often 5. Always
6.67% 33.33% 26.67% 20% 13.33%

7. Do you think editors and sub-editors can accurately and competently edit science
articles?
1. Never 2. Rarely 3. Sometimes 4. Often 5. Always
0% 0% 64.29% 35.71% 0%

8. Have editors or sub-editors misrepresented a story by changing the headline, content,
etc of many of your articles?
1. 0-20% 2. 20-40% 3. 40-60% 4. 60-80%; 5. 80-100%
85.74% 14.29% 0% 0% 0%

9. Is (science) education (at Primary, secondary and third level) partly to blame for any
problems which may exist in the wider science journalism in Ireland?
1. Strongly
Disagree
2. Disagree 3. No Opinion 4. Agree 5. Strongly agree
14.29% 21.43% 28.57% 35.71% 0%

10. Are people without a science education interested in reading about science?
1. Never 2. Rarely 3. Sometimes 4. Often 5. Always
6.67% 33.33% 13.33% 60% 6.67%



56
11. If not, is this due to (science) education in the Ireland (at Primary, Secondary and
Third level)?
1. Strongly
Disagree
2. Disagree 3. No Opinion 4. Agree 5. Strongly agree
13.33% 20% 60% 6.67% 0%


12. Are peoples attitudes to science formed at Primary and Secondary level, in your
opinion?
1. Strongly
Disagree
2. Disagree 3. No Opinion 4. Agree 5. Strongly agree
05 50% 0% 35.71% 14.29%


13. Have you received any training (or educational background related to science) in how
to communicate science for a non-specialist media?
5 Respondents MSc Science Communications
7 Respondents None
3 Respondents Specialist training as part of journalism course

14. Do/Would you try to show more scientific findings from Irish institutions?
1. Never 2. Rarely 3. Sometimes 4. Often 5. Always
0% 0% 20% 46.67% 33.33%

15. Is there more foreign science covered over Irish science research?
1. Strongly
Disagree
2. Disagree 3. No Opinion 4. Agree 5. Strongly agree
0% 53.33% 20% 20% 6.67%

16. Do you think science stories are misrepresented in newspapers?
1. Never 2. Rarely 3. Sometimes 4. Often 5. Always
0% 13.33% 66.67% 20% 0%

57
17. How would you compare coverage in Ireland with the US and UK?
1. Very Poor 2. Poor 3. About the same 4. Good 5. Very good
13.33% 73.33% 13.33% 0% 0%

18. How would you compare coverage in the Irish Times to other Irish Newspapers?
1. Very Poor 2. Poor 3. About the same 4. Good 5. Very good
0% 6.67% 6.67% 73.33% 13.33%


















58
Appendix 2
Newspaper study results
Irish Independent: 2-6 July, 2012
Monday 2/7/2012
1. Gout warning over foodstuffs rests in purines
a. Health & Living; Eilish ORegan
Tuesday 3/7/2012
--
Wednesday 4/7/2012
1. Higgs scientist near end of hunt for fabled God Particle
a. World News; John von Radowtiz
2. Scientists develop marijuana that wont make you high
a. World News; Maayan Lubell (in Israel)
Thursday 5/7012
1. Questions answered on life, the universe and everything
a. Comment; Chris Wickham
2. Mind was out over matter as God Particle within our grasp
a. World News; John von Radowitz
3. After 48 long years, science world has finally seen the light
a. World News; Nick Collins (in Geneva)
4. Women to have babies in old age after breakthrough
a. World News (Daily Telegraph, London); Stephen Adams
Friday 6/7/2012
1. Make a beeline to this world of science
a. News; Mark ORegan
2. Japanese nuclear disaster was man-made, says study
a. World News; Martin Foster (in Tokyo)

Irish Independent: 13-17 August, 2012
Monday 13/8/2012
1. Scientists probe genetic link to diabetes
a. World News; John von Radowitz
2. Depression can shrink the brain, study finds
a. World News; John von Radowitz
3. Is working up to the due date bad for your body?
a. Health & Living; Eilish ORegan
4. What the research revealed

59
a. World News; Geraldine Lynagh
5. Entertainers need not suffer for their art
a. Health & Living; Eilish ORegan
6. The fine line between sunshine and its risks
a. Health & Living; Eilish ORegan
7. Whooping cough on the rise
a. Health & Living; Eilish ORegan
8. Health risks the risky lives of night owls & why bitter is better
a. Health & Living; Eilish ORegan
9. How animal kingdoms put even Bolt in the shade
a. Health & Living; Eilish ORegan
10. GM potatoes a blight on our green initiative
a. Health & Living; Michael Kelly
Tuesday 14/8/2012
1. Daily dose of cocoa may boost brain in old age
a. World News; John von Radowitz
2. Contagious fears after bird flu death
a. World News; In brief
3. Nice try Android but in the battle of tablets, Apple is still winning
a. Living Digital Life; Ronan Price
4. Sprouting risk as rain continues
a. News Farming; Catriona Murphy
5. Wet summer has left farm prone to disease
a. News Farming; Catriona Murphy
Wednesday 15/8/2012
--
Thursday 16/8/2012
1. Alcohol pushes up suicide rates in teenagers
a. News; Allison Bray
2. Chemical in plastic containers raises heart attack risks
a. World News; John von Radowitz
3. Going nutty for walnuts boosts mens fertility
a. World News; John von Radowitz
4. The truth about avoiding cancer
a. Living & Leisure; Chrissie Russell
Friday 17/8/2012
1. Champagne season loses its fizz with rain and mildew
a. World News; Henry Samuel (Daily Telegraph, London)
2. Water supply restored after bacteria scare
a. News; Allison Bray



60
Irish Times: 2-6 July, 2012
Monday 2/7/2012
1. Stem cell leaders to meet in NUIG
a. Home News; Lorna Siggins
2. Showcasing the best of Irish food science
a. Home News; Dick Ahlstrom
Tuesday 3/7/2012
1. Irish research puts low folic acid link to cleft palate beyond all doubt
a. Home News; Muiris Houston
2. Popeye was right spinach makes you stronger
a. Health News; Isabel Conway
Wednesday 4/7/2012
1. World waits for revelation of God Particle by Cern today
a. Home News; Dick Ahlstrom
Thursday 5/7012
1. Scientific breakthrough: Discovery believed to be the elusive God particle
a. News; Dick Ahlstrom
2. Physicists discover new fundamental particle, likely to be the Higgs Boson
a. News; Dick Ahlstrom
3. Breakthrough: The Irish connection
a. News; Dick Ahlstrom
4. Q & A (on Higgs Boson)
a. News; Dick Ahlstrom
5. Those who had faith in God Particle are finally rewarded
a. News; Dick Ahlstrom
6. The great Irish mammal watch
a. Science Today; Anthony King
7. Wood mouse and pygmy shrew under pressure from non-native rodents
a. Science Today; Anthony King
8. Why poor will pay for fatter world
a. Science Today; William Reville
9. No scientific evidence showing organic is better
a. Opinion; Mike Gibney
Friday 6/7/2012
1. Irish maths and science numbers no joke for comic
a. News; Dick Ahlstrom and Aishling Phelan
2. An Irishmans Diary (On Higgs Boson
a. Comments & Letters; Frank McNally




61
Irish Times: 13-17 August, 2012
Monday 13/8/2012
1. Running on Plenty: Were dead certain that running is good for you
a. Body & Sole; Carl OBrien
2. Technology
a. Innovation; Dick Ahlstrom
3. Technology
a. Innovation; Dick Ahlstrom
4. Breakthroughs for better bones
a. Innovation; Claire OConnell
5. Reaping the rewards of wind power
a. Innovation; Ronan McGreavy
Tuesday 14/8/2012
1. Green movement needs to embrace nuclear energy
a. Opinion; David Robert Grimes
2. Microgene discovery may refine cancer screening
a. HealthPlus; Lorna Siggins
3. Climate change
a. Health Briefing
Wednesday 15/8/2012
1. New thinking needed to promote active ageing
a. Opinion & Analysis; Anna Connolly
Thursday 16/8/2012
1. Jet stream to blame for cool, damp summer
a. Home News; Dick Ahlstrom
2. When the sleeping giants wake
a. Science Today; Anthony King
3. Why does the return journey feel quicker
a. Science Today; William Reville
Friday 17/8/2012
--

Irish Examiner: 2-6 July, 2012
Monday 2/7/2012
1. Alzheimers study finds inflammation likely cause
a. News; John von Radowitz
2. Dramatic shift to herbal cannabis
a. News; Cormac O Keefe
Tuesday 3/7/2012
1. US teens suffer explosive fury
a. World News; sidebar

62
2. Evidence of elusive God Particle found
a. World News; John Heilprin
Wednesday 4/7/2012
--
Thursday 5/7012
1. Discovery signals momentous day for science
a. News; John von Radowtiz
Friday 6/7/2012
1. Woman took diet tablets in month before her death
a. News; Eoin English

Irish Examiner: 13-17 August, 2012
Monday 13/8/2012
--
Tuesday 14/8/2012
1. Implants raise hope of restoring eyesight
a. News; John von Radowitz
2. Cocoa benefits
a. News; sidebar
3. Bird flu death
a. News; sidebar
4. Games of life and death
a. Analysis; Becky Oskin
5. From sci-fi to reality
a. Feature; John Hearn
Wednesday 15/8/2012
1. Three years to replace fish after revier spill
a. News; Claire OSullivan
2. Healthy eating
a. News; sidebar
Thursday 16/8/2012
1. Curiosity maps Martian route
a. News; sidebar
2. India to send spacecraft to Mars next year
a. News; --
3. Its official: men objectify women and so do women
a. News; --
Friday 17/8/2012
1. Worst breeding summer as birds abandon nests
a. News; Lynne Kelleher

63
Appendix 3
Interview Transcripts
Section1: Journalist Interviews

Interview with Dick Ahlstrom

1. How would you rate coverage of science in Ireland (specifically the mainstream
Irish Print Media), in terms of diversity and number of articles?
Its not good; its not right actually. The Irish Times (IT) is the only newspaper with a
fulltime science reporter. The Irish Independent should definitely have one given the number
of subjects that could be written about including environment, biodiversity and climate
change: its not as though theres a lack of news in the science area generally but its bad that
big outlets like that dont have science reporters, because these are important stories, these
are important issues. Quality of air, quality of water: things like that are important.
The periodicals are better, such as Technology Ireland and ScienceSpin that are there for
people who are interested in science as a broader subject than just news. So you have to think
in one way in terms of news delivery as opposed to news feature delivery. And because they
are periodicals and come out monthly and wont be delivering news as regularly as
newspapers or the broadcast would.
So, overall I would say the picture is not good simply because there are too many gaps. The
best selling tabloids should all have local reporters; what they tend to do is take their own
science reporters because all of the London versions have science reporters, the Sun, the Star
and the Mail have science reporters or people designated to cover science. But it doesnt
occur here, that I know of and the biggest gap is the Irish Independent. The Independent is
the biggest selling paper so it gets more eyes than anybody else in print and yet they dont see
fit to have one. So I think thats a kind of failure on their part, given again the number of
issues you might want to put a specialist reporter in: nuclear power, Fukishima, climate
change generally is a big issue.
Brian Trench did a good study, when he was in DCU, looking at science coverage generally
and looking for stories which got into any newspaper that was sold in Ireland. You would
assume there is not a lot of coverage but in fact there is way more coverage than you would
realise due to the fact that everyone has access to wire stories, which they are all running. So
the Independent for example takes wires from the London Times and the London
Independent. The tabloids use their own guys who can file from London. If the story becomes
political (say political climate change, etc.) then their political correspondents will cover the
story. So you might find that if the EPA hops on the government for not doing enough on
climate change there will be a story, it wont be looking at it from a science perspective but it
will be looking at climate change through a political filter.

