In late July 2012, I chatted with a professor of chemistry from a local university who was commenting on trying to generate some media interest in a recent study of hers. Her contacts at the university public affairs/media relations/etc.  office suggested she write the press release herself and they would distribute it for her. This is one of the big Canadian universities.

My own experience is that the science writing in Canadian [university] science news releases tends to be fairly poor. There are some exceptions and those would be [universities] in the provinces of Ontario and Québec. I believe there is more public outreach interest amongst scientists but there is very little institutional support. Especially when you contrast [this] with the situation in the UK.

Thanks to one of my LinkedIn discussion groups I found out about an audio podcast produced by Rebecca Nesbitt, press officer for the Society of Biology, for a media work shop with a rather unwieldy title (Voice of Young Science Standing up for Science). Since this was an event in the UK, it may take a moment for those more familiar with Canadian or US English to adjust their listening skills*. From the podcast webpage on the Society of Biology website (ETA Aug. 10, 2012: This podcast seems to have been removed from its webpage and is not currently accessible),

I was much struck by the section where someone suggests relying on a press officer to help. I imagine most Canadian scientists would be slack-jawed with envy.

The Voice of Young Science Standing up for Science workshops are an initiative of the Sense about Science charitable trust. From the About us page,

We are a charitable trust that equips people to make sense of scientific and medical claims in public discussion.

With a database of over 5,000 scientists, from Nobel prize winners to postdocs and PhD students, we work in partnership with scientific bodies, research publishers, policy makers, the public and the media, to change public discussions about science and evidence. Through award-winning public campaigns, we share the tools of scientific thinking and scrutiny. Our growing international Voice of Young Science network engages hundreds of early career researchers in public debates about research and evidence. Our activities and publications are used and shaped by community groups, civic bodies, patient organisations, information services, writers, publishers, educators, health services and many others.

There is no comparable institutional support of this kind in Canada.

ETA Sept. 24, 2012: I have added a few words between square brackets to my original posting. Hopefully, this is better grammar than my original attempts.

* The word ‘so’ was removed and ‘mare’ changed to ‘more’ on May 19, 2014.