Communications Professionals Help Researchers To Meet The Press

The Press Author: Ricki Lewis Sidebar: WHERE PIOs CONVENE They have many titles-public information officer (PIO), communications director, media liaison. These behind-the-scenes professionals link scientists to the public by presenting research results to journalists. Working at universities, companies, medical centers, and government agencies, PIOs write press releases and fact sheets, and spend many hours connecting interviewers to interviewees. At times, some reporters may also find PIOs obtrusive. But while their role and methods have been the subject of controversy, media members-as well as many scientists-find them essential. "My take on PIOs-whether you love them or hate them, a writer really needs them," says H. Garrett DeYoung, a freelance science journalist who has held editorial positions at High Technology, Photonics Spectra, and Electronic Business magazines. Scientists, at times, really need PIOs, especially when those in the media perceive a research result as a "breakthrough." This was the case when Jeffrey M. Friedman, a professor of molecular biology and head of the Laboratory of Molecular Genetics at Rockefeller University and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute associate investigator, achieved sudden fame with his midsummer paper on leptin, a hormone that causes dramatic weight loss in mice (J.L. Halaas et al., Science, 269:543-7, 1995). Because humans have leptin, Friedman braced for a deluge of press inquiries-and he won't soon forget the hectic final week of July 1995, when the paper was published. MEDIA FEEDING FRENZY: Jeffrey Friedman's leptin study, with human weight-loss implications, put him in the limelight. "I survived," jokes Friedman. "But I don't think I could have done it without Marion Glick [Rockefeller University's director of communications]. I wouldn't have known how to organize my time or prioritize my activities. I was able to focus on what to say." Glick was well-prepared. "We knew it was coming. We had lots of copies of photos, of the mice and of Dr. Friedman, and made a short 'B roll'-background footage for television," she recalls. The B roll included an image of the Science paper, photos of the researchers, and the now-famous photo of a fat and skinny mouse. Friedman, who hates being photographed, suddenly saw his image everywhere. Throughout, he was aware of the importance of presenting the work in perspective. "There was a certain sensitivity to the subject matter. We all felt a responsibility not to say anything that we did not know to be true," he recalls. Glick and her colleague Joe Bonner helped the researchers maintain this focus and sensitivity by repeatedly informing callers that clinical trials of leptin were not yet being planned. All quotes in their press releases carefully stressed the need for further research before leptin enters the $30-billion-a-year human weight-control market. PIOs in general need to have a mix of people and intellectual skills. A PIO at a facility specializing in scientific research may have a narrower focus, but must develop special skills in understanding, summarizing, and putting into context research news. "The ability to think clearly is the top priority," comments Thomas Rickey, senior science writer in the office of public relations at the University of Rochester in New York. "You also must be able to understand complex subjects." Often PIOs develop long-term relationships with particular researchers, so that the scientists come to trust the PIO to consistently get the facts straight. Rickey has several such satisfied clients. Says David Williams, professor of psychology and director of the center for visual science at the University of Rochester, "Many scientists are cautious about press releases because they fear that their work will be misrepresented by the press. Tom's ability to simplify and convey excitement while at the same time sticking to the facts has helped enormously in this regard." A typical press release that makes a scientist cringe is one that claims that a basic research result will lead to medical treatments. This is why Friedman and Glick were extra careful to explain the status of the leptin research. Friedman is generally happy with the way the media covered the story. "By and large, the news media did a good job with it, but there is always a range [of quality]," he says. "We tried to make a clear distinction between what we knew and what we hypothesized. In general, that distinction was made [in the press], but not always. But that is to be expected." Trust is important, PIOs report. "While dealing with media types may be old hat for me, it's new for most of the scientists I write about. I must make it clear that I won't betray their trust or publicize their work in a way that will reflect badly upon them," Rickey states. DELICATE SITUATIONS: PIO Hal Kibbey of Indiana University has fielded reporters' questions about academic misconduct accusations. Sometimes even an accurate, well-written press release can have unforeseen negative consequences. Hal Kibbey, writer/media liaison at the Indiana University News Bureau in Bloomington, found this out when he wrote releases about two geologists who had discovered that local residents were polluting groundwater. "One case was farmers pumping too much water for irrigation," Kibbey relates. "The other was homeowners who put septic systems in sand dunes [at higher elevations] behind their houses and got their water from wells in their front yards," thus sending their bodily waste into their drinking-water supply. Once the media reported the stories, the residents limited the researchers' access to their land. PIOs' backgrounds