64
To a certain extent it takes some control away from us, because if you are relying on wires
only then its harder to react effectively on the ground. My view, because I have always
worked on the news desk is that a good general reporter should always be able to get a story
for you no matter what the issue and it doesnt matter if its about science or not. If theyre
good general reporters then theyll keep asking questions until they get what they need. So
its not essential that you bring a lot of technological knowledge to the story, but it is hugely
helpful. For example if you sent a general reporter to cover the Higgs Boson there would be a
steep learning curve compared to someone who has previously covered it, who would also
know what is important and should I cover it or not. No matter what are its in, specialist
correspondents bring more to an area because theyll ask the right questions and if you dont
have these people available to you then you are taking somebody elses copy; though this
isnt always a problem. However, if you have someone Irish covering a story they are able to
give you the Irish perspective on a story.

2. What are your and others main sources for science news?
It varies. The universities are far more tuned up since SFI, from 2000 on. They are much
tuned into the need to get their stories out and to show that they are doing something
valuable, due to taxpayer funding from the state and thats a good thing, but everyone is
conscience of the PR behind it. For example, you have decrepit schools and money is not
being put into them, but in the meantime you say one billion is being spent on researching
things like the Higgs Boson (HB), people wont be happy. So there is always this tussle for
money and the way to justify the spend is to show that something important and valuable is
coming out of it.
Luckily this has proven to be the case, it turns out that 50% of the foreign direct investment
were getting these days has a science edge. Many of the companies coming in want to be
here because we have a science reputation and want access to scientists, but also to
universities doing research and thats valuable for foreign direct investment and thats
valuable for our reputation abroad.
Other sources would be the wire services, which alert you to stories coming from the UK, and
wider afield, like Fukishima. It was a little bit navel gazing to run a story saying Fukishima
radiation fall out is going to come here, but it was significant if you lived near Fukishima.
There are various other types of specialist sources you can get and people pushing out news
over websites and things like that.

3. How many science articles originate as press releases or from promotional
material?
a. And compared with other branches of journalism?
They get them from wires, PR and lots of sources. The PR people wont have a science story
to spin unless it is a commercial story, which you probably wouldnt be interested in and it
would be diverted off the business pages anyway. But the PR companies are also working for
universities and they have their own in house PR and they want to get their stories out, so
theyll issue releases. All of the universities are issuing releases and saying theyve got this
interesting research thats going into some publication thats important and going out today,
for example. Then its up to the newspaper or the media to decide if everything is in the press

65
release and that is all theyre going to do, or are they going to look for the original paper in
Nature or wherever and talk to the researchers and find out what theyve done.
For me, if it was for the paper, as a matter of course I would have to talk to the researchers
and get them to explain the research to me. Its not the same in other papers because they are
not running these stories, which is the real problem. For example, an interesting story from
Galway about plankton acting as a carbon sink in the ocean was featured in Nature but due to
pressure on me I cant get the story turned in time, and something shorter may be featured in
the web. Some of the stories arent essential to run, but it is essential to show that this is the
type of research being done and they have a reputation in the area.
When the science page started my ulterior motive was to convince people that science took
place here; the assumption was we had none and we have very good researchers, greatly
improved with investment, but there nonetheless. And it is valuable to the taxpayer to show
this is where money is being spent and its producing a value to the state, and thats why
other media should do it too.
You can also use it to attack the government and policy makers, for example if the EPA isnt
doing their job, or the EPA is going after the government for not doing their job or the
commission gets annoyed with Irish government yet again over water quality or pollution. All
of these stories have an Irish dimension to them that a science, food or environment specialist
could be writing about. Theres lots of different ways to be approaching science in the media.

4. Who is your main readership for the IT science page?
For the IT as near as I can tell form response and letters, because there has never been any
hard marketing research into it, a lot of scientists, science teachers and people with general
interest in science read it. Ive gotten nice letters in over the years from people saying Were
not scientists but we love to read the science page and find the research and discoveries that
are being made are intriguing. And thats what you hope for; the highest accolade is to have
general readers reading and understanding it, or being able to write something they feel
comfortable reading in it. For example the front page HB story had no technology in it but a
lot of people read it and responded to it and understood the weight and importance of the
story without having any technology in the piece.
But in terms of other media, if youre not filing the stories then youre not letting other
readers know about the story and youre not reaching anyone then, unless its an incredibly
interested story like drilling down to a lake under the Arctic which hasnt been seen in
thousands of years. Or how they saved the Leaning Tower of Pizza from falling over its
interesting because of the engineering that went into that. It was ideal because you could
show lots of pictures and an interesting story.
Everyone knows about the HB by the inappropriately given name, The God Particle, but its
now shorthand for the public to know what you are talking about. They still have no clue
what it is but they fell they understand it. That story was big but what they used to discover it
was inherently interesting because it is a huge 4 billion machine, and it could make a story
that anyone would read.
Or naturally history is always interesting for readers. For example if there is a story about
how the grey squirrel is pushing out the red squirrel, you can have lots of nice pictures but

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still talk about something important. People tend to like those stories, and thats why [David]
Attenborough was so successful. But getting stories out is down to the media.

5. Do you think people without a science background are interested in reading
about science?
a. If not, is (science) education at fault for peoples lack of interest in
science?
In one way, people are sometimes demanding too much of a subject in the newspaper. Say
deep economics, we have real expertise in here in economics and why its important, but if
you dont care about the issue then you may not read it. If you do read it you may learn
something, but I dont think people are reading the paper as deeply as they did. Say a lot of
the specialist court reporting may or may not be read by the general public if the case is
interesting, but the legal profession certainly reads it.
Economists read the IT, it has the biggest the percentage of readers for economics and
finance, but the science section is another one which may not be read. The challenge for me
is to either come up with subject matter inherently interesting to the public or else stories that
are attractive at the top to coax people to read. Its not necessarily a failing of science
teaching, but of what people are interested in, that science, the law and economics are
minority sports. These are all specialist areas the IT covers to have a thoroughness of
coverage, though they may not attract every reader. People make their reading choices based
on what they are interested in or what you can convince them to be interested in. Its a matter
of how you write your stories or what you have to tell people. Though science teaching is
crucial and maybe we are not teaching it well and so fewer people are interested than should
be interested, but its still down to what a person wants to read.

6. Is (science) education partly to blame for any problems which may exist in
science journalism in Ireland?
Thats back to other things. The news section of the paper is managed and monitored by
people on the news desk, which is where decisions are made about what we want to see put
into the paper in the next day and what is most important. Now if you have someone on the
news desk who is interested in science then they will see the importance of a story and the
value of getting them in. But if they lack interest in science or dont see a story as important,
even if a scientist thought otherwise, it wont get into the paper. An area on a particular day
may say a political story is more important than a science story.
Those decisions are made every day and are one of the most crucial parts of what gets in and
what gets jettisoned. Theres never enough space and aside from that, a story which interests
me because of high science content may not interest other people. And I know for a fact that
many news desks arent interested in science but know that some stories are important and
will get some of it in.
In a place like the Indo for example, there is no one championing science and I know in the
press some people were trying to submit stories but they never got in because no one gave a
damn about science, so its a complicated system. So you then can say if the news desk
represents the ordinary people in Ireland, perhaps its a failing of science teaching if they
dont automatically recognise the importance of a science story, but maybe thats my own

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prejudiced view because I see the importance and they dont. But Ill keep trying to put
stories forward for the science page even if they cant make it on to the homepage; sometimes
the innovation and business pages will take them. So there are lots of different pages they can
go to.

7. Have you received any training in how to communicate with non-specialist
media?
a. Are you aware of any of your colleagues that have?
Not me. I had a background in science; I spent two and a half years studying science then
switched to literature so I had a good sense of the workings of the scientific method. And
when I started writing about computers back in the 1980s, it was assumed that if I knew
something about computers I must know something about science. So I received no formal
training in this, unless you count the two and a half years studying science. But nowadays
people can get formal training, like the Science Communications course in DCU and in the
UK.
A lot of people who were interested in science journalism either moved to places where there
is an outlet for it or gave up, as one journalist I know did. There arent many journalist posts
around at the moment that you can leave to go elsewhere, so it is a matter of practicality as
well. But if you are really mad to write science then you might find somewhere else to write
the story.

8. Do you think there is more scientific news from abroad than Irish institutions?
a. Should there be more from Irish institutions?
A lot of the strongest stories come out of the main journals, like Nature and New Scientist,
BMJ. These are premier journals and if you can get in there it shows youve done good
research. So if you are hearing about these through the wires its an interesting story. For that
reason, a lot of the strongest stories originate from abroad, if only from the nature of abroad.
A lot of the Irish research is getting into these journals which means it warrants coverage
here. But a lot of foreign research and news is seen because it is arising somewhere else. But
if you look you can find the Irish connection, like Irish researchers working on the HB, but
you need a specialist reporter to know about this connection. RT heard about it because they
read it in the IT.

9. Are sub-editors/senior editors able to fully understand science terms and
meanings they may be checking/changing?
I think a good sub-editor can edit anything. If you think of the specialist lingo in economics
they can deal with, the same applies to science. When times were better there were resources
available for specialist subs for sport, foreign, economics, etc, but now weve had to
amalgamate these and a good sub-editor should be able to handle anything. Its the clarity of
language a sub should be able to understand a story. The same is true in political and
financial reporting. If you change these subtle words it can change the whole meaning of a
piece, its the same in science. If they dont understand something, they might call the
reporter up and say what is this?

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Unfortunately one headline was put in during ESOF, that wasnt accurate. It said that we are
spending 3.5 billion is being spent on research, when we are trying to save 8 billion. It
should have stood out a mile but it didnt. The biggest errors are often caused by haste at the
end of the day. But it just shows everyone has to be careful. If they are not sure they should
call the journalist. But I am writing for the readers, so if I have written something the subs
wont understand, the readers wont understand either. If subs dont understand, the readers
wont understand and in that circumstance you have to do a rewrite.
10. Are Irish journalists able to go back to original sources after PR?
When the IT decided to have a full time science core in 1986, it was the first time the paper
had it. There had been technology reporters such as a Dick Hogan and he was dealing with
things like Marine, Engineering and Construction, but the assumption was that science wasnt
happening here so there was no need to have science reporters.
In the late and mid 70s we had Roy Johnston who was interested in science and is still trying
to write about science, who was writing about science in a column. As far as I know, he was
the first manifestation of science without technology in the country. It went on until the
1980s, but we had no direct coverage until 1986.
However, the turning point for the science section was when Chernobyl blew up in April
1986, and the place was scattered with science, form the nuclear side. It was perfectly timed
as it meant I hit the ground running in September when the science section began, and there
was still plenty to write about. At that point we had become sensitised to nuclear stories, and
within two weeks of my employment we had some very big stories about nuclear leakages
from Wales, which meant I was writing front page stories from science, which nobody
thought would arise.

