Inaccurate reporting of scientific findings can dangerously alter public perception, a campaigner has told the Leveson Inquiry.

Fiona Fox, director of the Science Media Centre, said press coverage of the MMR vaccine had been falsely balanced and given a significant voice to flawed research claiming it to be unsafe.

She told the inquiry columnists often stated “blatantly inaccurate” information as fact.

She added: “We love science on the front page but I think it would resolve a lot of problems if journalists didn’t overclaim for the studies.”

Fox said, unlike newsrooms, the scientific community demanded extraordinary evidence for extraordinary claims. She said the press should allow different opinions to be reflected, but ensure factual information is accurate and not overhype headlines.

She added: “You don’t have to go many weeks before you get what we call the scare quotes… we shouldn't be seeing ‘miracle’ or ‘cure’ in stories unless they are proven to be such."

The director balanced her claims by calling science reporters “the best ally of science”. She said the industry would benefit from more specialist journalists.

She also criticised scientists over interactions with the media, saying that some needed to engage much more effectively with journalists.

She added: “The media will do science better when scientists start to do the media better."

Fox said Professor Brian Cox, a scientist and television presenter, was a good example of a scientist able to write for a mainstream audience.