In Cosmos Magazine, Craig Cormick, an Australian science writer, writes about what he calls ‘the dark sides of science journalism – those things that look and sound like good independent science reporting, but may in fact be something other.’

Money quotes:

“Looking around on the internet, it is hard to distinguish what is written by a journalist or by somebody paid to write a piece,” says Bianca Nogrady, a freelance journalist, and editor of The Best Australian Science Writing 2015.”

“I know of one particular example where the journalist didn’t even think there was something wrong, when University X asked the journalist to write positive stories for them,” adds [Susannah Eliott, the CEO of the Australian Science Media Centre in Adelaide].”

“[..] the influence of sponsors is rarely disclosed, which is a problem, making it hard for any reader to know just how balanced and well-reported a piece may be.”

Link: Craig’s full article