Training scientists to use the media

Toss GASCOIGNEPresident

PCST NetworkDirector@tossgascoigne.com.au

Why should scientists use the media?

Why? A professional responsibility

“All scientists have a professional responsibility to communicate their research to public audiences and to offer appropriate guidance and advice where appropriate.

“The popular media is a major channel for such communication and should be embraced.”

What reasons do they have to communicate?

• To increase funding for their research• To improve public practices in health or

agriculture or the environment• To encourage students to study science• To prepare people for change• To find new partners in industry

Why is the media a good way to get their message out?

“The media reach very large audiences ... Television is a particularly powerful medium. The public regards television news especially as one of its most trusted information sources.

“When local/national TV reports on an event, such as a new discovery or a significant research outcome, most people unquestioningly accept the presented version as hard fact.”

What stops scientists using the media?

• Lack of time• Lack of training• Suspicion of journalists• No rewards from the organisation• No support staff to help them• They don’t know how to contact the media

Many scientists do not understand the media. So we train them

Jenni Metcalfe and I have run many workshops

• Hundreds of workshops in Australia• First workshop in 1992• Trained thousands of scientists• Run workshops overseas, in New Zealand,

South Africa, the Philippines, Belgium• They are paid for by research organisations• (see www.econnect.com.au for details on the workshops)

We start with a good room, with tables set up in a hollow square. There is also a smaller room for individual interviews

Ten participants is a good number. These ones are PhD students.

We use 3 working journalists

Journalists from radio, TV and print

They are paid to come in to talk about their work and to interview the participants.

We like to get a mixture of journalists, some specialising in science stories and other general journalists who might cover any story: an election, an earthquake disaster, a murder – or a science story.

It is important for scientists to learn to tell their story to specialist journalists and non-specialists.

We always have two presenters. This keeps the discussions lively.

Most workshops run for one day. We also run workshops over two days.

All participants get a 60 page booklet of notes, with tips and ideas.

We begin by asking the participants what they want to know about the media.

• understanding the pressures on journalists• tailoring a scientific message to suit the

media, without compromising the quality• gaining experience in media interviews• dealing with difficult questions• finding out what journalists need to write

their story

This helps us ‘shape’ the workshop to answer all their questions

Then the first journalist arrives, and we ask him questions about TV.

We discuss the practical issues of doing a story for TV news

• How many stories does the journalist do each day?• How do you choose the stories? Where do the ideas

come from?• How long does the interview with a scientist

normally last? What questions do you ask? • How do you get all the pictures and footage you

need?• How long is a typical story?

Then the journalist interviews one participant about their story, in front of the group. We tape

the interview and play it back, with advice.

Everyone is interviewed and taped.

We take the camera and the journalist to another room, and everyone comes out for a short interview.

We tape the interviews on a DVD

The other participants are in the main room, working out the best way to tell their story.

After 2 or 3 hours, the print media journalist arrives.

He will begin by discussing the practical issues of writing for newspapers

Participants ask many questions

Who writes the headlines? How do journalists choose the story from all the

faxes and emails they receive? Do they do interviews over the phone or do they

visit the scientist? How important are photographs?Will they interview other people as well?How long will the story be?

Then the journalist interviews them about their work

The journalist gives them advice

• where the story might fit into the newspaper: the news pages, a special supplement on agriculture or the environment or IT

• perhaps it would be more suitable for a paper in one of the regional areas

• It may not be the right time to tell this story, because the research is not sufficiently advanced.

All the journalists give tips on telling a story to the media

• Do not use science jargon• Reduce the story to 1 or 2 main points• Explain the effect your work will have on the

everyday life of ordinary citizens• Be enthusiastic about your work• Use examples to explain abstract ideas• Consider what pictures and diagrams can

illustrate your story

They explain how to look good on TV

We break for lunch

Our third journalist is from radio. Like the other journalists, she will answer questions

about her work and then interview all participants

Then she interviews one person in front of the group.

When all the journalists have left, we discuss other matters

Preparing media releasesHow to answer difficult questionsOrganising equipment and demonstrations for

the photographersRehearsing for an interview

We ask them questions about the length of a TV news story

• How long is a typical news story on TV?• Viewers will see and hear the scientist talking

during the story. How long do these ‘grabs’ or ‘sound bites’ last?

• How many different pictures will the camera capture in a story?

• They all have to guess and we write the answers down.

Then we show them some TV stories, and ask them to time the story and the

interview, and count the pictures

Scientists have analytical minds

We teach them the formula of TV news.Scientists like to understand the format.If they understand the format, then they find it

easier to work with journalistsIf they can help the journalist, the story will be

more accurate

It is not a battle between scientists and journalists – they can work together.

The last thing: we ask them to fill in an evaluation form. This is what they said

about the course you saw in these photos:

• ‘The interaction with the journalists were very helpful, thoughtful and also fun!’

• ‘Practicing with real, experienced journalist helped us deal with the pressure.’

• ‘I love the DVD to take home. I love it - it's very hands on.’

• ‘I found the radio & TV interviews very stimulating & interesting. I have gained many valuable skills from the workshop.’

They scored our workshop 6.6 out of 7.They were happy – and so were we!