If you’d like to become comfortable fielding media interview requests, or you’re thinking about how best to get media coverage of your project, here are some tips to help you make the most of these powerful opportunities to publicly communicate your science.

Understand how journalists work

In order to know what to expect from a print, radio, or TV journalist, it helps to understand their world a bit.

Science journalists often cover new papers through the journal embargo system. A few days before papers are published, some of the high-visibility journals give journalists access to them under an agreement that they will not publish stories before a set date and time. Because readers are unlikely to click on a story they’ve already heard about, journalists are under tight time pressure, so this system gives them a few days to work without the risk of being too late to the story.

During this window, journalists may reach out to an author on the paper, and to other researchers who can objectively comment on it. If you are the author of the paper, your contact information may be listed in the paper or the journal may have provided it through the embargo system. Still, it’s important that you are easily findable in an internet search—a simple website with your current email address and a description of your research area is great for this.

Other times, they may be covering an event like an earthquake where there is no embargo window, and they need to complete their story as quickly as possible.

If you receive an email from a journalist, the most helpful thing you can do is respond quickly. They may only have a short window of opportunity to connect with you. Just a quick message to let them know if you’ll be able to help will be greatly appreciated.

When a journalist talks to you for a written story, they’re looking for your help understanding and conveying the research and its context. Readers need to know more than just what the result was—they need to know how it fits in with the broader state of knowledge in the field, what familiar applications it relates to, and so on.

A journalist is also looking for a few quotes to use. Good quotes are usually complete thoughts that succinctly explain something or present your judgment. Short sentences that stand on their own are the easiest to include. You should assume you will be quoted unless you explicitly establish an agreement to the contrary. Other arrangements include speaking “on background”, meaning quotes and information can be used but the speaker can’t be identified by name (see news stories containing phrases like “according to a company spokesperson”), while “off the record” would mean the information can’t be published in any way (so would have to be pursued from another source). These arrangements must be agreed to by both parties or they are not in effect.

A common source of friction between scientists and journalists is a request to review a draft of the story before the journalist publishes it. Scientists sometimes see this as a way to help ensure accuracy. But this is, in most instances, considered a serious violation of journalism ethics. Once a journalist requires a source’s consent to publish text, that journalist loses control of the objectivity of a story. You can offer to provide feedback on the accuracy of a sentence or paragraph explaining a scientific concept, but don’t demand anything beyond that.

Obviously, much of this also applies to recorded radio, TV, or podcast interviews, but there are also differences in length and format. Make sure you know whether something will be presented live (or later in its entirety) or edited, for example, so you can speak with that in mind.

What makes a good news story?

A very small number of published papers make it into the news, and other media inquiries can seem to come out of the blue. Understanding what tends to make something “newsworthy” can help you anticipate attention or successfully reach out and initiate coverage.

It helps when the research tells a self-contained story—that is, you can explain it without having to tell separate stories to give it meaning. For example, a study on a possible solution to an analytical method problem that could improve modeling of creeping fault zones for better boundary conditions on locked fault segments… is a long walk from A to B. For a study about what caused a specific tsunami to be larger than expected, you could get to the point much more quickly. Put it another way: how easy is it to write an interesting-sounding headline with fewer than 80 characters for each of those examples?

It also has to relate to something a broad audience has some familiarity with. Research about a common health condition is relatable to many people, who could be curious to learn more. But if the story is really confined to a deep and technical topic in microbiology that only subject matter experts know is terrifically interesting, it’s less suitable for news coverage.

Another basic requirement of news is that it conveys something that is, well, new. Papers that confirm something that was known previously or compile datasets or pilot methods for use in future research are less likely to attract coverage.

For local news outlets, there are some different considerations. They have a higher level of interest in research happening at a local university, or involving work in the area, relevance to local hazards or problems, or interactions with the community. As a result, they may be receptive to stories that national outlets aren’t picking up. 

How to prepare for an interview

So a journalist wants to interview you! Here are some tips to ensure you feel satisfied with the outcome.

First, you may want to prepare a good way to include any important attribution information. For example, the National Science Foundation requests that funding be acknowledged in media interviews.

Next, look up the journalist’s work. What kinds of topics are they covering? There are fewer and fewer dedicated science journalists employed by news outlets, so you may be interviewed by a generalist reporter that occasionally covers science along with many other subjects. On the other hand, you may be interviewed by a science journalist who specializes in your general field. Those two situations would likely lead to very different questions asked of you, and you should be prepared to help in different ways, so knowing this going in is enormously beneficial. (There’s even a third option: that journalist’s work may concern you such that you decide to decline the interview.)

Regardless of whether you’re going into a phone interview for a print story or a live TV interview, prepare three takeaway points that you think are the most important to emphasize. Jot down bullet-point reminders on a note card, if the situation permits. While you don’t know what questions you’re going to get, you can make sure you get those three messages out at some point. A common last question from print journalists is, “Is there anything else you wish I’d asked about?” That can give you an opportunity to finish off your list, if needed. Or if you feel the interview coming to a close, interject to add, “I also just want to say that…”

It’s also important to remind yourself that while you’re being interviewed by the journalist, you’re also speaking directly to the journalist’s audience. Sometimes a journalist will ask a very simple question even though they have a higher-level understanding of the topic for this very reason. But if the journalist is talking to you at a fairly technical level, you may still want to include simple language aimed at a much broader audience. That will help you shape the message conveyed by the story—those will even be the words the journalist is mostly likely to quote.

How to get comfortable

Strategy can surely help, but as with anything, the only way to really get comfortable and proficient is to practice. Unless you field media requests weekly, you may need to seek out some (lower stakes) opportunities.

Mock interviews are sometimes offered as part of science communication training events or by press office staff at an institution. But you can also arrange this with friends and colleagues. (How about practicing with your whole lab group!) Take turns asking questions about research projects, without sharing those questions ahead of time. If you want to get the most out of it, try recording it so you can review your responses. You might find that a little intimidating at first, but you will improve quickly as a result.

While it’s better practice to get questions you aren’t expecting, if you want some inspiration for realistic questions, expand this box for some generic examples. Tailoring questions like this to specific details of your research will make them more realistic.

Work with your university press office

Many universities have press offices that can offer you all kinds of support. They will want to hear about research you think might generate coverage so they can create materials to reach out to journalists with. That might include a press release summary to send out, along with photos or graphics outlets can use, and contact info for arranging an interview. They may also help you with the interview preparation steps outlined above.

(Journals can reach out to generate similar resources if they’ve identified your paper as one they want to promote through their embargo system.)

If you haven’t met the staff in your press office, it’s worth reaching out to find out how they operate so you know what to do when you’re excited about a paper that is about to be published.