Top ten tips for scientists and science reporters

Science journalism somewhat of a niche topic and can at times be intimidating for a journalist to interview a scientist and for a scientist be interviewed by a journalist.

Here are some top tips for journalists who are conducting interviews with scientists and top tips for scientists when being interviewed by news journalists: 

Top 5 tips for journalists: 

1.    Ensure you introduce who you are and who you work for. Communicate to your interviewee what the objective of the interview is, for example:

a.    Tell the scientist what you want to know about their research such as XXX topic

b.    The length of the article e.g. you are going to write a 300 word article

c.     Let them know the length of answers you want from your interviewee e.g. you want short, concise answers to the questions.

d.    Indicate how long the interview will be, and when you expect to publish the article.  

2. Do your research on your interviewee so you know who they are, what their expertise is and what their current research focus has been. 

3. Ensure your article is relevant to society – you are the bridge between the scientist and the general public.

4. Don’t be afraid to ask the scientist for clarification if you don’t understand certain terms or concerns. Accuracy is highly important!!!

5. Do NOT SENSATIONALISE!!! Don’t exaggerate research findings or try to magnify the information the scientist has given you. Everything must be within context and factual! 

Top 5 tips for scientists: 

1. Understand the audience e.g. readers or listeners or viewers, as well as the demographic. You can tailor your answers to the interview questions based on the audience. 

2. Ask the journalist what the talking points or questions might be. If no talking points or questions are given, then prepare some notes on the most interesting component of your work – something newsworthy you can offer the journalist. 

3. Good communication:

a. Use simple terms/layman terms to get your points across

b. Use analogies and examples where possible

c. Draw diagrams or pictures to illustrate what you’re trying to explain, to help the journalist better understand what you’re taking about.

4. To help the journalist understand your topic or area of expertise, recommend some good websites for them to look into. 

5. From the outset of the interview or before you offer specific answers or new information, make it clear to the journalist what information is on the record, and what information is off the record. 

ABOUT

Journalist:

Beverley Tse was a broadcast journalist for almost a decade, having worked as a radio news reporter in New Zealand and a television news producer for CNBC Asia. She is currently working as an in-house journalist and content manager for the University of Reading Malaysia in Iskandar Malaysia, Johor. 

Scientist: 

Dr Cheah Yoke Kqueen is a lecturer in molecular biology in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at Universiti Putra Malaysia, where he has taught for the past nine years. Dr Cheah’s research interests include: drug discovery, cancer biology, molecular diagnostics and genetics, which are all interwoven. Dr Cheah was the Chair of the Science Communication Working Group under the Young Scientists Network-ASM (Akademi Sains Malaysia). 

*This article was produced during a session of a Science Journalism Workshop held from 6-8 March 2017, co-organised by British Council Malaysia, Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT), and Academy of Sciences Malaysia (ASM).