11. Do any major areas or themes receive more coverage than they should and any
concluding remarks?
Not more than they should. News is battling against news so if there was a medical scare
story it would be everywhere, and it has science elements to it. Unless you have a dedicated
health or scientific core a general reporter will write it, depending on what they are in to. But
news fights against news for space, so if it is a good story it will get again. Newspapers are
for the general readers and what interests them.
Things like Radon scares in homes become big stories, because they are important enough for
people to be interested in, whether or not they have science in them. The science reporter has
to be scrupulous with what they write, in the same was as political or financial reporters must
be. Its wrong if a reporter gets a hold of a story, such as the MMR vaccine story which
thought it would cause autism. You will always find people who campaign against a
technology and even after MMR was proven fine there were still lobbies trying to convince
people not to get the vaccine and they were based on spurious science. They shouldnt be
given equal weight in a story and if they must be put in, should be put down the bottom of the
story. When experts are quoted it should be mentioned that they cant commentate from a
position of authority.
You have to be careful if you are one of these journalists. You dont want to write
sensationalist news because you will have no reputation and if you are balanced with the
science and treat it fairly the scientists will give you more stories. The Mail in the UK for

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example is famous for curing cancer every other week, as people are interested in these areas
they report on them. You have to ask are they being mischievous with the good science or
trying to report on the work that is being done, well maybe its a little of both. But if you
write absolute tripe science about aliens landing in Norfolk for example, youll burn up your
reputation.


Interview with Leo Enright
When I was a science student back in DIT in the 1970s I was in the science block. By and
large most of the people in positions of authority in RTE today were contemporaries of mine
in UCD and most of them were in the Arts Block. In fact, all of them were in the arts block.
So the effect of that in UCD was an active antagonism between the Science Block and the
Arts Block.
Now, I was unusual because I spent an awful lot of time in the bar in UCD which was very
unusual for a science student. Most students in science were too busy studying to be going to
the pub. My interest was more in student politics and what was going on; I was in the
Students Union. So I actually got to know these people whereas most of my colleagues in the
science block never met these people and these people never met them. And so there was a
huge gulf in those days between the Arts block and the Science block and I see that today, 40
years later, in the gulf between the scientists of my day who are all mow senior people and
the arts block people of my generation who are now many of the senior people in RTE and
the newspapers. I trace this gulf back to my experiences.
I was unusual in the Science block in that I was involved whereas most of the people in the
Science block weren't involved and really did not know the people who became the
gatekeepers of journalism. I think that's one of the factors, whether its big or small I do not
know but it always strikes me when I see somebody from RTE being interviewed on RTE
policy and I realise hey, I was in college with her! And they were always in the Arts block.
So I do see that in their attitude to Science. You have to look at the roots of this and I think
they're very deep. I think it's a big problem.
I was involved in trying to promote Science alongside working in Science but Ive been
active in terms of the governments motion of science and Discover Science and Engineering
Programme for many years. Ive spent hours talking to people and editors in RTE and
elsewhere and it's just not possible to get across to them the importance of science in Irish
society. They're just not interested. And that message of course filters down to the staff. RTE
is a particular problem I think, although all of the newspapers outside of the Irish Times have
limited coverage of Science.
Another area where there is a real problem, and I've raised this recently at a talk I gave at
DIT, is I know DCU has a Science Communication course but I do think there's a need for
science faculties to have a public outreach module in their teaching, and I would include
engineering in that. Science faculties and engineering faculties really do need this badly. So
that scientists and engineers we produce understand journalism which is increasingly
important. People who best represent science as far as I'm concerned and who write best
about it in my opinion are the scientists themselves and I really think we need to work very

70
hard at that. And the other thing I think we need is to give science talks in Journalism
College. There is a noticeable lack of science contact when you consider the importance of
science in modern life. It is a serious problem. It's not happening.

1. How would you rate coverage of science in Ireland, in terms of diversity number
of articles?
Very low, in all of them. I'm on the judging panel for the British Science Writers board and
before I met you I went out of my way so see how many Irish journalists entered. It's open to
Irish journalists also. We're actually presenting the award on Monday and I asked for a print
out. There were four Irish Journalists who applied. None of them made the shortlist versus
hundreds in England. Im having a meeting next week with the science writers association to
see how we could maybe increase the number of Irish scientists applying. But it's very
difficult. The fact there are only four Irish entries is shocking.
Speaking of Irish journalism here, I'm not talking about blogs. One area where people do
make a living and are doing good work is people hired by colleges and institutes to do
science outreach. And I'd like to separate these.

2. What is the quality of science journalism in Ireland in terms of accuracy and
errors?
Very mediocre is the word I would use. It's derivative. There's little enough effort to expand
the breadth of enquiry. It tends to be an interview with a scientist in her laboratory. You don't
see the sort of innovation that you get internationally where good science journalists tend to
as a matter of course go to people who are active in a field but independently looking at
work. That would be one of the most glaring examples of what makes me think it's mediocre.
There isn't a tradition of expanding the enquiry beyond the specific which I think is a serious
weakness.

3. Are you aware of any of any stories which have been misrepresented in
newspapers?
Well, yes. I see it all the time. I dont want to launch attacks on individuals or individual
papers but Ive seen incredible stuff that is given prominence in papers because the Editor
doesnt know any better. Theres clearly no back-checking going on and thats a problem
with Irish journalism in general. Back checking is very poor. We dont have the American
tradition of rigorous back-checking of stories. It should be part of the journalistic mechanism;
it is a part of the scientific mechanism.

4. How many of your science articles originate as press releases or from
promotional material?

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A large amount of it originates from press release, which is not always bad. There is a good
penetration by University press offices into the tabloid mediator. They have quite
successfully tapped into that market. Often you can pick up tabloid newspaper to find science
stories handled quite well. Im not saying theyre excellent but there are some encouraging
signs among the plethora of tabloid papers and I include evening newspapers in that. Ive
been quite impressed by the way they pick up science stories. I think its partly the way in
which they like to flatter the readers and themselves by being interested in more than just the
tabloid trivia. I have been approached by tabloid editors. Its not an area that Im personally
and particularly interested in but by the genuine enthusiasm there appears to be in the higher
editorial regions of some of the papers, they are interested in science stories.
The sort of stuff they want isnt my cup of tea but I can see that is an area where younger
journalists could be looking at more closely. Never underestimate the value of reaching the
tabloid audience. I learnt my journalism from the Daily Mirror because the quality of writing
in the Daily Mirror in the 1960s and 70s was condensed down to the absolute essence so
they had to write it extremely well. Thats still something the tabloids do very effectively;
concepts down to the very basics. Its an area which is probably ripe for progress.

5. Have you ever considered a peer review approach to science journalism?
Its difficult to see how that would work in practice. It is certainly something that has crossed
my mind. One possible mechanism I have thought about in my official capacity involved in
promoting science in Ireland is some kind of a hotline that journalists can turn to. Thats
something that has crossed my mind. But how it would work and all of the details I have not
really examined. There is an unspoken difference between Science journalism and other types
of journalism where its widely accepted that if youre writing about a difficult subject area
that it is acceptable to send some parts of the article, the sections that relate to the Science, to
the researchers involved for comment on the accuracy of the content. As a newsman first and
foremost I think its something that can be considered and can be done with care.
a. Do you think many journalists will not want someone to check their
article?
Dedicated science journalists will know what they dont know. They would have a pretty
good idea when they are sailing in dangerous territory, whereas with the general reporter
there is the unknown-unknown. They dont know what they dont know and so they may start
thinking they understand something when they have completely missed it.

6. Do you ever back information up by going to the original articles/scientists? Do
you read the articles published and corroborate the facts and meanings
themselves? Are you aware if sub/editors take a contextual look at the words
they are changing/ have been written?
No, I dont think that personally I have done it that I can recall. The real way to avoid having
to do it is to make sure you ask the right questions and you clarify with your questioning what
the concepts are.

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Most of the stuff that I write comes from the press agency. I do go back to the original paper.
I would not write something unless I had read the original paper. I wouldnt rely on a press
Officers interpretation of what the paper is saying. They draw my attention to it but I would
then go back to the original paper.
Do you have a Science Education?
I never completed my degree, I didnt finish the course. I was offered a job and in those days
you took it. I did two years of a degree.

7. Have you received any training in how to communicate with non-specialist
media?
Yes, Ive done some over the years. I do think its very important to refresh yourself. I have
done a number of courses although none in the immediate past. I spent six months in a marine
biology lab in Massachusetts doing molecular biology. I had no background in Biology. I did
Physics, Chemistry and Geography and my Biology was weak and needed a brush-up.

8. Do you think science research in Ireland does receive enough coverage or does it
need more coverage
It doesnt receive anything it deserves.
I think it goes back to prejudice on the part of editors. This feeds back to the newsroom and
contaminated the whole system. Fear of the unknown is another major part of it. Prejudice is
probable a very strong word; fear of the unknown leads to a prejudice of sorts.

9. Is there a particular medical case where misinformation has caused a scare/false
hope among people?
Science has huge implications for society and clearly misrepresentations of science can have
a profound effect on policy. I cant think of a particular example that is uniquely Irish but I
can think of the MMR vaccine, as an example. A lot of the controversies in Britain, fuelled
by agenda journalism, have effect here. If we had a more robust system here it would have a
less adverse effect.

10. Is it difficult to get a story published or broadcasted in Ireland?
The problem with the Irish Times is its a minority newspaper. Its not the biggest selling
newspaper in the country by a long shot. One of the problems is scientists are delighted to
have their stuff reported in the Irish Times and as far as they are concerned, that as long as it
is in the Irish Times they are happy. Thats a problem. The Irish Times are supportive of
Science in Ireland. This is a problem because the scientists theyre reporting on consider they
have done their duty by getting themselves mentioned in the Irish Times. Once it appears

73
there thats the journalist box ticked as far as a lot of researchers are concerned. In terms of
placing stuff outside the Irish Times its very difficult.
Its striking how the publics imagination has been fired by the Higgs-Boson. I cant explain
why there is a public appetite for this. So you can place a story about the Higgs Boson but
you cant place a story about, in many ways, more relevant science. I cant explain this.

11. What is your opinion of science journalism in Ireland currently?
The first science journalist in the world was Agnus Mary Clarke from Cork. The economic
situation is the biggest concern. Editors have shown scant regard up to now; my worry is
theyll show even less interest in time to come because of money and costs of science
journalism. People need time to research their science story. If I was to find a solution to that
problem I would look at some mechanism for including within the funding of science in
Ireland a fund to promote a position of science journalism in the country that would provide a
bursary for journalists to take time off from the grind to do science journalism - the Clark
bursary perhaps. Priorities get in the way.
Ireland isnt the only country with this problem. France, Germany Britain and some of the
Scandinavian countries have good coverage but a lot of the countries in Europe have similar
problems as us. This is to do not just with prejudice of Editors but resources that are needed
to do good science journalisms. Its not realistic to expect journalists to incur a huge extra
expense

12. Have you any concluding remarks?
Ive said all I need to say. I think there needs to be an effort by organisations in this country
to promote scientific research. They need to do a great deal more to improve the ecosystem
for science journalisms in Ireland. We need to do something very drastic to improve it. I think
thats the responsibility of the agencies that are spending vast amounts of the taxpayers
money on research and doing a poor job of promoting vital and vibrant science journalism in
the country.
Its ironic that the first science journalist in the world was Irish. It is really rather sad that 150
years later science journalism is in such a poor state.







