04. Great talent, but are they credible?

Submitted by Horacio Salazar on Sun, 2009-05-31 10:18
Your rating: None Average: 3 (2 votes)
Strand: 
Development Strand
Website: 
Wellcome Trust

The credibility of scientific sources can fundamentally influence the credibility of a story. But how do you spot a credible expert? Mavericks have intrinsic news value, are they a necessary evil to stimulate debate? Does the need for balance excuse the use of less than credible experts?

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Place & time
Venue: 
Central Hall, Westminster
Venue detail: 
Maurice Barnett Room
Date & Time: 
Tuesday, June 30, 2009 15:45 - 17:15
People
Producer: 
Lyndal Byford
Chair: 
Robyn Williams
Speaker: 
Alok Jha
Colin Blakemore
Diran Onifade
Session reviews: 
Who You Gonna Call?
2009-07-02 10:05

We all know them: The scientists whose research is always exciting and who are never stuck for an interesting opinion. You can call them anytime and their quotes are always pithy. But can you really trust such sources? How do you know whether the researcher you’re relying on is truly brilliant, just a marginal figure in his field, or even a complete idiot?

Great talent, but are they credible?
2009-07-01 05:44

One of the questions at the very heart of science journalism is which sources to trust: to which scientists should we turn for comment and explanation? What makes one scientist’s opinion more worthy than that held by their colleagues?

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