Geller Gail, Bernhardt Barbara A, Gardner Mary, Rodgers Joann, Holtzman Neil A
Phoebe Berman Bioethics Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA.
Genet Med. 2005 Mar;7(3):198-205. doi: 10.1097/01.gim.0000156699.78856.23.
To describe the relationship between scientists and science writers and their experiences with media reporting of genetic discoveries.
This study included individual interviews with 15 scientists who specialize in genetics and 22 science writers who have covered their stories and a qualitative analysis of the data.
Scientists and science writers place an equally high priority on accuracy of media reports. They agree on what makes genetics stories newsworthy and the particular challenges in reporting genetic discoveries (i.e., poor public understanding of genetics, the association of genetics with eugenics, and the lack of immediately apparent applications of genetic discoveries to human health). The relationship between scientists and bona fide science writers is largely positive. Scientists tend to trust, respect, and be receptive to science writers. Both scientists and science writers acknowledge that trust is an essential component of a good interview. Science writers report a fair degree of autonomy with respect to the relationship they have with their editors.
To the degree that trust facilitates the access that science writers have to scientists, as well as higher quality interviews between scientists and science writers, trust might also contribute to higher quality media reporting. Therefore, scientists and science writers have an ethical obligation to foster trusting relationships with each other. Future research should systematically explore ways to cultivate such relationships and assess their impact on the quality of science journalism.
描述科学家与科学作家之间的关系以及他们在基因发现媒体报道方面的经历。
本研究包括对15位遗传学专家和22位报道过相关故事的科学作家进行的个人访谈以及对数据的定性分析。
科学家和科学作家对媒体报道的准确性都给予了同样高度的重视。他们就使基因故事具有新闻价值的因素以及报道基因发现时的特殊挑战（即公众对遗传学的理解不足、遗传学与优生学的关联以及基因发现对人类健康缺乏立竿见影的应用）达成了共识。科学家与真正的科学作家之间的关系总体上是积极的。科学家倾向于信任、尊重并接受科学作家。科学家和科学作家都承认信任是一次良好访谈的重要组成部分。科学作家报告称，他们与编辑的关系具有一定程度的自主性。
就信任有助于科学作家接触科学家以及促进科学家与科学作家之间进行更高质量的访谈而言，信任也可能有助于提高媒体报道的质量。因此，科学家和科学作家有道德义务培养彼此之间的信任关系。未来的研究应该系统地探索培养这种关系的方法，并评估它们对科学新闻质量的影响。
