It seems contradictory: while surveys reveal ongoing high levels of interest and trust in ‘science’ across Europe, media outlets across the continent are publishing fewer science stories and cutting journalism jobs.
A 2025 Eurostat extensive survey of citizens’ attitude to science and technology found that 83 percent of respondents think that science and technology have an overall positive impact, and 67 percent that science and technology make our lives easier, healthier and more comfortable.1
Yet, science journalists from across Europe warn of a hollowing out of expertise in the profession with fewer full-time roles leading to higher workloads for the remainder and reduced training for new entrants.
This can be especially true in the smaller media markets divided along linguistic lines, as noted by the European Research Council when announcing its Frontiers journalism initiative.2
EMBO recently invited eight of our Maria Leptin Science Journalism Fellows to hear about their experiences and to gather ideas to help maintain journalism’s essential role as an unbiased and impartial disseminator of verified factual information.
Our Fellows told of increasing reliance by media outlets on freelance journalists – a process they see as financially unsustainable for the journalists and dangerous for the profession.
One noted that freelancers are “surviving rather than living”, and that the pressure on reporters, particularly from online outlets, to produce higher output with lower financial return is forcing journalists to produce multiple stories daily without proper research time.
A reduction in more expensive senior staff within newsrooms is also leading to a loss of institutional and historic knowledge and a corresponding impact on the quality of editorial judgment. We were told that “senior editor” titles are now awarded after one or two years whereas it may have taken 10 in the past.
COVID’s legacy
The process seems to have been accelerated since the COVID pandemic. When faced with a life-threatening global health issue, public interest in science naturally surged but with an existing shortage of science journalism expertise, media outlets had to rely on general or non-specialist reporters.
However, our Fellows believe that the lack of understanding by some journalists about peer review, preprints and the scientific process may have fueled misinformation because reporting of unverified treatments or retracted studies increased distrust in science and in the media.
The situation seems to be widespread across Europe with a reduction in jobs and published content. The increasing use of AI to ‘create content’ is also accelerating the reduction in locally produced material – leading to an even greater reliance on translated ‘foreign’ material which may be of questionable veracity. There are brighter stories as well, confirming that quality journalism featuring real life stories with emotional depth remains AI-proof.
Rays of hope
In the larger markets such as Germany, for example, major newspapers have successfully shifted to online subscriptions using TikTok, Instagram and podcasts as advertising platforms.
The UK and German Science Media Centres were also praised for connecting journalists directly with relevant scientific experts without requiring direct attribution. By helping a journalist verify external claims and provide scientific and cultural context, the process can help prevent the publication of inaccurate stories.
A consistent message was also the enduring importance of building long-term relationships between journalists and scientists, even if this is becoming harder. We heard how initial contact through a ‘random collision’ at a research conference, for example, when properly followed up and nurtured led to journalistic scoops.
What next?
The Maria Leptin | EMBO Science Journalism Fellowship offers sabbaticals for journalists to spend an extended period at a research institute. The closing date for applications is 30 September.
EMBO, working together with the Maria Leptin | EMBO Science Journalism Fellowship Borad, will be implementing Fellows’ suggestions to improve the scheme, including ways to best utilize EMBO’s global network of researchers to assist journalists. Stay tuned!
