Accurately reporting scientific studies remains a challenge for journalists. Often lacking any formal background in science, journalists are expected to communicate the complex findings of scientific research in such a way that average readers can understand. As a result, news coverage tends to exaggerate, misrepresent, or sensationalize the findings of scientific studies. This report examines the common errors that journalists make when reporting on scientific studies, as well as the issues in modern scientific research that contribute to this problem. While total scientific literacy in journalism remains a lofty ideal, the democratizing force of the Internet not only holds journalists more accountable in their reporting, but also provides platforms for skeptics and experts to weigh in on the news treatment that studies receive.Journalis
