She also explained that the borders between advertising and media are being blurred, making it even more difficult for complicated messages to be picked up.

Nevertheless, referring to the topic of climate change, Dr Sponar stressed: “There is a growing public awareness for these issues”.

This interest should be used by scientists and the media alike. Dr Sponar said: “Science and media, they depend on each other. Journalists create powerful images that the public can easily understand”.

When contacting the media, Dr Sponar suggested: “Try to get through to correspondents at the news agencies”, as they are responsible for providing other media outlets with information.

She also advised that scientists should carefully select the medium they would like their research and statements to appear, as the “information in well recognised titles always has a certain weight.” This can also prevent that scientific information is over simplified and stated wrongly which can lead to loss of reputation.

Dr Sponar also presented a study, which she co-conducted, on how 214 articles in Latin American newspapers reported on climate change issues. One of the results was that scientists were quoted most. “Scientists are the most reliable sources. Politicians were quoted least, showing that they had not overtaken the climate change topic”, she said. The study was carried out in cooperation with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

The open event took place at the UN Campus in Bonn on 25 June 2009 and was organised by UNU-EHS.