Science Media Centre

The Science Media Centre (SMC) is an "independent" media briefing centre for scientific issues, conceived and hosted by the Royal Institution, and enjoying close links with the British government. Its stated position is that it is not neutral, but "unashamedly pro-science".

It briefly and inadvertently became part of the news during 2002, following its involvement in rebuttals of the BBC GM-sceptical drama Fields of Gold.

Its roots were in the House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology Third Report Science and Society, 1999, which declared: "the culture of the United Kingdom science needs a sea-change in favour of open and positive communication with the media. This will require training and resources; above all it will require leadership." 

The consultation report which preceded the setting up of the SMC declared, "there is a widespread belief that the UK's post-war love affair with science has been replaced by an emerging anti-science mood which both fears the rapid development of science and is losing faith in the ability of science to solve society's problems." 

The consultation interviewed a number of prominent, unbiased scientists and journalists, but also a number of people with clear bias, such as Tony Gilland of the Institute of Ideas, David Sainsbury, Lord Taverne, Vivian Moses (Chair of CropGen), Andrew Gay of Huntingdon Life Sciences, and Peter Marsh of the Social Issues Research Centre (SIRC).

Selected Personnel

 * Fiona Fox (of the LM group), Director

Funding
(Note that funding is capped at £10k)
 * ARM Holdings
 * AstraZeneca
 * Beeson Gregory
 * BP-Amoco
 * British Energy
 * British Land
 * Conoco
 * Co-op
 * Daily Mail & General Holdings
 * Dixons Group
 * Dupont
 * EPSRC
 * GlaxoSmithKline
 * Mr Micky Ingall
 * J.H.Ritblat Charitable Trust
 * Pfizer Inc
 * Powderject
 * The Posen Foundation
 * Science Council
 * Smith + Nephew
 * Society for General Microbiology
 * Tesco
 * Trinity Mirror plc
 * Tate & Lyle
 * Royal College of Physicians
 * Dr David Moore, Association for Science Education
 * Dr. Geoff Andrews, Northern Foods
 * Merlin
 * Regenesys Technologies/Innogy
 * The Met Office
 * The Wellcome Trust (now GlaxoSmithKline)