Science Communication
Science Communication
Science Communication
FROM
PEER-TO-PEER
TO
PUBLIC
COMMUNICATION
Practical information for scientists interacting with the media
The media have a key role in bridging science to a large public. Yet communicating can easily get lost in translation. The problem stems from the media's over-simplification or the insufficient involvement from scientists when communicating to the public. Based on the mutual respect for one anothers roles, journalists and researchers can profit from a cooperative relationship. Media training can provide scientists with the skills needed to confidently use these channels to talk about their work.
CONTENT
1. Engaging
vs.
Communicating
2. Why
should
you
get
involved?
3. Understanding
the
media
4. Guidelines
when
dealing
with
the
media
5. The
science
of
storytelling
6. How
to
grab
the
journalists
attention
7. Answering
media
requests
8. Choosing
the
right
medium
What
is
news?
Generally speaking, it is the relevance and the implication of everyday life occurrences that make science newsworthy. Often scientists and journalists have different opinions on how important a fact is. Winning a grant to fund your research might be great news for your university or research centre, but it will not mean that much to the public, who will be more interested in your research results. If you wish to communicate through the media, then you need to know what journalists consider to be a newsworthy piece of information. News can be defined as something that is new, odd, surprising, conflictive, and/or prominent and likely to affect a lot of people. All in all, it is stories about potentially life changing and new developments that will be likely to produce headlines in the national and international media. 5
Importance
The more a scientific message influences our way of living, the more interest it creates, hence the more important it becomes. Journalists are very aware of this importance factor. The public appreciates concrete benefits and more than anything else they appreciate whatever might have an impact on them in the most direct way.
Deadlines
You need to have respect for the deadlines that journalists have when working. Try to respond promptly to media enquiries. If a journalist says that they need information in a couple of hours, they usually mean it. If you offer to find necessary information for journalists, be sure that you can meet their deadlines.
Emotion
Emotions and feelings are an indispensable factor for every line communication. It is the emotions that spark and trigger the reader or listeners interest into reading a story.
Competition
Scientific stories have to compete against other stories that appear each day. The news editor will make the final decision about whether a scientific story should receive coverage after the story has been written.
Frequency
Frequency allows journalists to prepare themselves for covering an event beforehand. On the contrary, in science, by definition, discoveries are not predictable. The media appreciates the continuity of news, as it will be in the spotlight for a while.
Contextualization
How relevant is a story to every day life? The closer a topic is to the context in which we live in, the stronger our level of interest becomes. On the contrary, if the topic seems remote, it is crucial for the journalist to understand how to relate it to something their audience will consider relevant.
Why
communicating?
It is essential to have a clear concept of what you want to pursue. Why do you want to use the media? Why do you want to communicate? Do you have a defined objective? Be clear about the role you want to play. Having a clear aim helps to evaluate the category of people you want to address and how successful you have been.
Facing
the
press
is
more
Assess
your
opportunities
difficult
than
bathing
a
In science, news is not as important as the maturation of a line of research. In this case, a curious piece of leper
news might represent the opportunity to talk about
Mother
Teresa
of
Calcutta the rest as well. I.e. the detachment of a large iceberg might represent the opportunity to talk 7
Despite
mi
horror
for
the
press,
I
would
really
like
to
rise
out
of
my
tomb
every
ten
years
or
so
and
buy
a
few
newspapers
Luis
Buuel
It
is
not
the
voice
that
commands
the
story;
its
the
ear
Italo
Calvino
In the paragraphs follow, you can put in information that may be useful in order to understand the context of the topic, but that is not necessarily essential. Complementary information and data can appear even further down in the press release.
If one tells the truth, sooner or later one will be found out
Oscar Wilde
10
11
Be
prepared
Before the interview takes place, try to find out what the interview will be about, who the audience and the interviewer are, if the interview will be live or pre-recorded, what the interviewers angle on the story is, and if someone else has been invited.
Practice
Whether it is for print or broadcast media, rehearse your message with a family member or friend. Avoid practicing with your colleagues because they may ask you questions that they are interested in, rather than what your targeted media audience may want to know.
Quotes
Bear in mind that journalists working on tight deadlines will only have a narrow space of time to check quotes, so try to make sure that you are easy to contact. Know that the outcome of a 30 minutes interview may be just one or two short quotes.
Journalists
constraints
Journalists always work under tight deadlines. Try to answer their requests as soon as possible. If you offer to find useful information for the story, make sure you can get it in time.
Corrections
If, when a story appears, you have been misquoted, you should write to the journalist, explaining your concerns. If you are unable to achieve a satisfactory resolution, then write to the editor for whom the journalist reports. If you are still not satisfied with the outcome, you should contact the relevant media watchdog.
Keep
it
simple
Explain your work as simply as possible and with the easiest words you can use. If you must use a technical term, explain its meaning. Also try to use as few numbers and statistics as possible.
12
Radio
Radios communication is direct and more in depth. Radio can induce listeners to listen close and carefully. It allows for a wider choice of topics than television. Researchers have easier access to the radio through interviews. It is a medium that uses few intermediaries between the scientists and the public. Listening to the radio does not interfere with other activities, so it can provide background information.
Television
Television is the only medium, which can speak to a large audience. The speed under which it operates gives the audience little time to understand the information. With a few exceptions, scientific stories on TV should only explain the fundamentals. TV is usually perceived as a form of entertainment. It can be very effective in stimulating interests to learn, directing the public towards other useful media outlets like magazines.
13
Our
plans
fail
because
they
do
not
have
an
objective.
If
one
does
not
know
to
which
port
one
is
sailing,
no
wind
is
favourable
Seneca
Press
Scientific news faces a strong competition due to the limited space. Specialists are more often disappearing from the news selection process. Science journalists are often external collaborators depending on the decisions made by those who work inside the newspaper. To appear in good newspapers, it is important to have a press office, which knows what is behind the choices made by the newspapers editors. In recent years, the influence that advertising and marketing have on the newspapers orientation has increased.
Online
media
More people can publish stories online thanks to its simplicity and the almost nonexistent cost for printing and distribution. The contents published online remain available forever. Just being on the Web is usually not enough to be seen. A site must be well made, constantly updated, and be linked to other sites. Nowadays online platforms should offer a channel of communication with society and not be used for just internal use. The main uses of science on the Internet are online versions of newspapers and institutional sites for research institutes and newsletters.
14
15
This brief manual will not make you a science communicator. It aims to provide you with the necessary tools you should be aware of when interacting with the media.