According to Scott Mandia
Dean also commented that there is no reward for speaking to the press and often scientists can become “Saganized” by appearing too mainstream. (Astronomer Carl Sagan was snubbed by the scientific community after he became famous for his television appearances and his writing. This was a central theme in Unscientific America.) In a recent survey, only 3% of scientists routinely speak to the press and 75% state that they never speak to the press. Conover mentioned that when a few of his marine scientists began publicizing their work, they were somewhat ostracized by their science peers. Unfortunately, the Sagan Effect is still alive and well.
