Our titanic national debt will eventually force hard decisions. Science funding will not be exempted. When that time comes, a public that has heard from the scientific community about why its work is valuable will more likely support science than one that hasn't. We cannot expect the public to respond positively if we have not told them our story. We can only do so through the media.
Molecular biologist Bryan Sykes of Oxford University recently spent seven weeks working for a British television station under a Science and Technology Media Fellowship, sponsored by the British Association for the Advancement of Science. He has offered his colleagues sound advice on how to speak through the media ( New Scientist, November 26, 1987, pp. 67-68). Sykes is correct to point out that our reluctance to work with the press can only widen the gulf that now separates scientists from the rest of ...
