The Science Media Centre and Engaging with the News Media

I will be speaking about the work of the Science Media Centre, an independent press office that works as a bridge between science and journalism to get scientist’s voices into the breaking science stories which are the headline news of the day; the controversial, messy, or politicised scientific issues and the new studies which may be sensationalised or misrepresented. I will be looking specifically at examples of how researchers in psychiatry have previously done this to highlight and discuss why it’s so important researchers engage with the media on these issues. I will also talk about how the SMC can work with researchers and the support we can provide to help ensure their research is reported in an accurate and measured way so that the public has access to the best evidence on these issues.