Petroc Sumner is psychologist and co-director of the InSciOut science in the media project. This project – a collaboration between scientists, press officers and journalism academics – has published 9 studies on where exaggerations occur, how readers interpret the strength of causal phrases and related topics, culminating in a real-world trial investigating the effects on news of headline phrasing and caveats in actual press releases.
Scientist: Petroc Sumner
Why hype in press releases is ineffective – and how to fix it?
Press releases sometimes exaggerate scientific findings and omit study limitations. Scientists are investigating why, and testing ways to make them more accurate.
A scientist’s opinion: interview with Petroc Sumner on hype in press releases
Interview with Petroc Sumner, psychologist and co-director of the InSciOut project on science in the media. What do we know about how the quality of press releases influences news stories? Petroc Sumner: There is a strong correlation between the quality of press releases and the quality of the news stories that are based on them. Whether ...
