Fiona Fox

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Fiona Fox listed as 'Fiona Foster' in a picture from the journal she edited at the time: Irish Freedom the bulletin of the Irish Freedom Movement, Issue 18 Summer 1992.

Some sections of this page have been suspended pending further research.

Fiona Fox is the director of the Science Media Centre (SMC) and is associated with the libertarian anti-environmental LM network and its precursor, the Revolutionary Communist Party.

As a student, she joined and was subsequently a leading member of the Revolutionary Communist Party and of its front group the Irish Freedom Movement. She was for a period (circa 1992) the editor of its bulletin titled Irish Freedom. Fiona Fox wrote, using her party name, Fiona Foster, for Living Marxism, appeared in Spiked, chaired sessions at the Battle of Ideas, has adjudicated for Debating Matters, is an adviser to the Progress Educational Trust and wrote, again as Fiona Foster, for Novo Argumente. Fiona is a younger sister of leading LM associate Claire Fox and is married to LM associate Kevin Rooney, with whom she has had a son, Declan.

Despite having no previous background in science or science communication, Fox has been afforded, since her appointment to the Science Media Centre in December 2001, the status of expert. She has, for example, been included in a working party on peer review set up by Sense About Science, and in a steering group on improving communication over science policy and risk set up by the Office of Science and Technology. In 2003 Fox delivered a lecture at Green College, Oxford, on the challenge of adapting science to the mass media.

Early career

Fox was born in 1964, attended St. Richard Gwyn Catholic High School, Flint in North Wales and studied journalism at the Polytechnic of Central London. She started her career as an Assistant PR officer for Thames Polytechnic, followed by six years at the Equal Opportunities Commission, reaching the position of senior press officer. She then spent two years running the media operation at the National Council for One Parent Families, followed by Head of Media at CAFOD, the Catholic aid agency.

Science Media Centre

Within months of Fox becoming its founding director in 2001, the SMC was embroiled in controversy over its activities. It was accused of operating as "a sort of Mandelsonian rapid rebuttal unit" and of employing "some of the clumsiest spin techniques of New Labour". There have also been controversies about both the SMC's funding and Fox's background.

According to the Science Media Centre, Fox previously ran "the media operation at the National Council for One Parent Families" and was "Head of Media at CAFOD, the Catholic aid agency". In addition, the SMC profile says, Fox "has written extensively for newspapers and publications, authored several policy papers and contributed to books on humanitarian aid". What they do not say is that throughout much of that time Fox led a double life. It's one which seriously undermines the SMC's claims to be open, rational, balanced and independent, not to mention its being in the business of ensuring the 'that the public gets access to all sides of the debate about controversial issues.' It's a double life that connects the SMC's director to the inner circles of a political network that compares environmentalists to Nazis and eulogises GM crops and cloning. More disturbingly, it is a network whose members have a long history of infiltrating media organisations and science-related lobby groups in order to promote their own agenda. It is also a network that has targeted certain media organisations and sought to discredit them or their journalists.

Fiona Fox's presence in the SMC needs to be seen in the context of other LM contributors holding senior positions, in a series of organisations which lobby on issues related to biotechnology, eg Sense About Science (managing director: Tracey Brown; director: Ellen Raphael), Genetic Interest Group (former policy director: John Gillott), Progress Educational Trust (former director: Juliet Tizzard, Communications Officer Sandy Starr), and the Scientific Alliance (advisor: Bill Durodie). The network's own entities, particularly the Institute of Ideas, relies heavily on funding from Pfizer, the Wellcome Trust and the Research Councils, funding provided on the basis that these entities will promote discussion of controversial emerging technologies.

This background is a cause for concern in relation to Fox's role as director of the SMC. Fox's Green College Lecture was titled, 'The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth: so where does that leave journalism?' But neither Fox nor the Science Media Centre have been willing to disclose any of the truth about her long years of involvement with a network of extremists who engage in infiltration of media organisations and science-related lobby groups in order to promote their own agenda. It is also a network which eulogises GM crops and cloning and is extremely hostile towards their critics.

