Professor Kevin McConway and Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter discuss their experiences of communicating statistical research to the media and offer 12 tips for researchers to effectively engage with the media. The coronavirus pandemic has brought an unprecedented demand from the media for statistical commentary. Whereas a trip to a studio for a radio or TV interview was … Continued
Category: media
Book Review: Liberalism at Large: The World According to the Economist by Alexander Zevin
In Liberalism at Large: The World According to the Economist, Alexander Zevin traces the 177-year history of the Economist newspaper, positioning the Economist not only as a lens for understanding reinterpretations of liberalism across different eras, but also as an active participant in influencing policy and public debate. This is a rigorous and meticulously researched … Continued
Book Review: The Quirks of Digital Culture by David Beer
In The Quirks of Digital Culture, David Beer provides a patchwork of quirky vignettes that together create a representative picture of the cultural environment in which we now live, showing how digital culture offers a means of access, insight and possibility while also bringing the payoff of surveillance, manipulation and a sense of inescapability. Ignas Kalpokas highly … Continued
Smartphone-size screens make it harder to pay attention to and understand news stories
Smartphones have become a key medium through which information of all kinds is accessed. Even a small, but significant, amount of traffic to academic journals derives from smartphones. Their increasing popularity and power, have led some to argue they have an important role to play in maintaining an informed public. However, Johanna Dunaway and Stuart Soroka argue that the smaller […]
Your research has been broadcast to millions – but how do you determine its impact?
The potential of broadcast programming to reach millions of people holds obvious appeal to researchers looking to maximise the dissemination of their work. But when it comes to impact, having vast reach is just one part of the equation – how can the significance of broadcast research be determined? Melissa Grant, Lucy Vernall and Kirsty Hill developed a mixed-methods approach, […]
Access then impact: using the media as a shortcut to policymakers
As the value of research with impact increases, so too does the importance of first gaining access to policymakers and other persons of influence. One shortcut to doing this is through increased media coverage. Leigh Marshall explains how academics can give their research the best possible chance of being seen and read by policymakers; including by developing close relationships with […]
New research must be better reported, the future of society depends on it
Academics looking to communicate the findings and value of their research to wider audiences are increasingly going through the media to do so. But, argues Andy Tattersall, poor or incomplete reporting can undermine respect for experts by misrepresenting research, especially by trivialising or sensationalising it, or publishing under inappropriate headlines and with cherry-picked statistics. Proper and accurate communication of science […]
Artificial divisions between science and culture hinder creative dialogue and public engagement.
Athene Donald ask why we artificially divide the world between that which is considered scientific and that which is considered culture? The two spheres are increasingly isolated from each other and the media consistently reinforce this division. The dialogue between science and culture, and indeed scientists and non-scientists, should be ongoing and properly integrated. People seem to think that science […]
Media Training for Academics: The importance of an editorial mission for creating consistent content.
There is now substantial space and appetite for academic content on the web, but maintaining momentum on these platforms can be an uphill struggle with other pressing teaching and research priorities. Kevin Anselmo looks at what researchers can learn from media companies and argues it is important to think about the driving forces that will enable you to execute your content […]
The human context of numbers: why live interviews are a particular challenge for statisticians.
The live interview format requires researchers to be concise and succinct when discussing bodies of complex knowledge. But how should researchers respond when asked questions outside their field of expertise? David Spiegelhalter recommends to spend some time prior to the interviews examining the human context of the numbers and be ready to summarise what social scientists have said about how your research relates […]