Why the PR Game Shouldn't be Played by Science

Wired posted this great article on Monday "Why Science Needs to Step Up Its PR Game" and while I find the premise quite intriguing, I have to disagree strongly. As a PR professional myself, it's quite easy to get frustrated with the lack of success in persuading public opinion that science often has.

The point, however, is that the purpose of science is not for persuading. The facts should be unbiased and speak on their own. It is the job of activists and PR-type professionals to persuade, it is the job of scientists to provide the material with which persuading will occur. If scientists were to start employing PR professionals to "sell" their ideas, the objectivity of the scientists would be lost and their information would be biased. If information can be argued to be biased, it can be dismissed and, despite the potential validity of this information, it will not be able to be used as for further research purposes and therefore will be ignored and valuable resources will be wasted.

I would argue that instead of using PR to promote science, we should be using PR to change the perception of scientific research and to help the public to better understand just what it is that science really is.