Fox's own journalism might also suggest that she is none too fussy about either truth or openness when it comes to pushing her agenda. It is perhaps revealing that someone whose own journalism has been called 'shoddy' and 'an affront to the truth', and has proved enormously controversial, has been selected as the director of an organisation which claims the role of making sure that controversial scientific issues like GM crops are reported accurately in the media.

Hoax call

In October 2010 Fiona Fox was in the news as a result of the disgraced former Labour politician Jim Devine being ordered to pay his former office manager 35,000 pounds in damages after she won an employment tribunal claim against him. Devine was already facing a criminal trial over allegations he fiddled his expenses as an MP.

A key part of Devine's former office manager's case centered around a hoax call. The telephone call was made to the office manager by a friend of Devine posing as a journalist looking into MPs' expenses. This friend, in reality, was Fiona Fox.

Eventually the office manager realised the call had been a hoax. But this was only after she came across an e-mail to Devine marked urgent from Fiona Fox, Director of the Science Media Centre. The e-mail was mostly about the Human Fertility and Embryology Bill but at the end was a PS referring to the hoax call Fox had made to Devine's office manager.

Fox and Devine seem to have struck up their close friendship while working together to win public support for animal-human hybrid embryos during the passage of the Embryology Bill. The fact that Devine was a Catholic was particularly useful, and he even brokered a special meeting between the head of the Catholic Church in Scotland and scientific supporters of hybrid embryos.

The Science Media Centre was involved in co-ordinating the media work in support of the Embryology Bill, and Fox and her collaborators were particularly anxious not to see the Bill bogged down by public opposition, as happened with GM.

Fox's involvement in the Devine hoax has not gone unnoticed in science communication circles. Ian Sample, the science correspondent of The Guardian, has written:

Though appalling from the off, it was not the top line [of the employment tribunal story] that shocked many of my colleagues most. What came as a surprise was the revelation far down the story that the fake call in question was made by Fiona Fox, head of the Science Media Centre in London, a prominent venue for press conferences on all matters scientific and medical. Otherwise articulate people who read the story struggled to say more than three letters: WTF?

Publications, Resources, contact, Notes

Publications

2010-2011

• Fiona Fox, 'New Year Round-Up: ME, Susan Greenfield, and the Future of Science Journalism', On Science and the Media, 21 January 2010.
• Fiona Fox, 'Launch of New Scientific Committee on Drugs, Media Show, the Met Office and Simon Jenkins', On Science and the Media, 29 January 2010.
• Fiona Fox, 'Thoughts on 'Climategate, On Science and the Media, 9 February 2010.
• Fiona Fox, 'My Life in a Parallel Universe', On Science and the Media, 2 March 2010.
• Fiona Fox, 'Drama at the Royal Institution, Simon Singh's Libel Case Dropped, and the Principles of Scientific Advice', On Science and the Media, 26 April 2010.
• Fiona Fox, 'Evan Harris: Parliament Loses a Champion for Science', On Science and the Media, 11 May 2010.
• Fiona Fox, 'On Ben v Jeremy, On Science and the Media, 11 June 2010.
• Fiona Fox, 'Are Embargo Breaks Bad for Science?', On Science and the Media, 30 June 2010.
• Fiona Fox, 'The Media on UEA: Guilty as Charged?', On Science and the Media, 22 July 2010.
• Fiona Fox, 'Science Funding and Channel 4 Film on the Green Movement', On Science and the Media, 10 November 2010.
• Fiona Fox, 'Sharing the Love of Science: thoughts on Beddington', On Science and the Media, 28 February 2011.

