Engaging with the media and stakeholders through training
“I’ve realised that getting published in the press is feasible!”
In Autumn 2015 Minerva led a week-long residential training course for Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) with the FP7 ARGENT project, equipping them with the necessary skills to identify opportunities to engage with the media – and the know-how to turn those opportunities into real-time, positive impact, both for their professional roles in ARGENT and their personal career portfolios.
The ARGENT project is exploring advanced radiotherapy cancer treatment through Nano processes and technologies; as the ‘next generation’ of cancer researchers, its ESRs are being supported to become ambassadors for the project and the topic. The Minerva team coached them on how to communicate their research and results to the media as a key stakeholder, and to give them confidence in working with journalists to deliver effective press and broadcast interviews.
“In Minerva’s experience, many scientists can feel reluctant or unconfident about communicating with the media,” says Rhonda Smith, Director of Minerva. “They may be concerned about potential inaccuracies in the reported science, or simply don’t know how to approach journalists. Our training was therefore designed to familiarise the ESRs with the ‘media world’, to equip them with the techniques and confidence to ‘have a go’, whilst acknowledging some of the risks involved in working with media and how to mitigate and potential risks.”
The course covered the essentials of working with the media, from identifying and connecting with appropriate contacts to the importance of media tracking – both of direct coverage of ARGENT’s work and of wider cancer research topics in the headlines. Practical sessions included writing press releases on individual research areas, with detailed feedback given to create a ‘take away tool’ for each ESR to use for onward media engagement. ESRs were also given the opportunity to practise both radio and TV interviews, which were recorded for ‘critical friend’ feedback from the Minerva team and their peers.
A visit by a journalist gave the ESRs valuable insight into working with national UK newspapers and the opportunity to conduct a ‘real-life’ interview. The same journalist has since written a feature about the ARGENT project, published in an international magazine. Also present was a press officer from the Open University, who gave a helpful viewpoint from the ‘other side’ of working with journalists; she was able to advise the ESRs on building an effective relationship with the press office at their own institutions.
Following the training, one ESR commented: “I realised that getting published in the press is feasible!” Others said: “Practical interviews were close to real-life experiences” and “I discovered I need to rethink the way I transmit my research [to lay audiences…] without technical vocabulary.”
The Minerva team was delighted to spend a fun, productive week with the ARGENT ESRs and their management team. We look forward to seeing the results of their media training put into practice!
