BEYOND THE HYPE: INSIDE SCIENCE’S BIGGEST MEDIA SCANDALS FROM CLMATEGATE TO COVID

By Fiona Fox

Simon & Schuster, Rs 999

Until the moment Joe Biden fumbled during the calamitous presidential debate with Donald Trump, most of the media simply considered him a well-meaning, elderly man. But a section of journalists wanted to go deeper, wondering, for instance, why would he imply that his uncle was eaten by “cannibals”. The same logic is applicable to the world of science where scientists are usually reluctant to talk; but when they do, it’s a cloud burst of details that are incomprehensible.

Fiona Fox believes in an effective engagement between scientists and journalists when science makes headlines. In Beyond the Hype, the founding director of Science Media Centre in the United Kingdom recounts the biggest scientific controversies of the past two decades.

The SMC — based on the philosophy that “the media will DO science better when scientists DO the media better” — can be considered a press office for mainstream science. It helps when important research is published because no science story is simple.

The book plays out like a thriller while maintaining a mature tone. Consider Sir Tim Hunt’s fall from grace in 2015 — the winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine suffered a foot-in-the-mouth moment at a lunch hosted by women Korean scientists when he spoke about his “trouble with girls”. His statement stole the daily news cycle, forcing most of the highly-reputed organisations he was attached with to demand his resignation.

An equally thrilling chapter unfolds in 2009, the year of “Climategate”, when unknown hackers dumped 10 years’ worth of email exchanges among leading climate scientists onto the internet days before an important climate summit in Copenhagen. Bits and pieces of those exchanges were highlighted to paint climate science in the worst possible light. SMC wanted to put out the truth but crisis management agencies can, at times, forget the larger picture and give way to a wheels-within-wheels situation.

The pandemic too finds a place in the book but the author had to race against the fast-moving developments and couldn’t touch upon recent reports about manufacturers admitting that vaccines may cause blood clots in rare cases.

Fox’s account is refreshing, especially when she elaborates on situations that could have been handled differently. This riveting book proves that science journalism is not easy when the public demands a clear message that scientists and corporate press officers many a time push through a maze.