US LHC Media Training

Katie Yurkewicz

US LHC Communications

October 16, 2009

Training objectives

Increase your understanding of how to effectively communicate through the media

By the end of the session, you will:• Have a general overview of how media works• Understand importance of preparing for media interactions• Be able to define key messages, analogies and sound bites• Know what to do before, during and after an interview• Understand where to go for assistance in dealing with media

Schedule

• Introduction

• How the media works

• How to work with the media– Jargon– Key messages

• Break– Sound bites and analogies

• Preparing for and giving interviews

• Conclusion and Feedback

How the media works

What media want

Media want

• To sell papers/magazines

• To attract listeners/viewers

So stories must

• Appeal to their readers/viewers/listeners

• Be entertaining, interesting, newsworthy

What’s newsworthy?

Why is this newsworthy?

About 80 percent of the mass in our Universe is invisible to us.

It is thought to be made of a mysterious substance called dark matter. Scientists here hope to find more clues about it when the world's largest and most powerful particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland, restarts in late November after nearly a year-long shutdown due to mechanical problems.

What makes a story interesting?

• Impact• Immediacy• Proximity• Prominence• Novelty• Conflict• Emotions

End of world LHC restart Local LHC researcher Tom Hanks Baguette shuts down LHC Race for the Higgs End of world

Journalists

• Want to be accurate and fair

• Aren’t (usually) out to get you

• Will take cues from you

• Are liked by their audience

Publication process

• Journalist writes

• Editors edit

• Headline written

• More editing to fit space

• Final product is published (or not!)

• You will rarely get to see the product before publication

How to work with the media

1. Get on TV/radio, in print– Be interested, interesting and available

2. Get your message across– Develop key messages and stick to them

What makes you interesting?

• You are animated and enthusiastic

• You can– Describe how your work matters– Give clear and concise answers– Use analogies and anecdotes– Use sound bites– Avoid jargon

Jargon

“[The Standard Model] foresaw four long-range force particles—referred to as gauge bosons—whereas nature has but one: the photon. The other three have a short range, less than about 10–17 meters, less than 1 percent of the proton’s radius. According to Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, this limited range implies that the force particles must have a mass approaching 100 billion electron volts (GeV).”

- from Scientific American

Jargon

“[The Standard Model] foresaw four long-range force particles—referred to as gauge bosons—whereas nature has but one: the photon. The other three have a short range, less than about 10–17 meters, less than 1 percent of the proton’s radius. According to Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, this limited range implies that the force particles must have a mass approaching 100 billion electron volts (GeV).”

- from Scientific American

Jargon strategy 1: Avoid it

• “The diameter of an atom ranges from about 0.1 to 0.5 nanometers.”

• Atoms are so small 20,000,000 just span a pinhead.

• An atom is a million times smaller than the thickest human hair.

• Think supermarket checkout person

Jargon strategy 2: Explain it

• Quarks are fundamental building blocks of matter.

• The Standard Model is the best theory that physicists currently have to describe the building blocks of the universe.

• NAMES are not jargon!

Getting your message across

• Prepare key messages

• And stick to them!

Key message

• 1-2 key ideas

• Start with main point

• Simple language

• Short sentences

• 20-30 seconds to say

• Positive message

Key message example

With the LHC, we will embark on a new era of discovery. It will change our view of the universe. We know that we live in a universe in which just four percent of the matter and energy is what we have so far thought of as ordinary. The rest is extraordinary, in the form of dark matter and energy. With the LHC we will begin our exploration of this extraordinary 96 percent.

Exercise – Key Messages

• Read your answer to the journalist’s question• Identify one key message, write it down (60-90 words)• 10 minutes

When developing your key message, consider:• What’s the one idea you want to convey?• How do you want to portray yourself, your experiment or

your institute?• If the message were repeated, what would you want to

hear? • Could anyone interpret this negatively?• Think of the big picture. WHY?

BREAK

Sound bites

• Reporters use direct quotes only when they are specific, vivid, descriptive or a way to show personality

• 1-2 (short) sentences

• Easily remembered

• 10 seconds to say

Sound bite examples

• “The important thing is not to stop questioning.” – Albert Einstein

• “We are all agreed that your theory is crazy. The question that divides us is whether it is crazy enough to have a chance of being correct.” – Niels Bohr

• “The bird escaped unharmed but lost its bread” – CERN

Analogy

• Critical for particle physics

• Think them through!

