Talking To Reporters: What To Do When `The Call' Comes

So you were passed over for the Nobel Prize (again!) in 1989. Chin up. You probably weren't ready for it, anyway. I don't mean that your research wasn't worthy. And I'm not talking about the public adulation or the prize money. I mean the media attention - the onslaught of TV and radio reporters. You may understand megabytes and particle spin, but what do you know about "sound bites" or putting "spin" on a story? Well, I can help. I'm one of those broadcast news reporters who'll be calling when you do win - or maybe even before. Some scientists are media-shy - and that's understandable. You've probably seen or heard more than a few stories that were off the mark, or just plain wrong. But you can help prevent that, if you're willing to give us a little of your time. Talking with reporters really isn't painful. In fact, it can be mutually beneficial. We get the story; you get a chance to help people understand the importance of your work. Of course, winning a Nobel, a Lasker, or any of the other big prizes isn't the only way to get in front of the cameras and microphones. These days, media inquiries are a regular part of many researchers' professional lives. An article you publish in a scientific journal - especially one dealing with a medical topic - might prompt a call from a reporter. Or you might be approached to provide background on a major story, such as one about an earthquake, AIDS, or cold fusion. And even if you don't win a prize, you might be asked to offer your reaction to the announcement of the winner - to explain to the locals what he or she accomplished and why it's significant. You may be wondering why you should bother doing an interview at all. Why not just send the reporter a copy of the pertinent research and let him or her turn it into a story? The reason is credibility. Some people are growing more skeptical about news reports. (And with the proliferation of things like "tabloid TV," it's no wonder.) For these people, a story is more credible if they know the information is coming directly from the horse's mouth. Other folks, for better or worse, will believe just about anything that makes it into print or onto the airwaves. "It was on the news," they think, "so it must be true. Right?" Sure. If they're going to believe the story anyway, it's in your best interests to make sure it's accurate. And who's better qualified to explain your research than you? So look on any encounter with the media as an opportunity, not a chore. It's the 15 minutes of fame Andy Warhol promised you. Make the most of it. Since you never know when the call will come, it's helpful to plan ahead. Start thinking now about what you want to say and how you want to say it, so you don't freeze up or babble on when the tape is rolling. To formulate an effective media presentation, it's important to keep the audience in mind. Reporters for scientific publications, because they write for a knowledgeable population, generally have some degree of understanding about your work. On the other hand, reporters for the general print media - newspapers and magazines - have varying degrees of scientific expertise. They're writing for people who may not be schooled in science, but who at least take the time to read about it. Compared to broadcasters, print reporters have the luxury of time. That is, their stories can run much longer than most broadcast pieces, so there's more room for detailed explanations and background. And the deadline for most print stories usually isn't just hours away. Radio and TV reporters, by contrast, are racing deadlines that come as often as once an hour. We need the story, and we need it now. On top of that, ours is the broadest of audiences. It includes just about everyone, including those of us who were shooting spitballs and passing notes instead of paying attention in math and science classes. So you have to dumb things down without being misleading or inaccurate. For example, don't use the metric system; stick to feet, pounds, and gallons. Imagine you're speaking to a high school class or a friend who doesn't know much about science. There is one big difference between doing a news interview and explaining something "live and in person." The audience won't hear everything you tell a reporter. The days when a reporter could run a lengthy question-and-answer session unedited are long gone. Air time is too precious now. This means your comments will be chopped up and sprinkled throughout the story. The reporter or editor will trim all the fat from the interview, leaving only the nuggets of news for use in the finished product. These are known as "cuts," "actualities," or "sound bites." (Our jargon can be just as incomprehensible as yours!) So be sure to use these short, quotable statements - only a sentence or two - to sum up your most important points. They're the ones that will end up in the story. Radio reporters probably will want to tape-record an interview over the phone. This may seem just a step short of wiretapping if you haven't done it before, but it's the most painless type of interview and the fastest way to get your comments on the air. One drawback to these "quick and dirty Q-and-A's" is that they don't give you any preparation time. They also provide only a few minutes to make