In "Selling Science: How the Press Covers Science and Technology", Nelkin explored the cultural pressures which shape the reporting of science in the popular press. It reflects her concern about "science by press conference". She posited that scientists and journalists have differing agendas that cause a "distortion of scientific progress". The culture of journalism and pressures to respond to events causes the superficiality or oversimplification of science reporting in the press, raising concerns when scientific breakthroughs and calamities (e.g., AIDS, Three Mile Island, the Challenger Disaster) are overstated.