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During a debate today, the Minister for Science and Innovation, Lord Drayson, will dismiss claims that science reporting only results in sensationalist and misleading headlines about miracle cures and apocalyptic events.

Instead he’ll applaud the first rate, independent reporting of UK science journalists which helps people to make well-informed choices about their lives, as well as motivating the public to change their behaviour to address many of the major challenges we face, such as climate change.

At the debate at the World Conference of Science Journalists in London, the Minister will explain how science correspondents provide a crucial bridge between scientists and the public – often one of the rare times many readers and viewers are exposed to science.

The Minister said:

“People rely on dependable science journalism to make important choices: for themselves and their families, for their country. These are choices which affect their health, their jobs, their overall quality of life and their future.

“Where science correspondents are centre stage and when they have access to scientists, then science coverage in Britain is of a very high standard.”

Debating opposite Lord Drayson will be Professor John Martin, one of the world’s leading heart disease experts, who has compared the UK’s science journalists “to the greedy bankers who sparked the economic meltdown”.

But science correspondents, editors and the Government have learned crucial lessons from the coverage of controversial science issues such as the GM debate and the MMR vaccine, the Minister said.

Nowhere is this clearer than in the current coverage of swine flu. From the start, science correspondents were linked up with leading scientists and public health experts so that the coverage provided a fuller, balanced picture of the risks and how the UK would tackle the threat.

But this is not an isolated case, the Minister said, while high-quality, independent science has played its part in changing the way people perceive science and scientists in recent years.

The Minister said:

“A survey last year revealed that 82 per cent of people agreed that they were “amazed” by the achievements of science. And a separate survey in 2008 showed that 72 per cent of people said they trust scientists to tell the truth, up seven percentage points from 1997.

“Our ability to debate difficult ethical issues related to scientific research and exploitation in a mature fashion has attracted world-class scientists to come and work in this country. It has helped to persuade international companies to locate their R&D here. It also means that British people generally welcome new technologies and are willing to try them out.”

And following recent news that science journalists and news desks outside the UK are facing job cuts and closure, the Minister is even more determined to make a strong case on Wednesday for the country’s high quality science coverage and journalists.

Lord Drayson, Minister for Science and Innovation, and Professor John Martin will be taking part in “The Big Debate: Is the British media the best or worst in the world at covering science?” today (Wednesday 1 July) between 11.30am and 1pm at the World Conference of Science Journalists, Central Hall, Westminster, London. The debate has been produced by Fiona Fox, director of the Science Media Centre and will be chaired by Richard Highfield, editor of New Scientist. Around 900 delegates are expected to attend the 6th World Conference of Science Journalists which will bring together established and aspiring reporters, writers and science communicators from around the world.

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