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Interview Questions for Anna Nolan

1. How would you rate coverage of science in Ireland (specifically the mainstream
Irish Print Media), in terms of diversity and number of articles?
I rate it a bit mixed. I think the IT has to be the leader in the print, in the sense that as well as
having the Thursday science section, Dick Ahlstrom does many stories in the general news
and in the monthly innovation and business supplement. Its also critiqued here, which is
widely missing.
When it comes to the magazines, Science Spin, which appears every two months, has quite a
variety of topics and news and is well presented.
In other newspapers, The Indo sometimes has science supplements for school children,
though it does not have science supplements for adults. There are some stories in general
news but it is not as good as in the IT.
There is not enough coverage, diversity and criticism. There is a lot of reporting of
discoveries but in my opinion there is not enough analysis and criticism of research. There is
for example in genetically modified (GM) crops, but not enough criticism in general.

2. What are your main sources for science news?
a. How much are press releases used as sources?
I suppose my main sources are the Scientists themselves. Secondly, newsletters and press
lists from a variety of science establishments and abroad. My third area of sources are
magazines such as New Scientist and Nature magazine.
For me, I use very little PR material; I only use a press release as a source if I trying to gather
larger information about a story as once a PR piece has gone out, it is no longer news.

3. What is your background and have you any science education?
I have a BSc in Physics and Maths and, from Open University, an MSc in Science, which was
about the study of science in society and how science is communicated.

4. Have you received any training in how to communicate with non-specialist
media?
I started in sub-editing for metallurgy, engineering and nuclear journals and received a lot of
specific training there and have lots of in-house training.

75
I have studied science communications for a fortnight in Bell, London, as a fulltime course. I
studied another two week course with the industrial society in London. After I came back to
Ireland, I did a Diploma in Media Studies. Then I did the MSc from Open University and
recently did a course with the IT, which was a FETAC level 5 course in Print Journalism with
the IT.
a. Are you aware of any of your colleagues that have?
Yes, a lot of my colleagues did the Masters in Science Communications in DCU and many
did the MA in Journalism in DCU.
One of the most successful science journalists was Brian Trench, who has an arts degree and
no formal course in science communications, and I think he is one of the best science
journalists going. He was an extremely good journalist before he went into science journalism
and that is why he is such a good science journalist.

5. Do you ever back information up by going to the original articles/scientists?
Yes, almost always.

6. Is (science) education partly to blame for any problems which may exist in
science journalism in Ireland?
Yes, I think it is. Certainly in previous times, it may have changed lately, a lot of the
commissioning editors in news papers, in general, would not have studied science for the LC
or above and would have therefore had a bias to sports, politics, the arts, etc and would have
found science less interesting. Therefore they were less open to science stories.

7. Do you think people without a science background are interested in reading
about science?
Yes I certainly do think they are interested in reading about science. People may be more
interested in medical science and so on as have an interest in looking for cures for medical
ailments and so on. There is quite an interest in the recent HB story, which I suspect is due to
the name: The God Particle.
Not alone do I think they are interested in reading about science, but they are entitled to know
about science as their money is funding the research.
a. If not, is (science) education at fault for peoples lack of interest in
science?
No, they are interested in it.


76
8. Are you aware if sub/editors take a contextual look at scientific words they are
changing/editing?
When I was a sub editor I certainly did, but I dont know if sub-editors do in general. The
reason I dont know, is my copy hardly ever gets changed, so I never have run-ins with subs-
editors.
Though, if I have written it properly for a general reader then subs, who have read far more
widely than the general public, should be able to understand. If they change the copy, then it
is my fault.
Though sub-editors have been cut back and are under ferocious time pressures. Possibly they
dont change things because if they change something, it takes time.

9. Do/Would you try to show more scientific findings from Irish institutions?
Yes. Readers of Irish newspapers are entitled to know about what is going on in Irish
institutions; it is where their taxes go. Also, they need to know about international
developments. Science is an international thing anyway, but if someone is interested in
science, they will be buying, Scientific American, New Scientist, etc anyway, though they
will not be getting the Irish research.

10. Are you aware of any of any stories which have been misrepresented in
newspapers?
Well, yes. I think the main one is overstating the claims of scientists, for example the HB.
The man himself, Heuer said its very likely to be the HB, it is a Boson and is like the HB but
we wont know if it is the HB until its properties are determined. But then it gets everywhere
in the media. It boils down to a lack understanding of scientific methods, probabilities of
chance, etc.

11. Have you any concluding remarks?
I think science journalism has to be seen in the context of journalism in general. Within
Ireland, journalism is suffering badly from budget cuts to staff, freelancers, expenses so that
they dont send them off to cover stories as much, etc. Science journalism suffers in the same
way. To an extent it has had a poor relationship with most editors due to bias for politics,
sport, etc.
It has to be seen in the context of the disruptive nature of the internet. Many scientists now
want to communicate directly with the general public and they dont actually want to be
tracked down by journalists.



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Interview Questions for Claire OConnell

1. How would you rate coverage of science in Ireland, in terms of diversity and
number of articles?
I think things are getting better, though I would like to see wider coverage. I also think it is
helpful not to overtly label stories as being about science, they are stories.

2. How difficult is it to get a science story into newspapers?
That really depends on the story. Editors are interested in stories that they think will in turn
interest their readers, and science stories are no exception. And sometimes the difficulty lies
in finding the angle that makes a particular science story interesting to general media. But I
think you have to be inventive and you have to build up relationships with editors.
Where is your main outlet for articles?
The Irish Times, mostly for the science page, healthPLUS supplement and the business and
innovation section. I write for several other outlets too, but The Irish Times would be my
bread and butter.

3. What do you look for in a good story and are there any specific angles you try to
take over others?
I look for a hook or angle that won't compromise, misrepresent or oversell the science.
If it is a straight up report on a new study, it generally has to be on something accessible for a
general readership, or else it might have a local angle that would make a pretty specialist
finding interesting for local readers - perhaps it's about a plant or animal or location in
Ireland, or maybe an Irish scientist has been involved.
If it is a study about a discovery relating to a disease or medical condition, I try to avoid the
'cure' angle as it so seldom is an immediate cure and I don't think it is fair to patients or their
loved ones to overhype.
In general, I think the angle has to grab a reader quickly and it will depend on the specific
section of the newspaper. Say I am writing about a new company that has been spun out to
commercialize a scientific finding relating to a disease. If I am writing for the business
section, the focus will be on the mechanics of translating the science and the hurdles or
opportunities when moving to market. If that piece was for health, it would be about the
health need they are hoping to meet and how and when they hope to do that. If it was for
science it would be a deeper dive into how they made the discovery and how it advances our
knowledge, plus the consequences of being able to translate that.


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4. What are your main sources for science news and how many of your science
articles originate as press releases or from promotional material
My main sources for ideas for column material tends to be the science journals, science news
sites and also generally available press releases. For news and features it tends to be contact
from scientists or press officers who alert me to an upcoming paper, or it might be a trend I
have spotted from generally looking around or having conversations with people. Sometimes
I will be looking up one paper in a journal and I will see another, completely different study
of interest too in that edition. It's generally down to keeping your eyes and ears open.

5. When working from PR material, do you back up information by going to the
original journal articles/scientists?
Yes, absolutely. There are vanishingly few cases where it is not possible to access the
published study or to get a pre-embargo copy and I think not to pull it up and read through it
is doing everyone a disservice.
For columns, the journal article and press release are generally enough for me to work on,
although sometimes I will contact a researcher for comments too. And if I am quoting/citing
from a press release I state that as the source (as in "Blah blah," said researcher so and so in a
release - subs usually leave that in). If I find the journal paper is completely incomprehensible
or if I am not sure about the impact of a finding, I have some 'go-to' contacts in various fields
who can usually give me their insights, and in some cases I may quote them too.
For features I will talk to the researchers or people involved, as well as looking up the journal
paper where relevant.

6. Is (science) education partly to blame for any problems which may exist in
science journalism in Ireland?
I don't know.

7. Do you think people without a science background are interested in reading
about science?
I think they can be if the story is well told and particularly on certain subjects that have mass
appeal. If I write about scientific studies in archeological findings that seems to ignite quite a
bit of interest, I have noticed!
If not, does science education play a role in peoples lack of interest in
science?
I don't know.

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8. Are you aware if sub-editors or editors take a contextual look at the words they
are editing or changing, when subbing science articles? Are you aware of any of your
colleagues that have?
I don't know if they do or not. In my experience the subs tend to change very little of my
copy, and if they do they will sometimes check with me. Although it has happened that
something was changed in a piece by me that made it highly inaccurate. Had they checked
with me that time I could have told them straight away why the change was wrong. In general
where I find the editor/sub has an influence is in the headline, standfirst, pic and caption.
Sometimes I like it and I think it sets up the story well, sometimes I think I might have done
it differently.

9. Do you think there is more news from foreign sources and if so, why?
I haven't sat down and studied it but I think there is a good mixture.
Do/Would you try to show more scientific findings from Irish
institutions?
I try to include them where relevant. As mentioned above, Irish involvement in a finding can
be a nice local angle to a story. Also, if I am writing about a major international story, I like
to try and get some Irish comment if relevant and possible. I also think it's important to report
on findings from Irish scientific institutions because the Irish taxpayer is often funding the
work! I mention the source of funding where possible for that reason.

10. Are you aware of any stories that receive more coverage than they deserve, have
been over sensationalized or misrepresented?
Maybe the stories where people are trying to raise funds to get stem cell treatment in clinics
that have not met international standard of clinical safety/efficacy. The stories tend to be on
the human angle but can sometimes gloss over the unproven nature of the treatments, at least
from the perspective of some regulatory bodies!
Do you think this happens with many articles?
There is always a danger of overselling scientific findings and yes I think it happens quite a
bit in the general media here, but the issue is probably better monitored and documented in
the UK.

11. Have you any concluding remarks on the current state of science journalism in
Ireland?
I would like to see scope/outlets for writing about subjects in more depth. I would love if we
had, say, a type of publication like Nature or New Scientist in Ireland, but I appreciate that is
probably not practical or commercially viable.

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Also, science journalism can sometimes be criticised for 'cheerleading'. That may sometimes
be the case, particularly if reports are just regurgitating material from press releases, but I
think that when done well, science reporting can serve an important explanatory role. Plus in
my experience, plenty of story suggestions are filtered out, either by me or in discussions
with an editor. So it is not a case of science journalists simply relaying material uncritically.

