And because the SMC’s briefings are a free-for-all in terms of questions, we also challenged the scientists themselves about their expertise, their funding and their stance on the nuclear industry. Most of them were comfortable with being challenged and keen to be open about their backgrounds and experience.
The bottom line, it seems to me, is that just as in other areas of science—be it drug discovery, global health or nuclear energy—the people who know the most and have the greatest expertise to share are only rarely completely detached from the industry. As long as that is clear to journalists, they can make up their own minds about which sources to use, and which ones to ignore.
Maybe one way for the SMCs to improve their service during such crises would be to ask the scientists offering comments to also make conflict of interest disclosures. It may, in fact, not be a bad idea to do that with all SMC activities.
