Introduction

In a time of segmented media markets, enormous potential audiences, and multiple means for audiovisual communication worldwide, it is important to define clearly the purpose of “public communication of science”; projects and initiatives and by what criteria they should be evaluated. Conveyed within a popular format, scientific information contains considerable potential for stimulating change, affecting personal decisions about diet and health, influencing political decisions, or shaping a community's perception of risk. Presence (or absence) of scientific information can empower (or isolate) citizens in a highly technological world, but access alone is insufficient when the amount of information from all sources increases rapidly. Current strategies for allocating resources and setting policy for public communication of science activities follow an outdated and potentially dangerous course because they emphasize volume over all other parameters. This article proposes a re‐examination of science communication policies, with the goal of improving the public's ability to evaluate the quality, validity, legitimacy, and relevance of all scientific information to which public audiences are daily exposed, regardless of its source.