Though South African scientists feel they have a duty to communicate their research to the public, they don’t trust local journalists with the job.
According to a survey published in the latest issue of the South African Medical Journal, the boffins have a ”serious lack of confidence” in the hacks.
The poll was conducted among 100 scientists working for or receiving grants from the Medical Research Council, a third of whom felt that the media were ”not at all” knowledgeable about their research.
Only 20% of the scientists rated science coverage by national newspapers as good. National television got a ”good” rating from only seven percent, and radio 12%.
And only five percent trusted national newspapers to provide accurate information.
”The press should not be allowed to report on oral interviews with scientists,” said one anonymous respondent. ”The press should be given written reports, and any deviations from the report should be strongly viewed.”
The scientists believed members of the public and policymakers were the two most important groups they should communicate their research to.
”It is interesting that the public was joint first choice as the most important group to communicate with, given the fact that most of the respondents’ peer-reviewed (medical) journal articles have never been mentioned in the lay media,” said author and coordinator of the survey Leverne Gething.
”It is therefore unlikely that much if any information on their research has ever actually reached the general public.”
Gething said however it was clear that the scientists generally wanted to communicate and saw the potential benefits. – Sapa