As an extension to Stephen Pendlebury's article, "Talking To Reporters: What To Do When 'The Call' Comes" (The Scientist, Jan. 8, 1990, page 22), I'd like to share a source of information exchange your readers could benefit from.
Fame (and the fortune that may accompany it) have beyond a doubt become "Nobel" aspirations in this Age of Acquisition. But scientists have another reason for making themselves available to the mass media. That has to do with helping to create a better informed society and, by extension, a more democratic one.
More than 26,000 scientists around the country have now volunteered to participate in the Media Resource Service (MRS) of the Scientists' Institute for Public Information, which fields thousands of calls from journalists seeking reliable and diverse sources. In most cases, the MRS staff calls scientists before referring journalists to them, thus ensuring that the connection is made and at the ...
