In his Nature piece called "Science journalism: toppling the priesthood" (http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v459/n7250/full/4591054a.html), Toby Murcott says we are like priests,"taking information from a source of authority and communicating it to the congregation".

Unlike journalists from other beats, goes the argument, science journalists "are no players in the scientific process", and have no effect "on the activities of the deity itself". This model needs to be toppled, adds Murcott.

But mostly what we see here is the print model of journalism, which is the one with the pressures of time and space.  This is not valid for web journalism. Also, perhaps it would be argued that becoming players in the scientific process might not be ideal.

What would you say? Are we priests? Are we translators? Are we something else? And, most of all, are we what we should be? That's what we need to discuss next week in London.