Should the scientific community interact more closely with the media in efforts to explain the work of scientists to a larger public?
Of course, it should. But the more difficult questions involve the responsibilities that the scientific community should shoulder in such efforts and the concrete measures that should be taken to enhance the capabilities of both scientists and scientific institutions in their interaction with the media.
On the one hand, the public often turns to science for answers to difficult issues that science itself may not be able to provide. On the other hand, today's cutting-edge...
On the one hand, the public often turns to science for answers to difficult issues that science itself may not be able to provide. On the other hand, today's cutting-edge scientific research does not readily lend itself to explanations that can be easily conveyed through the media, especially broadcast media. Today's cutting edge scientific research, moreover, often raises ethical issues that must be discussed among a broad cross-section of society before a consensus can emerge. In a sense, advances in science have raised immensely complicated issues that science alone cannot answer.
Fierce public resistance to the cultivation and distribution of genetically engineered food crops, even in developing countries suffering from malnutrition and hunger, indicate that the public - both in the North and South - is increasingly unwilling to assume that the products of scientific research are safe just because scientists say so. Likewise, public confusion - and often doubt - concerning the ethical propriety of cloning, whether for reproductive or therapeutic purposes, suggests that the scientific community has been unable to clearly explain such difficult issues to the public or, conversely, that the public is not listening when scientists do.
The scientific community and media each have distinctive roles to play within this increasingly complicated relationship between science and society. That's why a fruitful relationship between the two - one that proves of value to the societies in which they both function - depends on each understanding and respecting the other's roles. Therefore, the InterAcademy Panel on International Issues (IAP) supports efforts to strengthen and expand:
We, the undersigned science academies throughout the world, members of the IAP, support any effort done jointly by the scientific and the journalistic communities aiming at enhancing the fluidity of the information about discoveries in science, and at favouring public debates of high objectivity on the ethical issues which they may raise.
Science and the Media: Signatories
Latin American Academy of Sciences Third World Academy of Sciences Albanian Academy of Sciences National Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences, Argentina Australian Academy of Science Austrian Academy of Sciences Bangladesh Academy of Sciences The Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina Brazilian Academy of Sciences Cameroon Academy of Sciences The Royal Society of Canada Academia Chilena de Ciencias Chinese Academy of Sciences Academia Sinica, China, Taiwan Colombian Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences Cuban Academy of Sciences Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic Academy of Scientific Research and Technology, Egypt Estonian Academy of Sciences The Delegation of the Finnish Academies of Science and Letters Académie des Sciences, France Georgian Academy of Sciences Union of German Academies of Sciences and Humanities Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences Academy of Athens, Greece Academia de Ciencias Medicas, Fisicas y Naturales de Guatemala Hungarian Academy of Sciences Indian National Science Academy Indonesian Academy of Sciences Royal Irish Academy (Acadamh Ríoga na héireann) Kenya National Academy of Sciences Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Italy Science Council of Japan Royal Scientific Society of Jordan African Academy of Sciences Latvian Academy of Sciences Lithuanian Academy of Sciences Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts Akademi Sains Malaysia Academía Mexicana de Ciencias Academy of Sciences of Moldova Mongolian Academy of Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Academy Council of the Royal Society of New Zealand Nigerian Academy of Sciences Norwegian Academy of Sciences and Letters Pakistan Academy of Sciences Palestine Academy for Science and Technology Academia Nacional de Ciencias del Peru National Academy of Science and Technology, Philippines Russian Academy of Sciences Académie des Sciences et Techniques du Sénégal Singapore National Academy of Sciences Slovak Academy of Sciences Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts Academy of Science of South Africa Royal Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences of Spain National Academy of Sciences, Sri Lanka Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Council of the Swiss Scientific Academies Academy of Sciences, Republic of Tajikistan The Caribbean Academy of Sciences Turkish Academy of Sciences The Uganda National Academy of Sciences The Royal Society, United Kingdom US National Academy of Sciences Academia de Ciencias Físicas, Matemáticas y Naturales de Venezuela