Scientists as Journalistic Sources: Collaborations with Caution

By Nalaka Gunawardene

Science writer & media analyst @NalakaG

Session on Leveraging Scientific Research for Investigations

GIJC 2025: Kuala Lumpur, 20-24 Nov 2025

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My reporting, analysis, commentary, column writing:�Spanning nearly 30 yrs…across print, broadcast, web

Scientists & Journalists both seek answers, in own ways

Science Research as journalistic story material

• Gives evidence-based grounding for journalistic stories
• Adds accuracy, credibility & nuance to narratives & analysis
• Helps identify trends or patterns in complex policy, regulatory, industrial or societal processes
• Equips journalists with clarity, insights & sound arguments to counter disinformation

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TIP: Research output can be found in many places, including:

• Peer-reviewed journal articles
• Preprints (before peer review)
• Review articles / meta-analyses
• Conference papers & presentations
• Theses and dissertations
• Technical reports & white papers (often policy related, with data)
• Regulatory submissions (e.g. Env. Impact Assessments or EIAs)

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Watch out: Research can come in all shapes & forms…

• Predatory journals publish low quality research for a fee, rigging peer-review
• Single studies: complex situations need not one but many studies over time
• Conflicts of interest: Researchers may have government or industry links that can influence their work & findings
• Pre-prints (released before peer review) can prove wrong & some may be withdrawn
• Press officers at research institutes can hype findings, or make fanciful claims

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TIPS:

• Critically consume all research findings: Read beyond the Abstract
• Scepticism needed: Be wary of any claims of ‘major breakthroughs’
• Never rely on a single researcher source
• Scientists can also make mistakes; some even fudge data/findings
• Uncertainties are common in science

Journalists using research findings need to have a basic understanding of how science works

• Scientific Method: multi-step process used by researchers
• Reliance on empirical evidence: information gathered directly or indirectly thru observation or experimentation
• Research incremental: builds on past work; knowledge advances s-l-o-w-l-y, sometimes tentatively (with uncertainties)

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Image courtesy: https://timescavengers.org

Science is self-correcting, …but scientists are human!

• Scientists trained to go by evidence, be dispassionate & revise conclusions with data
• Yet dogmas persist…
• Bickering & feuds common…
• Unresolved questions can remain – even for decades…
• Engaging scientists as source is highly useful -- but we need to navigate carefully!

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Big challenge: Co-relation not NECESSARILY causation�[But sometimes it CAN be!]

• Coincidences: Two concurrent events or factors need not be linked at all
• Other variables: A factor not known, studied or measured could be affecting observed phenomena
• Multi-factorial: When several factors are at work, it’s hard to attribute cause-and-effect (or assign a proportionate share) to a specific factor (e.g. what causes cancer?)

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Many sensational headlines could be avoided IF…

Cartoonist unknown – but point is well made!

Handled right, scientists VERY useful as sources

Working Challenges:

• Scientists work on very different timelines
• Some have their own gate-keepers (press officers!)

TIPS:

• Collaborate with scientists when necessary & helpful – but be careful not to be co-opted!

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• ‘Source capture’ = when a source manipulates journalists for own agenda (e.g. for activist causes, discrediting rivals, or self-promotion)

Case study (A public health challenge since 1990s):�Chronic Kidney Disease of Unknown etiology (CKDu)

• Chronic kidney disease occurring without any established causes (diabetes, long-term hypertension, or known renal disorders)
• Cases detected in Sri Lanka from mid 1990s, almost all in dry, rural, rice farming areas
• Mainly affected: Male farmers aged ~40-69, working on irrigated lands, heat-exposed
• In some villages, 20%+ working age male population affected by CKDu
• Mystery: What is causing this disease?

Data gaps aggravate health crisis

• CKD (cause known) & CKDu (unknown) are not separately tracked in official health data
• LK Ministry of Health 2014 figures: ≈69k CKD/CKDu cases; ~20k deaths
• Recent academic work summarising national data indicates: ~164,000 CKD/CKDu cases
• Early detection for CKDu has improved in recent years 🡪 higher now numbers reported
• But is it spreading fast, or just more cases are being found & tracked than before?
• Public health crisis: thousands living with CKDu unable to work, need regular treatment; families struggling

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What causes CKDu? �A global quest going on for decades

• Since mid 1990s, 100s of national & international researchers been studying dozens of variables:
• Geochemical and environmental factors
• Occupational & lifestyle (incl. alcohol, herbal remedies)
• Socio-economic and genetic factors
• Climate related (heat stress?)
• Dozens of CORELATION associations probed, but CAUSATION still not proven after 25+ yrs
• Recent agree views agree: it can be multifactorial

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CKDu in a growing number of countries…

Map source: Environ Geochem Health (2023) 45:2647–2662

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-022-01373-y

Journalist’s dilemma covering CKDu

A powerful story!

• Mystery disease 🡪 suffering, stigma, fear of unknown, rising death toll
• Politicians under pressure to act –

A difficult story to cover…

• Slow evolving humanitarian tragedy: No drama like in a pandemic
• Scientists divided on causative factor/s
• No consensus 🡪 much debate
• Eco activists looking for ‘villains’

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2015: LK Ministry of Science & Technology listed

41 hypotheses or variations on possible causes of CKDu, none proven – then/since.

Correlation is not (necessarily) causation!

My coverage of CKDu spanned over a dozen years

• Challenged to keep up with evolving, multi-faceted, multi-disciplinary problem
• Tried to connect macro level studies & policy debates to ground level human suffering
• Highlighted our collective ‘mass media failure’ to properly cover the crisis of mass kidney failures

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https://www.academia.edu/2921585/Mass_Kidney_Failure_and_Mass_Media_Failure_Communicating_Risk_in_Times_of_Crisis

My op-eds/columns urged for more science & empathy

“Mass kidney failure is more than just a public health emergency or environmental crisis. It is symptomatic of cascading policy failures in land care, water management and farming over decades. There are no quick fixes.

“In searching for solutions, health and environmental activists must rise above their single-issue advocacy positions. They can bring grassroots concerns to national debates. Collaboration – not confrontation or conspiracy theories – is the need of the hour.”

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- SciDev.Net, South Asia Analysis, Jan 2014

Collaboration with top scientists

• 2013-14: National Academy of Sciences Sri Lanka invited me to moderate series of national policy debates on CKDu
• Navigated contentious debates involving researchers, politicians and eco activists
• Gained easy access to top LK scientists from many disciplines
• Nurtured relationships and trust – but I was always careful to remain independent
• Afterwards, wrote op-eds & review articles using on-record discussions [Example: Ceylon Today, 28 Dec 2013 🡪]

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Asking hard questions:�March 2019: Mongabay

“What is the right time for researchers to sound the alarm about a possible environmental or health hazard — when a correlation is detected, or only after some evidence is found for causation? How should policymakers respond to unresolved scientific debates where opinion is divided?”

https://news.mongabay.com/2019/03/glyphosates-kidney-disease-link-more-science-less-politics-commentary/

Summing up: Key learnings covering CKDu

• Science researchers & papers are a veritable source for journalists – we engage with caution
• In public health & environmental stories, never lose sight of human interest & human suffering
• Beware of eco activists & activist-scientists who cherry pick evidence (hear them out, sceptically!)
• Politics inevitable: don’t avoid, but navigate!
• Appreciate policymakers’ dilemmas when scientists are divided on a public health/env issue

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The story continues…

“There are no full-stops (or periods),

– only commas –

in both science and journalism!”

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Nalaka Gunawardene

Twitter/X: @NalakaG

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nalakagunawardene/