your points, while at the same time sounding brilliant, witty, and quotable. All the more reason to plan ahead. TV reporters will want to meet you for an on-camera interview. So find a good background - something that helps illustrate what you do. It also helps if you can provide visual aids. Slides or photographs are good. Videotape is better. Or, if you can, do a demonstration for the camera crew. (Helpful hint: We're suckers for things that go "flash," "zoom," or "bang.") Special effects aside, what we're really after are the answers to a couple of basic questions. What is it that you do? This is the big one. It gives you the opportunity to shape the story - to put your own "spin" on it. You can influence the direction of the story because you are more than likely the reporter's primary source of information. To make sure your key points are clearly understood - by both the reporter and the audience - you need to offer easy-to-understand explanations phrased in layman's language. For instance, J. Michael Bishop and Harold Varmus won this year's Nobel Prize in medicine for what the Nobel Assembly described as "their discovery of the cellular origin of retroviral onco-genes." Bishop explained it this way: "We have the seeds of cancer in our own genetic dowry." Much better. Or let's say you want to describe a new telescope of immense power. Instead of running off the technical specs, say something like, "It's so powerful it could spot a baseball orbiting Jupiter." Now that's something people can understand - and they might not even wonder how the ball got there. There are some magic words reporters love to hear. Is what you've done new? Is it a first? Does it make something easier, cheaper, faster, more accurate, or more effective? Does it confirm or disprove some widely held view? What could this lead to? What practical applications does it have? Most important, how does this affect your audience? Be careful not to overstate the significance of your discovery or give the wrong impression. If you've found a new way to treat a disease but it's not a cure, make that distinction very clear. If more study is needed to confirm your findings, say so. It could keep an overzealous reporter from making a mistake that will make both of you look bad. How do you feel? For some reason, this is a question reporters feel obligated to ask when interviewing anyone from a disaster victim to an indicted official to a newly named Nobel laureate. The question is intended to elicit an honest emotional response. Here's a chance for you to show that scientists are people too. Let's say you've made a breakthrough in your field of research. How did it feel when you realized what you'd discovered? Or how does it feel to win a world-famous prize worth hundreds of thousands of dollars? You're happy. You're excited. Don't hide it. Of course, it might not be easy to sound enthusiastic if the good news comes in a predawn phone call. And it often does - especially if you're on the West Coast - since the Nobel Prizes are announced in Stockholm. Harold Varmus, of the University of California, San Francisco, got one of those calls this year. This is how the conversation went as a reporter tried to establish whether Varmus still worked at UC-San Francisco: Reporter: "You're at the university right now?" Varmus: "Not the university. I'm in my bed. This is ordinary for most people at four in the morning." But he said it with a smile. And later in the interview, he served up this sound bite: "Those of us who work with these problems would like to generate some feeling for the excitement and the beauty of understanding how cells work." A pretty eloquent statement for 4:00 A.M. If you've won an award, reporters are bound to ask you how you'll spend the prize money. Although it sounds like a fairly personal question, you're not being asked to release your tax returns. Besides, it's another chance to show that you're a regular guy or gal. For instance, Varmus' response to the question was, "I need a new compact disc player." He also wanted tickets to the World Series game between the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland Athletics - and he got them. Harvard University's Norman Ramsey, one of this year's Nobel laureates in physics, said he'd use part of the prize money for trips to do research in France. But he added that his wife wants a new car. Thomas Cech of the University of Colorado, Boulder, had this year's best answer. Asked how he'd spend his half of the Nobel chemistry prize money, he said, "I have two young daughters who are very good at spending money." All this advice assumes you want to be on the air. You don't have to become another Carl Sagan. But there's no reason you shouldn't have your fair share of media attention. You can share your research with the public and give a boost to your institution's prestige. If you find the experience rewarding, make yourself available through the media relations office at your organization. Reporters are always looking for experts to call and quote. It will bring your hard work some recognition, and the rest of us might just learn something. Stephen Pendlebury is a broadcast news writer and editor based in Washington, D.C.

Talking To Reporters: What To Do When `The Call' Comes

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