This issue of the Journal of Science Communication raises a numberof questions about the ways that new scientific research emerges from researchinstitutions and in particular the role played by scientists, press officers andjournalists in this process. This is not to suggest that the public don’t play anequally important role, and several articles in this issue raise questions aboutpublic engagement, but to explore the dynamics at play in one specific arena: thatof news production. In this editorial I explore the increasing reliance of sciencejournalists on public relations sources and consider what questions this raises forscience communication