When we recently set up this forum, we were surprised to find that the subject mathematics hadn’t already been snapped up. After all, maths underlies the natural and life sciences and also technology.

But then, maybe it’s not that surprising. The media, even the science media, tend to keep a safe distance from maths, carefully circumnavigating it even if it lies at the heart of the work that’s being reported on. Mathematics is all too often characterised as a tool and measured by its applications.

This may sound like a complaint against the media, but it’s not. In truth, it can be very difficult for journalists, even science journalists, to obtain information about maths. While news about newly proved theorems and other advances spread like wildfire among mathematicians, there are hardly any channels that bring them to the attention of the wider world. In contrast to other scientists, most mathematicians, especially those working in pure maths, would never dream of putting together a press release or contacting the media about a new result. They simply are not aware that anyone outside their field might be interested, partly because such interest is seldom voiced by the media. Apart from Plus magazine there are hardly any publications that summarise maths news in a way that is accessible even to other mathematicians working in other fields, let alone to mainstream science journalists.

As a popular mathematics magazine we’d be very interested to hear your view on maths and the media. Are you a mathematician frustrated by constant non- or misrepresentation? Are you a non-expert desperately trying to find accessible information about mathematics? Do you have a specific maths question? Or would you like to point others to some particularly good maths coverage? Whatever it is, we’d really like to hear from you.

Let us know your thoughts on maths and the media here.