Section 2: Science Educator Interview

Interview with Brian Trench
There is confusion between journalism that is about science and a journalism that is specialist
science journalism. In other words, you dont have to be a specialist to report on science. In
fact many current high level public issues have a very strong scientific component and many
generalists, people who specialise in something different: politics, economics, health or
environments (which are related to science) and find themselves having to write about
science without being science journalists.
You can count the numbers of dedicated science journalists in Ireland on the fingers of one
finger: theres practically none.
The situation is very different. We have science journalism, without science journalists,
which is the name of a paper written 20 years ago in Norway. Its an interesting comparison
because it is a country with similar population, size, in Europe and culturally strong. I think
thats the situation we have in Ireland. There is a lot of content about science but not
necessarily done by science journalists.
If youre looking for Irish journalists reporting on science on a reasonably regular basis,
youll only find them around the science pages of the Irish Times. Unless you include Emma
OKelly, the Science and Education correspondent with RT, which is perhaps only in her
title because that is what the Department of Government has. The majority in Ireland write
for specialist publications, not for the mainstream media.
Take a sample of newspapers from the month of news extract what you can which is
science focussed and then look at where it comes from.
If you look at the Irish Independent you may find that everything comes from the daily
telegraph or the independent of London. That everything in the Irish Examiner comes from
the press association, though there is nothing wrong with that. And all the snippets in the Star
come from the agencies as well. The Daily Mails coverage is very largely derived from the
English edition and very largely focused on Health Science, and you are basically left with
the Irish Times that does anything on a regular basis.
Leo Enright doesnt have a regular outlet in Ireland. Anna Nolan does something
occasionally for the Business Post, but nothing that visible to the mainstream.

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If you talk to the news editor in the Irish Independent he may wonder why youre speaking to
him. The person you may need to talk to is the foreign news editor and ask why they include
certain pieces.
You can see from this what their background is.
I got interested in science and I am convinced that the disadvantages I had in not having the
background Clare OConnell has, (she has a doctorate in Genetics) are at least balanced by
the advantage that as an interviewer I had to keep on asking the questions that I was not clear
about and the reader would not be clear about. Whereas someone with the qualifications may
be restrained from repeatedly asking the questions.
The Guardian science editor has a background in Arts, whereas many others in the UK do
have science qualifications. Dick Ahlstron may have a major in English, though he does have
physics qualifications. However, its only half of what he does, the other half is news editor.
The typical profile of a science journalist in the international sphere is someone whose
everyday job is just following whatever branch of science they follow.

1. How would you rate coverage of science in the Irish (print media), in terms of
diversity and number of articles?
In comparative terms with other European countries the coverage is low. The proportion of
coverage which comes through syndication and news agencies is high. I would say that there
is very little evidence of independent judgement being applied by key decision makers in
Irish print media as to what kinds of science should be covered with what evidence. I would
say it is likely that the majority of any coverage in any given story relates to science being
done outside of Ireland.
In terms of diversity as to what branches are being covered, I would say it is limited in that
there is a preference that is not exclusive to the Irish print media for certain areas of big
science such as Cern, the Human Genome Project, genetic and life sciences which is related
to peoples health. A lot of the science coverage in the IPM takes place under the Health
heading. Almost all coverage in the Daily Mail is health related. So I would say diversity is
low.

2. Are you aware of any of any science stories which have been misrepresented or
research which has been factually incorrect or misrepresented in Irish
newspapers?
Well nothing immediately springs to mind, so the short answer is no, Im not. However, if
you asked a random group with scientists on the matter they would remember the one
inaccurate bit, but not the 19 other pieces which are accurate. One scientists bad experience
could influence others thinking. There has not been any crashingly bad coverage in IPM
about science.


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3. Are people more interested in the economic benefit than the inherent advantage
science can provide, in your opinion? (reference to his article on Knowledge
Economy)
The knowledge is not being much analysed but the emphasis is being given to the economy
side of things. I would say if you were to take a representative sample of science coverage in
the IPM and extract from that stories related to locally generated science activity, I think you
would find a reference to the amount of funding there was for the research and where the
funding came from and potential commercial downstream applications and spinoffs. I think
that the answer is yes, but the bigger question is: what is the public interest in science?

4. Is (science) education partly to blame for lack of/errors in science journalism in
Ireland or peoples interest in science?
I think the medias attention to science is one thing, and peoples interest is a separate thing.
There is strong evidence in the street that we are in [Pearse St.] that there is a very healthy
interest in scientific matters. The science museum will soon receive its one millionth visitors
after one year of being open. There will be many popular science books sold in Hodges
Figgis popular science section. Other science events also receive huge interest, be they talks
or events.
I think that the level of media attention to science and the ways in which the media represent
science are actually out of kilter with the public interest. However, if we accept that the level
of interest and coverage of science in Ireland is still relatively low in European terms, then
whats the common explanation? Is it to do with science education? Yes, in part.
Up until quite recently, Irish students were performing well in international terms, but
recently, the last 5-6 years, were not doing as strongly. What we do know and hear it
lamented is that quite small proportions of science LC students do physics or chemistry. That
is probably a reflection on both the education system and the wider society the students are a
part of. I think that the syllabi in the LC science subjects clearly needs renewal. In Britain
theyve a new general science subject, and I think there is a strong case for that here and
those subjects are geared for students to do non-science subjects in college. However, there is
no option for that.
However, a better comparison for us is Norway or Denmark or other small countries, our
science coverage is low. However, comparing our science coverage to Eastern European
countries coverage its similar. Were much closer to the Baltic States then we would
probably like to admit. I think not having the Industrial Revolution is part of it.
In the last decade there has been a lot of coverage of the scientific economy, which is an
entirely new idea, that investment in scientific research is crucial to our economic
development. This is a recent idea and were playing a bit of catch-up. Though the public
culture hasnt caught up as much as the research community and I think the media are lagging
behind the public culture of interest.
I think a generation of journalists, who are now in their 40s and 50s and are key decision
makers in the print media, have come from educational backgrounds where science was not
part of their environment and I think they arent comfortable with it.

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But the IT is an exception; Kevin Sullivan has a background in Environmental Science. He is
the first science graduate editor at a newspaper. However, Conor Brady became editor 25
years ago and he made the decision as a History graduate that the IT would devote more
space to science.
So the educational background of the editor may not be crucial.

5. Do you think a peer review approach should be taken to science journalism?
No, not in a formal way, but there is a project in the states run out of the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT) on the East Coast, called the Knight Science Journalism
Tracker, and their subtitle is peer review of science journalism. Its peer review after articles
have been written; its drawing attention to trends, lapses and problems with science
journalism.
I dont think its realistic to peer review. However, they do peer review internally when
editors and sub-editors view the copy. Though how many editors and news editors are
capable of reading a scientific piece and passing critical judgement on it? Not many very
many, if any. I would suspect that those who do specialise in science have almost complete
autonomy but then thats true for the European, Medical and other specialists as well. Though
a distinction has to be made between the IT and everyone else who has these specific titles
and gives them a much higher status than other media do.
It is probably unfeasible to have external scientific peer reviewers. If they do have an internal
science expert, they should be used as the internal peer reviewer. How the science itself is
analysed, and who can spot misuse of terms and concepts
Really only a judgement on the IT:
The IT is the only one of the Irish print media which has an area roped off for science
coverage and to my knowledge that is entirely the responsibility of the science editor. I think
little attention is given to it by anyone else at that level of seniority, and I think that is a
weakness. I think a random group of journalists would struggle to read the science section of
the IT unless asked to do so and I think the page as it is currently constituted is not written
with the general reader in mind. I think a reader with a very high interest/knowledge of
science is in mind for this section. It is pitched at a level which may appeal to an audience
who are professionally engaged in science, a niche audience. I dont think this is true to the
same extent with other specialist sections.

6. Do you think journalists corroborate the facts and meanings of PR material
before publishing an article?
We do know about science reporting in general that it is very highly dependent on PR input,
as with many other branches of reporting. Scientific institutions such as research, higher
level, journals, etc have become very adept at feeding the media beast in this way.
Though I do think some people involved in scientific reporting do go beyond the PR material,
but nobody would do it with every single story they got; they simply wouldnt have the time.

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Some do when they think the press release was oversimplified and science specialists will be
highly competent to do this. Though I think less than 10% of the articles in their production
wouldve involved going back to the original scientific papers; they would be based on press
releases and follow up information, but then, whats new?

7. Who are the people typically enrolling in science communications courses in
DCU and elsewhere and where do they end up working?
Some go into journalism, but there arent many openings in journalism. Though perhaps
science journalism has to go beyond being a dedicated science journalist, as there are no such
openings. People get into various kinds of science writing for various institutions, niche
publications or for PR agencies.
Mainly they come from a background of science education in third level or higher. Some
have come from doctorates and have decided to make a career change. Though every year,
one or two from the group have come from the Arts and have a keen interest in science.
12-15 in the masters group, 80% of those coming from a science background, and from those
another 80% coming from the life sciences (64% from life sciences). Though if they dont go
onto something related to journalism they go into informal information; working in centres
or science museums doing some kind of outreach for scientific organisations, working with
school kids in Primary or Secondary, but not in a curriculum context and other science PR
type activities such as public information.
They get instructed in journalism skills and find themselves using it in a large way.

8. Should journalists involved in science journalism receive particular training or
education?
Yes, but the answer is true for all specialisations, though it doesnt happen that way. For
example, sports journalists may be interested in sports since the age of nine and they have
had their specialist training in that way. In a sense they get their specialist training through
exposure.
I used to take the view that a journalism masters should have specialist tracks in it, though
Im sure that is a great idea given the way the media is going. I think the room for specialists
is shrinking daily and more and more journalists will have to do more and more varied tasks
for more and more platforms. Such as covering the environment, politics and the arts all in
one day. Im not sure if its feasible and practical to provide specialist training in all the
tracks we can imagine, although in principle it might be a good idea.
If you look at specialist science journalism courses around Europe, they dont think its
necessary to provide a specific training in the scientific way because typically the people
coming to do those courses have a science education already.


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9. Do you think science news/research in Ireland does/should receive more coverage
in Irish papers?
Yes, but this relates to the dependency of supplied material. A lot more goes on in scientific
research in Ireland and should get it. When dealing with issues like the Avian Flu pandemic
and Chilean earthquakes more attention should be paid in the Irish media to what scientific
researchers in Ireland say. A part from anything else thats a way of making the stories more
accessible. Im sure general journalism training dictates that a local expert to an international
story, if only as commentators, it adds to a story

10. Is there more science news from abroad over Irish science news, and if so, why?
Assuming there is more information from abroad its down to available material. There is an
unending supply of material coming from news agencies, etc from international sources
which is well crafted and ready to use. When resources are limited why wouldnt you use
this?

