Excellent point, Bill.
Before I call a scientist to request an interview, I do some research
on that person and his or her work. It's a good idea for scientists
to do the same: Before you agree to be interviewed by a journalist,
check out his or her work. And if the media outlet is not familiar to
you, check that out too. Ask the reporter about the focus of his or
her story. You may also want to ask some questions during the
interview, to make sure the reporter understands what you are saying.
Be prepared to make your most important points quickly and clearly.
If the reporter gets the story wrong anyway, don't suffer in silence.
Follow up with a call or email to explain the error, and offer to
help the reporter get it right the next time around. Consider it a
teachable moment. And please don't hold a bad experience against the
rest of us who are doing our best to report science accurately, often
under very tight deadlines.
Dawn Stover
On Apr 10, 2011, at 8:54 AM, William Silvert wrote:
Of course there are good responsible science journalists out there.
Politicians too. I only tried to point out that we have to be
careful to protect ourselves from the bad guys.
