Making the reporter understand is your
job. You need to be able to tell a reporter or an
assignment editor what your paper means in
the larger context. That goes against the grain
for many scientists. In writing for journals,
young scientists are drilled in the profession-
al aesthetic of understatement and minimiz-
ing implications. If your lab did stumble onto
the fundamental mechanism that causes ALL
cancers, the title of your paper to Scienceis
the last place you would mention that.Still if your work has significance, try “sell-
ing” it first to your institution’s public infor-
mation office with a brief one- or two-para-
graph “take away message.” Send it along
with the text of your paper and send it as
soon as possible after you get an acceptance
and a publication date. Public information
officers can embargo a paper until publica-
tion but they need time to write a press
release and distribute it. Convincing your
public information officer that your paper
has news value is the first step in finding out
what you want to say to a journalist or the
Rotary Club. Don’t hype a tiny paper to
death but good work has implications.
Journalists come in all shapes, abilities and
deadline schedules. Even science reporters
cover a wide range of topics from day to day so
don’t assume that a writer from a big name
outfit will have background in your field. Don’t
talk down but be prepared to get basic. Get the
reporter a copy of your paper to read before the
interview. If there’s an up-to-date review of the
literature in print, get a copy of that. If your
previous papers will help, have them on hand.
Most journalistic organizations have a
strong taboo against showing a subject astory before it appears or goes on air. Yet
writing about a complicated science subject
on a short deadline is difficult and experi-
enced reporters know how easy it is to
make mistakes. Believe it or not, they don’t
like making mistakes. Help journalists to be
accurate without being threatening. Offer to
read a draft for factual errors. Offer to listen
to the reporter read back quotes or individ-
ual paragraphs. Offer to listen to a para-
phrase of the story. Offer corrections or fur-
ther explanations in a calm voice.
Remember also that editors and news pro-
ducers come behind the reporters. Stories
will be edited. Film will be cut. If the final
result is, in your opinion, a mess, see if you
can salvage something, a relationship with
the reporter for the next story or an offer
from an editor to submit an opinion article
to the Editorial page.Being in the news will help prepare you for
your next assignment—shaping the news as a
public scientist. You want to become what the
PIC calls “an unusually reliable source.” You
want to be the name in a reporter’s Rolodex
that rings the bell, the expert who’s willing to
comment, or the scientist who may not know
a specific answer but can steer a journalist to
someone who does. You want to contribute to
Editorial pages or serve as a “talking head”
on Sunday morning. You want to find out if36 CAREER ADVICE FOR LIFE SCIENTISTS
You want to be the name in a
reporter’s Rolodex that rings the
bell, the expert who’s willing to
comment, or the scientist who
may not know a specific answer
but can steer a journalist to
someone who does.Cell biology is too important to
leave to cell biologists alone.