11. What are the major dangers associated with inaccurate science journalism and
have any of these effects been seen in Ireland.
Science journalists are often handling material that is of direct relevance to people, personal
health, public safety, etc. The risks of getting something substantially wrong are very
considerable indeed. Even getting something wrong in politics only carries the risk that they
get cross something wrong and a correction has to be made.
In a hypothetical scenario someone reporting a contamination risk of water supply, which
grossly overstates that risk could cause queues the next day in pharmacies, doctors, etc.
Though Im not aware of it happening in Ireland, we can imagine the risks of melt down
being very considerable, but Im not aware of a national example.
In regards the Avian Flu:
There was a lot of commentary about the overstatement of risk, etc and the hyping of risk.
However, the tone and thrust of the media coverage of that potential pandemic was governed
by the Department of Health briefings on the subject. At one point they were briefing every
single day and reporters who were assigned to the story reported the updates. So the
overstatement if there was any came from the relevant authorities and then amplified by the
media. If the chief medical officer with the DEPRT of health, Tony Hollihan, makes a 30
word assessment with two qualifications, that may turn up as a 50 word sentence with the
qualifications removed. Though Im not aware of any particular news paper which decided to
ramp it up more than he was willing to do so and he was following the WHO guidelines on
how to communicate these risks and the best experts in the world believed there was a very
high risk of human to human transfection, though it didnt happen on any huge scale in
Europe. And we cant blame the media for reporting what the experts say, or blame the
experts for going with their best estimates. Towards the end of that episode because people
werent dying in the streets, the media decided to turn around and say youve over estimated
it.

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Section 3: Science Researcher Interviews

Interview with Dr Andrew Flaus

1. How would you rate coverage of science in the Irish mainstream print media, in
terms of diversity and number of articles?
I dont read the Irish print media intensively, but I do read the IT and the Galway Advertiser
as two spectrums. I would say there is not as much as I would like to see there. If we would
aspire to have more people interested in science we should have more of it. Everybody is
interested in the Premiership soccer, but why should we be interested in soccer? Its because
we are force fed it all the time its not even in our country, but we are exposed to it a lot.
Its a pity that science doesnt get some small percentage of that exposure. In the same way
rugby receives a lot of coverage because we are doing well at it and everyone has an opinion
because we are being exposed to it despite only a relatively small amount of people playing
it.
I think the IT seems to have a level of dominance in the engagement of scientists but I think
the Irish academic community sometimes treats the IT as its own personal blog site in that
people are putting opinions out in there and using it almost as a chat room for scientists.
A few weeks ago, for example, the IT had an interview with the head of SFI and he said some
things in there which just got everybody in the Irish scientific community excited, because of
a few comments in the IT. Obviously he was using this as a place of communicating with the
Irish scientific community. You could say the press, unlike in most other countries, is used as
a very old way of communicating where there is a dialogue going on in one of the main
stream press organs amongst an interest group. I dont participate in it, but it interests me.
There are often pieces about the politics of it and funding issues and a lot of that goes on
there, surprisingly. So you could say a lot of the general public has a lot of access to general
scientific strategy, if they bother to read it, but the problem is understanding what it all
means. The general public would find it hard to understand what is being written about there.
It would be interesting to see how many of these articles are of interest to the general public
audience versus this particular political cum scientific academic community.
Diversity of Areas
There is a segment there which is a dialogue and not targeted at the general public, all these
letters and opinion pieces so that reduces the diversity.
One exercise I do in teachings lectures is taking articles from the Economist, the IT and use
them as ways to get students to think about the difference between science and science
thinking and what is in the popular media. There were a range of interesting areas covered
there, but not as many as I would like to see and I would like to see more of it.
The highbrow newspapers in Switzerland and Germany would have a weekly section on
science alongside health and home design, or at least used to when I lived in that
environment. A commitment to just running a section in a newspaper would make people
interested in it, as they would be exposed to it.

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If the government and scientific community wanted to have more communication with the
general public, one way would be to sponsor or encourage regularity to it all. Peter Crowley
and some people over in Chemistry were doing Kitchen Chemistry columns in the Galway
Independent, which kids parents could do at home with them. Things like that are amenable
to newspapers like the Indo and IT. These papers have an awful lot of penetration compared
to papers in other countries, so I would say there is a real opportunity there.

2. What do you think journalists look for in an interesting science story?
I think they are looking for something intuitively interesting to people, they can relate to,
thats unusual and out of the ordinary, the same as any newspaper article or anything. Its got
to have a nice headline, like The search for the HB or something or whatever is intuitively
interesting. Though if someone came up to me and asked what the HB does or why it is
important I wouldnt be able to explain it to them, but the concept that it is the key to the
universe is catchy. I dont think science journalists try to trivialise things or are trying to push
agendas. They are looking for something that is going to catch the eye or is interesting. My
kids dont think molecular biology is very interesting because it doesnt cause explosions,
and thats it, people are looking for explosions arent they?

3. Do you see any recurring themes in science articles you read?
Not really. I think what I notice being covered, though I am perhaps biased, a lot of articles
seem to want to profile Irish science which is good and show that were doing things that are
break through world leading research which is equivalent to MIT or whatever, which is good
but sometimes you see thats a bit simplistic. We havent reached the point where everything
were doing is going to cure cancer or change the world.
Part of the problem is that Irish research gets a bit overstated so when you look at something
that is going to be a world leading break through and you look below it, it seems a little
overstated. While I dont think the scientists are trying to overstate it, but to try to generate
the interest and that sort of thing, you have to take what we do in the laboratory and make it a
bit more exciting and I worry that that sets an unfair expectation amongst the public. We are
doing good science here, but science is hard and you work for a long time to get a small gain
and it takes a long time to make a big gain.


4. How does coverage here compare to coverage abroad
As I said before, it is a bit unusual as there seems to be a dialogue going on here, but I guess
its how I imagine a newspaper was used for political dialogue. Its a good and healthy thing
for a press to provide a forum for ideas, but I do think it is unusual compared to other
countries. It doesnt appear abroad that I am aware of. It is used here for political and funding
dialogue in the scientific community.


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5. Have you ever been contacted by journalists for your opinion on a story or
feedback on an article?
No. Though I have dealt with generalists, such as at a recent teaching and learning conference
I talked with a science columnist from The Guardian who also works for the BBC.
a. How have you or your colleagues experiences with journalists been?
Not really. I worry a wee bit as you are outside of your comfort zone speaking with them.
Journalists, like scientists, have a particular way of thinking, talking and writing about
science and you get well outside of your comfort zone when talking with them.

6. Have you received any training in how to communicate with non-specialist
media?
a. Are you aware of any of your colleagues that have?
The SFI were recently offering some training the other day and it was agreed that someone
from the Chromosome Biology research centre should go, and Professor Bob Lahue went to
that. There is no question that it is on offer and available and it is probably quite good for
people that have an interest. Some of us, such as Prof Noel Lowndes and I could get up and
talk about science but there is taking that and going forward and getting more training, but it
is not one of my priorities at the moment. I would rather spend my time teaching. To do
anything well takes time, concentration and focus to build your skills and its not one I would
put high on my list. But it is great that one of our researchers will do it.

7. What are your opinions, in general, on science journalism currently in Ireland?
Theres not enough of it and there some people such as Dick Ahlstrom and Science Spin are
excellent but it would be nice to see RT having a more identifiable science correspondent.
The BBC has a science section, but not RT.

8. Is (science) education partly to blame for any problems which may exist in
science journalism in Ireland?
No, I think Noel Grennan in the chemistry department is doing some good work in Primary
schools and my own children seem to have the main sciences principles quite well. My sons
science teacher in secondary school is very good.
The problem is that the people who buy and read newspaper are 30-40 years old and in
general were taught quite differently and the papers are pitched at them. I dont know what
the education system was like then, but I dont have a problem with it now. I would like to
think the average person now could read a science article.
The fundamental problem which may be more pertinent is the examination system in Ireland
at the moment. The way it forces people to learn things is horrendous and as a consequence
causes terrible problems in universities getting people to be interested in things in general

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people just want the bullet point of what they need to know. That may be a problem as
science articles may be considered as academic as opposed to gossip about Tom Cruise.

9. Do you think people without a science background are interested in reading
about science?
a. If not, is (science) education at fault for peoples lack of interest in
science?
Yes, I think they are. Its a natural instinct to be interested in the world around you and over
the last few decades it has become clear that science and technology are the future of the
Western world. People always seem to be interested in talking to me about what sort of thing
I do.

10. Have you ever used or are you aware of many scientists who use PR?
a. Do you think PR plays a big part in modern science communications?
b. Is there a danger that lesser research will be left out because of lack of
PR?
Not so much, no. Two things occur to me: we were very recently advised, in the Centre for
Chromosome Biology, as a group of researchers to develop an identity and a brand if you
like. Promotion of what we are doing and why it is useful. From the strategic levels of the SFI
there is a need to promote these kinds of things.
In some areas of science tweeting about actual research that is ongoing has become important
for projecting yourself on a larger stage to people outside of science. Im not aware of anyone
who has done this, but some scientists do feel this is important.
I think the way that the world works its nice to have a starter pack of information, so PR is
fine as long as it doesnt disguise the facts of science. As long as it encourages people to
engage with science, it is a good thing. As long as PR is benign and makes it easier to interact
it is fine.

11. Are you aware of any major research or stories that receive more coverage than
they deserve, have been over sensationalised or misrepresented?
a. Do you think this happens with the majority of articles?
I think that quite a lot of Irish stories are made to sound more impactful than they really are.
The reality of science is that it is lots of steps forward. Lots of people want to be Einstein and
have found the next leap forward, but its like the wonder-goal: not every goal is a wonder-
goal.

12. Have you any concluding remarks?

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Science journalism is a great opportunity because there are a whole pile of scientists who
realise it is a valuable thing to talk about themselves, though maybe some of them have a self
confidence issue and want to be sure they are not misrepresented. There is a public which
respects, in general, what people are doing. And there is a press, that seems to me, is not
cluttered up with internal agendas. There is a real opportunity to make something good out of
it.


Interview with Prof Bob Lahue

1. How would you rate coverage of science in the Irish print media, in terms of
diversity and number of articles?
I mostly read the Irish Times and they have a column every Thursday and occasionally other
columns. I think their news is quite good. They show a good dedication. The other print
media I couldnt speak too much about it, but the Times do a pretty good job and do cover a
wide range of topics.

2. What do you think journalists look for in an interesting science story?
Assuming its a broad based publication like the Irish Times theyre going to look for things
that will appeal to a broad readership for obvious reasons. They want as many people to be
interested in what they are saying as possible. I think they look for new things and for a story,
something that they can convey more easily and readily to educated readers. Not just a
finding but a story, it makes it more appealing to the reader.

3. Do you see any recurring themes in science articles you read?
They try and hook you with a headline and the first few sentences. This is quite common in
news articles but also in features that are part of a news story. They try hard to relate the
science to the public audience. The public do have some science knowledge but obviously
not as much as someone specialized like you or I. It has to be understandable to the average
person.

4. How does coverage here compare to coverage abroad?
I can compare it to American Press because I am American. I actually think its better here
because in America we have more of a popular culture with people distracted by videogames
and Rock Stars whereas in Ireland people are more interested in the world itself and that
includes science so I actually think that its better here than the US. Broadly speaking, Ireland
punches above its weight.

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a. Is there a lot of coverage of foreign research or is it largely Irish
research?
Higgs Boson was broadcast everywhere. Theres a pride in Irish research. Things that happen
in Ireland get a lot of coverage but they are open to things outside of Ireland also. The Irish
Press does a better job at getting Science news out there than the American Press. Its a two-
way-street; people then became more interested in science news. They are interested because
they know more and they see more.

