The
mass media face a number of pressures that can prevent them from accurately depicting competing scientific claims in terms of their credibility within the scientific community as a whole. Determining how much weight to give different sides in a
scientific debate requires considerable expertise regarding the matter.
[52] Few journalists have real scientific knowledge, and even
beat reporters who know a great deal about certain scientific issues may know little about other ones they are suddenly asked to cover.
[53][54]
Politics
Many issues damage the relationship of science to the media and the use of science and scientific arguments by
politicians. As a very broad generalisation, many politicians seek certainties and
facts whilst scientists typically offer probabilities and caveats. However, politicians' ability to be heard in the
mass media frequently distorts the scientific understanding by the public. Examples in
Britain include the controversy over the
MMR inoculation, and the 1988 forced resignation of a Government Minister,
Edwina Currie for revealing the high probability that battery eggs were contaminated with
Salmonella.
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