The current issue of Science has a report with some reassuring findings for my profession:

Scientists and journalists get along much better than the anecdotal 'horror stories' would lead us to believe, according to new research published today in the journal Science, which has found that 57% of researchers were 'mostly pleased' with their media interaction, while only 6% percent were 'mostly dissatisfied'.

Previous research as well as anecdotal evidence has tended to focus on the negative aspects of scientists' media interaction, but today's survey, based on the responses of 1354 scientists working in the high-profile research fields of epidemiology and stem cell research in the UK, US, France, Germany and Japan, suggests that, for the most part, scientists are comfortable dealing with journalists.

This aligns well with my own experience, but I wasn't sure that the phenomenon was so widespread. When I contact researchers, it's usually for a trade magazine or research journal they already trust, and of course those letters after my name don't hurt either. It's good to know that the lay press gets similarly collegial treatment, because communicating with them means communicating with the general public - which, after all, is paying for much of this cool science.