2005-2009

• Fiona Fox, 'Playing Fast and Loose with Science', Chemistry World: Comment, November 2006.
• Fiona Fox, 'Just Good Journalism?', On Science and the Media, 22 November 2006.
• Fiona Fox, 'Richard Doll: Supping with the Devil?', On Science and the Media, 11 December 2006.
• Fiona Fox, 'Stem Cell Scientists Seize the Media Agenda on Human-Animal Embryos', On Science and the Media, 22 January 2007.
• Fiona Fox, 'Why Experts Need to Speculate, Without Speculating, On Science and the Media, 9 March 2007.
• Fiona Fox, 'Professor John Henry )1939-2007): Tribute to a Media Friendly Scientist', On Science and the Media, 21 May 2007.
• Fiona Fox, 'Why We Need the Best Journalism on Public Health Stories', On Science and the Media, 18 July 2007.
• Fiona Fox, 'Where Should Politicians Get Their Scientific Advice?', On Science and the Media, 9 May 2008.
• Fiona Fox, 'Nick Davies' Flat Earth News and 'churnalism - Myth or reality?', On Science and the Media, 16 May 2008.
• Fiona Fox, 'How I Became a Physics Groupie', On Science and the Media, 19 September 2008.
• Fiona Fox, 'Fiona Creates a Buzz at the World Conference of Science Journalists 2009 Programme Launch Party, London', On Science and the Media, 4 February 2009.
• Fiona Fox, 'Using a Sledgehammer to Crack a Nutt - the Media Furore Over Ecstasy', On Science and the Media, 13 February 2009.
• Fiona Fox, 'Fiona Discusses Science and Politics on Radio 4's Leading Edge', On Science and the Media, 17 March 2009.
• Fiona Fox, 'There's Life in the Old Dog Yet: In Defence of Journalism', On Science and the Media, 13 July 2009.

2000-2004

• Fiona Fox, 'Is 'Nano' the Next GM?', Chemistry World: Comment, February 2002.
• Fiona Fox 'Human Rights and the Rule of Law: Achieving Universal Justice?', in David Chandler (Ed.) Rethinking Human Rights: Critical Approaches to International Politics Houndmills: Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan (26 Nov 2002) ISBN-10: 0333977165 ISBN-13: 978-0333977163

1995-1999

• Fiona Foster, 'Opposing the 'peace process', Living Marxism, No. 75 - January 1995, p. 17.
• Fiona Foster, 'The CSA's hidden success', Living Marxism, No. 75 - January 1995, p. 34.
• Fiona Foster, 'Massacring the truth in Rwanda', Living Marxism, No. 85 - December 1995, p. 24.
• Fiona Foster, 'Irish republican prisoners', Living Marxism, No. 89 - April 1996, p. 31.
• Fiona Fox, 'Who says there are too many Africans?', LM 116, p. 21, December/January 1998/1999.

1990-1994

• Fiona Foster and Joe Watson, 'Who says South Armagh is British?', Living Marxism, No. 19 - May 1990, p. 8.
• Fiona Foster, 'A murder is not announced', Living Marxism, No. 28 - February 1991, p. 32-34.
• Fiona Foster, 'Hunger Strikers', Living Marxism, No. 31 - May 1991, p. 36-38.
• Fiona Foster, 'Ireland: The peaces of the grave', Living Marxism, No. 34 - August 1991, p. 26-29.
• Fiona Foster 'Behind the Paras' riot', Living Marxism, No. 45 - July 1992, p. 14.
• Fiona Foster, 'Ireland: 3000 dead', Living Marxism, No. 48 - October 1992, p. 8.
• Fiona Foster, 'The old order crumbles in Ireland', Living Marxism, No. 51 - January 1993, p. 32.
• Fiona Foster, 'Who cares in the community?', Living Marxism, No. 54 - April 1993, p. 20.
• Fiona Foster, 'Loyalist murders', Living Marxism, No. 55 - May 1993, p. 19.
• Fiona Foster, 'Another Irish fit-up', Living Marxism, No. 58 - August 1993, p. 23.
• Fiona Foster 'One of "the unmanageables"' Tommy McKearney, a former Irish republican prisoner and hunger-striker, told Fiona Foster why he doesn't support the current 'peace process' Living Marxism issue 66, April 1994.
• Fiona Foster, 'Dying for a job', Living Marxism, No. 71 - September 1994, p. 22.

1985-1989

• Fiona Foster, 'Guess who's left holding baby?', Living Marxism, No. 9 - July 1989, p. 28.
• Fiona Foster, 'Out of the frying pan', Living Marxism, No. 10 - August 1989, p. 32.

Affiliations

• Chair of the Science and the Media Expert Group appointed by DIUS/BIS, 2009-2010

Resources

• Fiona Foster Contribution to OTAM, in Our tasks and methods discussion, RCP internal document, circa 1996, p. 4-5.

Contact details

Science Media Centre, "Staff profiles" Personal blog, "Fiona Fox blogspot"