5. Have you ever been contacted by journalists for your opinion on a story or
feedback on an article?
No, not generally. Ive been mostly consulted with respected to my own work. Irish
journalists I know of a handful. They strike me as being very above board, up-front,
interested and knowledgeable. I credit them a lot. They have a skill of understating the
science and translating it into something suitable for the general public.
a. Have you had any dealings with people who are more generalist
journalists, not science journalists?
I dealt with them in the US working for a cancer centre. We were representing the cancer
centre to the public television. I was on local television with respect to what was going on in
the centre. Ive not had much in Ireland.
b. Are you aware of your colleagues having much interaction with Irish
journalists?
Yes, informal conversations. I think they are pretty happy with the journalists getting the
message out clearly. Theres a danger that the message will get lost in the translation but I
think the Irish Journalists do a good job at getting the right message out there appropriately.

6. Have you received any training in how to communicate with non-specialist
media?
a. Are you aware of any of your colleagues that have?
In two weeks I am going to do exactly that. I am attending a training course run by NUI
Galway and sponsored in part by Science Foundation Ireland. Those efforts are ongoing.
Another example I can give you is SFI summit meeting. Every year they run workshops and
one of these workshops is on communicating with the public via the media. There was a
panel including Dick Ahlstrom and Clare OConnell and someone from radio giving advice
on interacting with the media. They are very useful. Its important to see it from the
prospective journalists, what theyre looking for, what they need and avoiding
miscommunication.
My colleagues see it as something useful, but theyre not banging on the door looking for it.
Scientists are self absorbed! Science and the public will be better served as this training
becomes more common place. Its a positive new direction.


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7. What is your opinion of science journalism in Ireland currently?
Its in line with the rest of Europe and ahead of the US in my opinion. Other places I cant
speak of.

8. Is (science) education partly to blame for any problems which may exist in
science journalism in Ireland?
I think so. Once again the Irish readership is more interested in whats going on the world. I
give them credit for that. I think its in the culture. Irish people can separate science and
religion easier. In the US there are people with strong religious beliefs who will not accept
science and certain aspects of science such as evolution. It impedes their ability to accept and
learn science. In Ireland the culture is better defined; religion is religion and science is
science and the two dont have to fight each other. In the US more than 25% population do
not believe in evolution and refuse to accept it. They wont buy it.

9. Do you think people without a science background are interested in reading
about science?
a. If not, is (science) education at fault for peoples lack of interest in
science?
Yes, they are very interested provided you can find something that appeals to them. For
example, most families are affected by cancer. It affects everyone directly or indirectly so
they are interested in learning more about it. I think things that affect the public or they see
around them is more interesting to them than some of the more theoretical things such as
Higgs Boson. Thats a little harder to crack. Things that are more real to people interest them.

10. Have you ever used or are you aware of many scientists who use PR?
a. Do you think PR plays a big part in modern science communications?
I know of some that do but I think its quite unusual. A lot of Universities have press offices.
They encourage us to work with these people. It makes a more straightforward way to
communicate with the public. Most scientists who attempt to communicate go through
normal channels (press office) to broadcast to public.
PR can be very useful. Its interesting how science journalists pick which stories to run with.
Open Access Publishing in the science world is a means for anyone to access your work. You
dont have to pay for a subscription or be a scientist anyone in the world can publish on it. I
have gotten emails from all over the world from journalists and lay people who have seen my
work on a forum. Its a compelling way to make things available to anyone. SFI requires now
that if they have sponsored the research, it has to go on Open Access. Theres tons of
information on it. Anyone with Google can find information on it.
b. Have you found you get more feedback from PR than Open Access?

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The Open Access is amazing in that people who never read journals will access it. My
research focuses on Huntingtons disease and I get emails from people whose spouses are
affected. We get hand written notes saying great work and God Bless. They have heard
about it in the news or online. Open Access are of huge use for research for the public.



11. Are you aware of any stories that receive more coverage than they deserve, have
been over sensationalised or misrepresented?
a. Do you think this happens with the majority of articles?
Its not common, its rare. If it does happen its not the scientists or the press offices who are
promoting his research but the media who latches onto something they think will sell and
maybe overdoes things. Its rare but it can happen and more often than not its an
overreaction by the media.
They say, for example, you have the gene but they really mean you have a bad form of the
gene, a mutated gene. Thats an example of something that can lead to misunderstandings.


Interview Questions for Professor Noel Lowndes

1. How would you rate coverage of science in the I rish print media, in terms of
diversity and number of articles?
Poor. With the exception of the science section in the IT on Thursday, I would say its very
poor, in TV, Radio and print media. Ive lived in America, specifically in New York and
spent a lot of time living in Britain, particularly in the London area and there would be more
coverage in Britain and surprisingly more in New York. In all aspects of the media theyre
not as intimidated by science or as anti-science and theres a more positive attitude towards
science.
The media in America reports science better than compared with Ireland or Britain. Perhaps
its a New York trend, but most days there would be scientific coverage in the news papers.
Some of the papers will normally have a pull out science section once a week.
What little coverage there is here would be mainly focussed on medicine and the life
sciences, but particularly on medicine. People are particularly interested in health. For
example cancer: 1 in 3 of us gets cancer; 1 in 4 of us will be killed by it. It makes you
interested in it.


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2. What do you think journalists look for in an interesting science story?
Depends on the journalist: sensationalism? In Britain, which has terrible tabloid press, they
look to spin boffin stories, GMOs, nuclear science and things like that. So that section of the
media likes to scaremonger.
There is a clipboard in the Biochemistry Department of the clippings of media. One of them
is of Ciaran Morrisons EU grant to develop a bio-sensor for radiation. It was in a local
Galway paper which lists him as a boffin. The term boffin is used very derogatorily in the
mainstream media. To be described as a boffin is a negative for most people. I dont like to
be called a boffin. I wouldnt like it, which loosely means a nerd in a white coat.
Boffin Definition:
However, you wont get that coverage in the IT science page on a Thursday obviously. Thats
responsible [science journalism]. I dont know Dick Ahlstrom (science editor with the IT)
that well, Ive been interviewed by him a few times, but I like what he does. Hes a physicist
by training and knows a lot about general science and has learned biology. Hes very good at
taking what you say and making it more accessible to the non-specialist. So, I think he has a
genuine understanding of science and thats probably rare in my opinion. Most scientific
journalists dont have sufficient scientific background to be able to understand it.
Unless you can understand it to a decent level it will be difficult to communicate it to a
general level. If you only have a general understanding and your communicating at that level
I dont think youre going to understand what youre trying to say. I think scientific
journalists need to have a decent background, but then they have to avoid jargon and
technical terms and try to get it across in very simple language.
So its two talents: scientific talent, understanding science and the second most important
talent to a journalist is conveying that message with very simple language for everyone to
understand. By the way, thats what scientists are supposed to do when they write a paper.
Good scientists can communicate their research to their peer group. If you get too bogged
down in technicalities, not even experts can understand it. Language skills are hugely
important.
Theyre not common skill sets to have both together. I think Dick Ahlstrom has them, but his
audience is more than just the average member of the public: its people who are
scientifically literate and are trying to find out whats going on in Irish science. I imagine the
vast majority of people flick over that page the way I flick over the arts page. So I guess in a
way that [IT page] doesnt count as its targeted at people with a scientific background. I
doubt the person who gave up science at the junior cert reads that page, but they will no
doubt read the more sensationalist articles they find elsewhere.

3. Do you see any recurring themes in science articles you read?
Re-lists above areas: GMO, boffins, nuclear science
I think a scientific journalist should have their own particular style.


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4. How does coverage here compare to coverage abroad?
In my experience of New York, London Glasgow, Dublin and Galway, as places I have lived,
NY would be well ahead in terms of scientific coverage in all aspects of the media. In NY
there is a much more positive attitude towards science; though Im sure that is different in the
Mid-West US.

5. Have you ever been contacted by journalists for your opinion on a story or
feedback on an article?
No not on an article they have written, but I have been contacted for information about
certain things.
a. How have you or your colleagues experiences with journalists been?
I have been interviewed on local radio a few times. Two things can happen: It can go well or
it can go badly; I think it depends very much on the skill of the interviewer. I think one of the
times it went badly for me, I was interviewed during the break of scientific conference that I
was organising and I had to step out of the conference to do a radio interview and my mind
was in scientific mode, absorbing the data that had just been shown, and I wasnt in the best
frame of mind to go on the radio and communicate to non-specialists and I think the
interviewer was having trouble bringing what I was saying down to a more accessible level...
I wouldnt do that again, I was wound up with science and it wasnt a good time to go on the
radio, so I think journalists have to get scientists at the right time. Their minds have to be in
the right mind to communicate to a non-scientific audience, as it is totally different to
communicating to your peer group.
Refers to colleagues who have had experiences with journalists
Ciaran Morrison who was referred to as a boffin in an article, Bob Lahue and Kevin Sullivan
have had dealings

6. Have you received any training in how to communicate with non-specialist
media?
a. Are you aware of any of your colleagues that have?
No. It would be useful but I dont think I have time to do it. Though I think I am able to
communicate science, but if you get me at the wrong time it can be difficult. Some can
communicate things in simple terms, but others arent good at communicating to a non-
specialist group.

7. Is (science) education partly to blame for any problems which may exist in
science journalism in Ireland?
Yes, there are not enough properly scientifically trained science teachers, particularly at
primary level. Most primary teachers are coming from a liberal arts background and hardly
any of them have any scientific training and I think thats really crucial at Primary level. You

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can show a lot of information to young kids about science and they absorb it. Kids ask the
why question, which is what scientists do.
If you expose science to kids at a young age they grow up not to be afraid of it and I think a
lot of Primary teachers are afraid of it as they dont have a science background. Our system
seems to produce very good Primary teachers, but very few of whom are scientifically
trained. Looking at my own kids, the Primary school curriculum is very light on science. I
think the same applies to maths in secondary school most maths teachers have other
degrees, science or otherwise, and most of them dont have the background to teach maths,
and I think something similar is going on with science. Im not aware of any secondary
school teachers who have done a PhD for example. Just because you have done science
doesnt mean you are a scientist. You can have a first class honours degree in a specialist area
of science and not be one youre not a scientist until you practise science.
It doesnt matter what field you have a PhD in, it teaches problem solving and will make you
a better science teacher at the end of the day then someone who has never practised science. I
would like to see more school teachers qualified with PhDs. It may be considered excessive
qualification, very few of them even have masters degrees, but thats what we may see in the
future. That would make a big difference at secondary level.
Maybe the thing to do is to have two flavours of science. The hardcore science subjects for
people going down the science route and then just a general science course. That includes
science plus computing so its relevant to everyone. You learn how to properly use computers
and about physics, chemistry and biology, but at a lower level. And that should be a
compulsory course for people who arent doing the hardcore science courses, in the same
way as those doing science subjects at LC have to do languages. It should be a general course
that is kept easy so that people will have a much more positive attitude to science.

8. Do you think people without a science background are interested in reading
about science?
a. If not, is (science) education at fault for peoples lack of interest in
science?
I think people do have an interest in science if it is presented in the right way, but they are
very quickly turned off by technicalities. When we were all kids we all asked the why
question and if that is nurtured and encouraged by the educational system, especially at
primary level, society would have a better appreciation of science overall and there might be
better scientists coming through as well. For me speaking from the third and fourth level
sector, I always look to the primary and secondary level sector to start making corrections.
By the time you get to the third level people already know if they want to be down the
science or arts side.

9. Have you ever used or are you aware of many scientists who use PR?
Yes. Quite a few highly successful scientists are innately, naturally good at PR. It doesnt
mean theyre the best scientists but does mean theyre successful.
a. Do you think PR plays a big part in modern science communications?

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Within a scientific career, PR plays an important role. You cant self promote yourself if
theres no substance there; youre not doing good science. But if youre doing good science
and youre not promoting yourself, your work wont be as well received. If you are doing
very good science and are good at PR even in the scientific community, thats very important.
b. Is there a danger that lesser research will be left out because of lack of
PR?
Yes, there would be. Some people arent very good at selling what they do. For example
Gregor Mendel and his peas were communicated at the time. Barbara McClintock and
transposable elements werent discovered for years so they are two scientific careers that
were glossed over because they werent able to communicate their research, but were lucky
as they were rediscovered later. Whereas on the other hand, there are charlatans out there
who are good at the publicity and not good at the science, so its a balancing act.

10. Are you aware of any major research or stories that receive more coverage than
they deserve, have been over sensationalised or misrepresented?
a. Do you think this happens with the majority of articles?
I think in my own field stem cells have been hugely over-sensationalised, particularly human
embryonic stem cells to the extent now that we are not now allowed to do research on
established human embryonic stem cells. Were talking ones used in most countries around
the world which have been made and are available to use and were not allowed use them.
Were hampering Irish research by not being allowed to use them.
And yet in Ireland, we routinely use HEK-293 cells, which stands for Human Embryonic
Kidney. These things came from an aborted foetus in the Netherlands. So that are not stem
cells, because they came later in the development, but they still have the ethical implications
of an aborted foetus. Yet we can use these, but not cells called stem cells.
The sensationalism about GMOs annoys me as well. Personally I am not that fond of
companies developing crops that are resistant to their own proprietary brands of herbicide for
example, but why not add value to a crop by developing one that does not need fertiliser, or a
plant that needs less herbicide? That is better for the planet at the end of the day, but the
green movement are deaf to this. There is good and bad in all technology.
Both GMOs and stem cells are over sensationalised, in my own field there is a lack of
rational debate and they are beyond rational debate now, they are an emotive debate. Its now
black or white and science should never be black or white.

11. Have you any concluding remarks?
None of my own work has been misrepresented in the media. When there has been media
coverage of my own work, I ask to see a work final draft so I can whizz through it and make
sure there are no factual errors and I imagine the journalists are happy with that. However,
Dick Ahlstrom wouldnt do that, yet what he wrote didnt need it. I think they should send it
back to the researchers they talked to, to be sure there are no factual errors.

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However, that should possibly be done with all journalism. There is not enough of science
journalism in Ireland. I think we need to go right back to the source, right back to primary
school. We need to get more quality scientific education in the primary and secondary level.
Primary in particular.
Interview with Prof Eugene Kennedy

1. How would you rate coverage of science in the Irish print media, in terms of
diversity and number of articles?
I think it is below what we would like it to be and it is primarily situated in one paper, the IT,
but it has limited circulation when compared with the Irish Independent and tabloids and
dailies. The IT does a good job through Dick Ahlstrom, Clair OConnell and William
Revilles articles and I would like to see something comparable in other newspapers.
In the periodicals, there is also Tom Kennedys Science Spin, a sort of a one man crusade, but
it is circulated electronically and has a good readership. He gets young people to talk about
their research and why it is important and that brings in the human dimension.
The Indo has some science but no dedicated science journalist like the IT, though it does
cover science to some extent, but not in a regular expected way like the IT.

2. What do you think journalists look for in an interesting science story?
They look for a story and literally a story that you have to tell. You need a hook to sell a story
and engage the interest of the reader.
One example is recent research into deep ocean smokers, which are interesting as they are
literally the earths core bubbling up to the surface. The science was written as the one eyed
shrimp, this was the hook for the public, but would not be of interest to the scientist.
They have to tell it around a good story. Science journalists want a hook to bring an audience,
but where the science journalist loses some control, is when sub-editors might change the
headline/spirit of a story. Journalists try to write a story in good faith, but they lose some
control when it goes to the back room. This is a commercial endeavour and it creates tension
between scientists and journalists. Science journalists have to build up trust with scientists.

3. Do you see any recurring themes in science articles you read?
There is huge interest in space, astronomy and astrophysics. Particle physics, NASA and
things like the Curiosity landing are also featured a lot. Fundamental concepts are also
covered quite often, for example the Higgs Boson saw huge coverage in the general media.
Other themes receive a lot of coverage like genetics and medical breakthroughs, which is
something everyone can relate to.
Sometimes controversy is a recurring theme, e.g. the Neutrino being faster than light. The
hook was that if it was right, it proved Einstein wrong and everybody has an interest with
stories surrounding big characters like Einstein. But it does show that science is presented in

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a very open way; a discovery can be brought into question which is a powerful side of
science to show.

4. How does coverage here compare to coverage abroad?
I am not an expert on coverage abroad but some papers in the UK are like the IT in their
coverage. I think more of the papers abroad would have that high quality of in-depth
coverage. However, more young people read online and can build a full story quickly with a
bigger scope. Newspapers need to see how they can maximise the online potential without
losing their readership and servicing the reader.

5. Have you ever been contacted by journalists for your opinion on a story or
feedback on an article?
No, never an opinion but I have been quoted for an interview and more often than not this
was fine. Quotations are sometimes taken out of context but sometimes this needs to be done
to bring out the wider picture as you may be just one person the journalist has spoken to.
Sometimes journalists let scientists see articles before they go to print, to make sure there are
no errors.
In the Royal Irish Academy (RIA) there was an event hosted by the Geosciences Academy
where scientists and journalists were brought together to talk. One of the important points
which emerged was that journalists have to develop a trusted relationship. There is huge
emphasis on a good story and the importance of an image, such as the picture the first
astronauts took of the Earth from the moon, which was a good hook, as it changed peoples
perspective of themselves. An image can be an important hook around how a story is told.

6. Have you received any training in how to communicate with non-specialist
media?
a. Are you aware of any of your colleagues that have?
Yes, C:\DCUDCU certainly has provided staff with an opportunity to undergo some media
training. Some agencies such as Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) encourage people to
undergo training. The RIA is pushing a new type of event which encourages scientists to
communicate effectively by talks with the public which also provide stories for journalists.
It is important for scientists to know that you cant tell all the science, you have to tell the
central core of what it is you are working on and why it is important. A good rule of thumb is
to identify the questions of our childhood: Who, what, where, when, why and how; and if you
answer all of those you have probably told a good story.
7. What is your opinion of science journalism in Ireland currently?
If I took it as the IT I would say it is good and healthy. However, if I take it as all the print
media, my opinion goes down very much.


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8. Is (science) education partly to blame for any problems which may exist in
science journalism in Ireland?
In regards people from a science background, the more recent science degrees have more
essay writing and a lot more communications with electronic media, oral presentations and
writing essays. With project work they have to write out what they actually did. There is an
MSc in Science Communications.
The more informed people are, the better, as it is a key part of good democracy. You dont
have to be an expert on everything, due to the whole breath of science. However, it is difficult
for people from a non-science background to get to grips with a story. You need a good story
and a science background helps with that but its not enough on its own.
An important part of science education is what happens at Primary and Secondary level.
International research has shown that attitudes to science are determined around 11, 12 and
13 years of age. In fact, a longitudinal study carried out in the states showed that school kids,
around eight years of age, who said they would be interested in a career in science were more
likely to take up careers in science later in life, because they had already developed an
interest. For those in the physical sciences, they were four times more likely to take it up later
in life, and for the life sciences they were twice as likely. In other words it is even more
important for the physical sciences such as physics, chemistry and mathematics that the
attitude by determined early in life.
Of course you now have the new JC and LC syllabi, but science is largely taught in the same
way. The LC cycle has to open out and become more flexible in how it is taught. I would like
to see everybody having some science, right through the LC. Partly because we live in a
technological age and to be well informed and educated I think you have to have a good
personal attitude, which is determined very early in life.
When looking at international comparisons, it can be seen that much more time is spent on
science and much less on religion than here.




9. Do you think people without a science background are interested in reading
about science?
a. If not, is (science) education at fault for peoples lack of interest in
science?
If you go into book shops like Hodges & Figgis and Easons, you will see a huge popular
science section compared to 30 years ago, ranging from string theory to physics of the
cosmos. These books are written because there is an audience for them. There a loads of
books for non-science people.
The late Garett Fitzgerald developed a terrific interest in science in later years and you would
see him at lectures by scientists at the forefront of research.

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There is a deep interest in science, without the mathematics and the hard science part, if
people get clued in at some stage. There is a huge interest around life stories, such as Steven
Hawking. Their lives are interesting and they have engaged with the public and if you can
make their life part of the story that makes it interesting to people. Good biographies are a
great way to get science across.

10. Have you ever used or are you aware of many scientists who use PR?
a. Do you think PR plays a big part in modern science communications?
I dont think of individual researchers using PR, but more research centres. They need to tell
their stories and be made visible to the outside world to get funding. The SFI has a small
budget for outreach, which is spent on schools, colleges and on educating the public. The
Innovation week, Science Discovery, ESOF and during 2012 Dublin is the City of Science,
was very interesting to the public. The number of events hosted shows how interesting
science is for the public. There were big speakers from across the world here, e.g. on the HB
and Craig Venter gave a speech, replicating a famous one from Schrodinger, on the nature of
life.
Communications can have indirect benefits such as inspiring people to go and do research.

11. Are you aware of any stories that receive more coverage than they deserve, have
been over sensationalised or misrepresented?
a. Do you think this happens with the majority of articles?
I would say the recent neutrino controversy is an example of that. The paper was not
published formally but the research was published. Scientists thought it wouldnt work; the
researchers didnt think it was right, but couldnt see find their mistake, so they published it
for their peer group to study. It was released to other scientists but it was also released to the
public and the big blaze of publicity it got was misplaced.
The cold fusion story also received huge coverage it shouldnt have. There was huge talk
about it and lots of non-science commentators on the matter. When the common interest
factor is less science, the more they believed the actual story and the more facile they
become. It becomes a question of faith in the science, which it shouldnt be.
Science commentators are also held off in some of these stories, thats why we need science
commentators. Too many controversies like that look like over-claims by scientists, and
thats not the way it should be portrayed, it can damage science.

12. Have you any concluding remarks?
The RIA wants more communication with the public and it does that by holding more talks
with the public. There have been recent successful master-classes on the HB, and the general
public were invited through the IT to attend and it was oversubscribed. It wasnt a formal
lecture, but a panel with the public, and the academy would like to do more of that.

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I would like to see more individual science communication and science in schools, etc. There
needs to be more participation but they do more than they used to. It is important for
scientists to tell the public what they are doing and what is being achieved.
The system here is different to abroad. There is a science forum in England which has a list
of scientists on the books for media to talk to. But Ireland is much smaller and there is an
informal network everyone knows everyone and informally people know who to talk to.