Online Public Relations Thoughts

This is one of several stories I have read recently that condemn sloppy science writing in the media. Unfortunately, PR people are often involved in writing initial press releases for scientific announcements, and they muddle clarity and add to misunderstanding. A primary job of a PR practitioner is to be an accurate translator between specialties and laypersons. We take the jargon and make sense of it without imposing inaccurate interpretation of what it is and spin as to what it means. When we fail, reporters who are not trained in science are sure to fail. Our job is to help them, and it looks as if we aren't doing our jobs that well.