vary. Lynne Friedmann, who heads her own public-relations company, Friedmann Communications Inc. in Solana Beach, Calif., has a B.A. in journalism/public relations with a minor in biology. "I very much wanted to be involved in the world of science, and found journalism and biology to be a terrific combination to do just that," she says. Kibbey credits his B.A. in physics and M.A. in the history and philosophy of science with putting scientists at ease. Understanding how science is conducted is as important as knowing a quark from an aardvark. "I know what scientists do in basic research, the details of the scientific method, and the importance of scientific publication and how it works," explains Kibbey. But a scientific background isn't crucial. Rickey majored in religious studies but has experience as a newspaper reporter. And Kathleen Rinehart, manager of corporate communications at Genentech Inc. in South San Francisco, Calif., values her B.A. in written rhetoric. "My training in persuasion and argument has helped a lot in being able to express complex scientific topics in language that a layperson can understand," she maintains. PIOs clear away barriers between a reporter and a scientist source, such as secretaries, voice mail, and grad students. "Public relations people do much of the legwork for you. They find out who to talk with and set up an interview time, saving you a lot of phone tag and wild goose chases," DeYoung explains. For newspaper reporters, PIOs can be great timesavers. "I know who the more on-the-ball people are, and I use them to get what I need as fast as possible if I'm on a daily deadline," says Lisa Eckelbecker, business reporter for the Worcester Telegram and Gazette in Massachusetts. However, if she knows a particular scientist, she'll call that person directly. At companies and institutions that require journalists to consult with a PIO, bypassing the information officer can lead to trouble, especially if a scientist answers a reporter's questions without realizing that going through a public information office is necessary. "When I was doing a story on computer graphics in early 1995, I directly contacted a quotable source at a key company," DeYoung recalls. "He talked his heart out for almost an hour, and I had a good story. A couple of days later, he called me back almost in tears, telling me that his boss had heard about it and absolutely refused to [approve] publication, unless the whole story was okayed by him, by the public relations office, and by the legal department. [Eventually,] we lost the story." PIOs must become diplomats to handle scientists caught up in controversy. Misconduct situations are particularly sticky because scientists will likely be hesitant to speak to journalists, just when public interest is high. Kibbey found himself relying on a long-standing, good relationship with a particular scientist when the university accused the researcher of several infractions, including failure to recruit new faculty, spending funds earmarked for a library on office renovation, and getting an undeserved handicapped parking sticker. Although she was eventually cleared, the controversy led to the scientist's departure from the university in 1993. The accused researcher was June Reinisch, former director of the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction. The institute is part of Indiana University, located on the Bloomington campus, and its faculty typically also hold appointments in academic departments. Because of the nature of its research, the institute has a long history of attracting media attention-including from X-rated publications. This means that part of a PIO's job is to screen requests for interviews. At the height of the misconduct inquiry, people at the institute answered phones only a few hours a day. "A lot of reporters were frustrated with that, and they'd call me to ask how they could get through," Kibbey recalls. He convinced Reinisch to allow him access to a private line, and he screened the journalists, passing along the phone numbers of those from legitimate publications. Kibbey asked these reporters to call him if they did not get an interview, and none called. The approach "neatly solved an obnoxious problem," Kibbey says. After a five-year investigation, the president of the university exonerated Reinisch of the charges. Three months later, she retired and is currently practicing psychology in New York City. Because they filter and disseminate research results, PIOs have the power to make scientific results sound interesting and understandable. Reasons for scientists to work with PIOs are many, Tom Rickey points out: bringing recognition and, perhaps, donations to an institution; attracting graduate students and scientific collaborations; avoiding misinterpretation of one's work. Cooperation between a scientist and a PIO also offers a great opportunity to improve public appreciation of science. "When a scientist decries the poor state of science literacy, I suggest that this is his or her chance to put out good, solid, correct information," Rickey says. Williams agrees: "In a time when society seems to be turning away from scientific research, disillusioned by the lack of a cure for AIDS, the Challenger disaster, and inundated with television shows that convey scientific credibility to paranormal nonsense, it is particularly important for scientists to speak out about the significance of their work in a public forum." Sidebar: WHERE PIOs CONVENE Ricki Lewis, a writer based in Scotia, N.Y., is the author of several biology textbooks. She is online at 76715.3517@compuserve.com.

Communications Professionals Help Researchers To Meet The Press

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