Barcelona, Spain. December 14, 2009
This workshop focuses on how scientists can use the media to raise awareness of scientific research and thought. Most adults, even scientists, learn about newly proposed theories, newly discovered facts, scientific advances and established knowledge through newspapers, radio, television, and internet sites.
What works when speaking with the media and what doesn’t? Why is it important to deal with reporters? How to get your message factually and contextually accurate? The workshop “Media Training for Scientists” will offer advice tailored to the needs and constraints of both scientists and journalists. It is a fact, for example, that some of the most common roadblocks to communicating effectively with reporters, arise from simple misunderstandings about how they do their jobs.
This half-day workshop is aimed at scientists, from PhD students to group leaders, at IRB Barcelona laboratories. Please consult the full programme to see what’s on.
Workshop team: SciConnect. Dr Claire Answorth and Clare Wilson
Venue: Sala Fèlix Serratosa, Parc Científic de Barcelona
C/ Baldiri Reixac, 10
08028 Barcelona
For more information, please contact the Barcelona BioMed Secretariat at
biomed
irbbarcelona.org
This workshop is free, but participation is limited to 50.
Priority will be given to IRB Barcelona members.
Deadline for registration: Monday, December 7, 2009
Programme
09.00h
- Introductions and aims. Brainstorm: why bother with the media?
- What’s out there? Press, broadcast, new media.
- Who are the media, and what are they for? What can you expect? What are your aims?
- What journalists and scientist have in common and how they differ. How scientist can work with effectively with these similarities and differences.
- How science hit the headlines: a day in the life of a science journalist. Where do journalists find their stories?
- How different outlets have different “news values”.
- What press officers do and how to work with them. How press releases and embargoes work.
- Fundamental principles of communicating with journalists and other non-specialists.
- News in brief case study: the quintessence of effective communication and news writing.
- Exercise: study a research paper abstract: how would you turn it into a popular article?
- How to inspire an audience and show why your research matters.
- The importance of using clear, lively language. Avoiding jargon.
- Exercise: draft the first paragraph of a popular science-style explanation of your work.
11.30h Coffee break
12.00h
- The role of editors in the media, why being edited is useful.
- Exercise: Edit a colleague’s in Brief article. Discuss it with them, exchange ideas.
- Exercise: Some volunteers then read out their paragraphs for tutor feedback and discussion.
- Avoiding problems: good practice in communicating science, risk and uncertainty.
- Oral science communication and how it differs from the written word.
- Requirements of radio/postcast interviews.
- Exercise: some volunteers come up to be interviewed for a science podcast.
- The current crisis in science journalism and what it means for scientists.
- Wrap up and discussion
14.00h ENDS
Speaker biographies
Dr Claire Ainsworth: Claire is a freelance journalist and science writer, who contributes to publications such as New Scientist, Nature and Science. She was formerly Senior Reporter & News Features Editor at Nature, having previously worked as a reporter and features editor at New Scientist magazine. Claire won an Association of British Science Writers Award in 2004 and was print journalist of the year in the 2001 British Medical Journalism Awards. Claire holds a doctorate in developmental genetics from Oxford University. She also has experience in radio and science podcasting.
Clare Wilson: Clare has been medical features editor at New Scientist magazine for seven years. As well as directing New Scientist's medical feature coverage, Clare has extensive experience as a journalist writing about biomedical research and medicine. Before joining New Scientist, she was a reporter on Hospital Doctor, a UK medical magazine and Scrip, a newsletter for the pharmaceutical industry. She has a first-class degree in cell biology from the Univeristy of Manchester.
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