HR: 13:55h
AN: ED13A-02    [Abstracts]
TI: Breaking the Ice Between Reporters and Scientists During IPY
AU: * Bentley, M
EM: bentley.molly@gmail.com
AF: Radio Reporter, 405 14th St Suite 1207, Oakland, CA 94612, United States
AB: Communicating scientific information to the general public is a challenge. If the story's not about health advice, a major breakthrough or a natural disaster, scientists may be left wondering how to capture the public's attention and convey the importance of their research. This is a particular challenge in the International Polar Year in which the relevant research has global impacts, but is more nuanced than the headline-grabbing threat of melting ice caps. For example, as ANDRILL punches through ice, it's rock the scientists are after. What can a rock core tell us about how ice comes and goes, and what kind of drill can penetrate 20 million years of strata anyway? In this talk, I will describe how scientists can help communicate to journalists – and thereby the public – the importance of polar research, and give examples of how to help make their work compelling and accessible to those outside of a particular circle of expertise. I will use my experience reporting on science and climate change for the BBC to discuss what frustrations journalists have when talking to scientists and what scientists find difficult in talking to reporters.
DE: 0815 Informal education
DE: 6600 PUBLIC ISSUES
DE: 6699 General or miscellaneous
SC: Education and Human Resources [ED]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting