Science Media Centre

The Science Media Centre (or SMC) is an organisation formed in 2000 to encourage more accurate reporting of science in the media. When notable scientific papers are published, the Science Media Centre will often publish a page of "expert opinion" which journalists will then commonly re-purpose in their published work. The Science Media Centre has published a number of expert opinions on ME/CFS.

"Militant" patient
The Science Media Centre has played a role in placing articles with the angle that a small group of "abusive" ME patients are driving researchers, namely psychiatrists studying cognitive behavioral therapy and graded exercise therapy, from the field. This story has been repeated in the UK media for nearly a decade, chiefly via reporting by Kate Kelland (Reuters), Tom Feilden (BBC), and Rod Liddle (Sunday Times).

The SMC claims to have been the source of Feilden's original 2011 reporting on threats and harassment to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome researchers. Feilden won an award from the UK Press Gazette for this reporting, and was nominated by the SMC. Prof. Simon Wessely of Kings College London, a colleague of PACE trial co-author and Oxford University professor, Michael Sharpe, was the source and subject Feilden's story, and is on the SMC board of trustees. Kelland is featured in the Science Media Centre's promotional materials.

Other criticism
The Science Media Centre has been criticized for being a "lobby group".

Patients with ME/CFS have criticised the Science Media Centre for focusing its output on psychological and psychiatric expert opinions on ME/CFS and the fact that they house the disease within their Mental Health section.

It has also been criticised for bias toward corporate interests.

Fiona Fox, director of the SMC, has debated a critic about the value of the SMC.

Professor James Coyne has criticized the Science Media Centre for what he sees as lobbying against open-data in science.

Professor Malcolm Hooper has criticized the Science Media Centre coverage of the disease.

It was found upon investigation that the Science Media Centre were behind the media publicity blitz in 2011 of allegations of harassment of researchers by patients during the year when the PACE trial results were published and criticised.

In August 2017, David Tuller criticized the Science Media Centre's published "expert opinions" in relation to criticism of the PACE trial.

A blog criticising and questioning Fiona Fox was published by John Peters in response to her 'Inconvenient Truths' blogpost.

Notable people

 * Fiona Fox (Chief Executive)
 * Edward Sykes (Senior Press Manager & Head of Mental Health and Neuroscience)
 * Simon Wessely (Board of Trustees)

Learn more

 * The Media and ME - Margaret Williams
 * Trial by Error: The Science Media Centre's Desperate Attempts to Defend PACE - David Tuller
 * Wikipedia - Science Media Centre