Analogy example: antimatter

• Dig a hole, and make a hill with the earth you've excavated. Hole and hill have equal but opposite characteristics— the volume of the earth in the hill, and that of the hole where the earth was removed. For particles, properties like electrical charge are opposite to their antiparticles—one positive, one negative.

• Also, antimatter will annihilate its matter counterpart in a burst of energy, just like the hill will fill the hole, leaving neither.

The interview

• Research journalist and outlet

• Ask your own questions

• Prepare key messages, analogies, sound bites, facts, statistics

• Anticipate questions, especially hard ones

• Do the interview

• Follow up

Questions to ask• What ground are we covering?

• What kind of clip/message do you want?

• How will it be used? With what other material?

• Will you interview others? Who?

• Where and how will it take place?

• Live or pre-recorded?

• How long?

Answering their questions

• Stick to your key messages

• Be enthusiastic!

• Don’t invent

• Don’t argue

• Let them interrupt

• Pay attention to repeated questions

• It’s their job to fill the space, not yours

Tough questions

• Think of them in advance and prepare

• Answer the question you want to answer

• Always come back with a positive message

TV/Radio top tips

• Keep it short• Think of it as a social chat • Pause between sentences• Maintain your eyeline• Sit/stand still and lean forward

Pre-recorded interviews:• No signposting (first, second, third) or “as I said

before” • Can always ask to try again

Phone interview tips

• If you’re cold-called– Say you’re busy and need to call back– Determine their deadline– Do as much research as you can

• During interview, imagine your supervisor standing behind you

Always remember

• Reporters are human tape recorders.

• Never say anything you don’t want to see on air or in print

• Expect editing

It’s over

• Give them your card/paper (your name, position, institution, key points)

• Ask for a copy of the final product

• Ask for feedback

• Thanks!

Exercise: Interviews

Practice!

• Interviewing is a skill like any other

• Work on your key messages

• Note good analogies, sound bites

• Listen/read about things you don’t know anything about. What interests you? What do you remember?

• Ask your (non-physicist) friends/family to interview you

Media at CERN

• How do media find scientists?– Through CERN Press Office– Through US LHC media contacts– Through US institutions’ media contacts– On their own

• Types of media interactions– Visits to CERN– Phone interviews (most common for U.S.)– In-person interviews in U.S.

Visits to CERN

• Through the press office– Press office arranges schedule, access, takes

care of follow-up– Mix of tours and in-office interviews – Mix of U.S. and international scientists– Length, details media-dependent

• Arranged outside press office– Schedule, access arranged by scientist– Please notify press.office@cern.ch

More information

• Contacts– Katie.yurkewicz@cern.ch

(70988 / 160004 / (630) 864-0074)– Press.office@cern.ch (73432 / 72141)

• Information– This presentation: www.uslhc.us/mediatraining– Communicating Science from AAAS:

http://communicatingscience.aaas.org/Pages/newmain.aspx

– www.cern.ch/press - For CERN People– How to master the media by George Merlis

TV tips• Arrive early• Check your appearance!• Dress quietly. No bold patterns, red, dangly earrings.• Wear summer-weight clothing (lights are hot)• Avoid tinted lenses• If someone offers to change your clothes or makeup,

trust them.• Sit forward, never lean back.• Don’t cross or splay legs• Look at interviewer and use normal body language• Hold interviewer’s gaze the whole time. (Uncomfortable,

but necessary!)• Slow down and sit/stand still

Questions to prepare for• Why are you doing this  - what's it all about ?• Why should we care?• What should we know?• What are you looking for?• What if you don't find it?• What about the green issues?• How dangerous is this?• When will you get results?• What will the spin-offs be from this?• Couldn't the money be better spent on a cure for cancer?• So it's all gone wrong hasn't it?• You're going to create millions of black holes which will suck everything into them?• What is a Higgs Boson?  • What’s the project all about?   • Why is it so big?  • Are you going to rewrite the laws of physics?• What if there is an explosion? • What about the risk of radiation? • Can you guarantee that you will make cutting edge discoveries?• Can you guarantee that this hugely ambitious project will not be a waste of

time/money? • What is a God Particle? Are you looking for it? • How do you feel about being part of this project?

Things you might want to say• Searching for the answers to the mysteries of the Universe  • Recreating the conditions just after the birth of the Universe  • Let me tell you /explain why I am so committed to this project• This experiment is completely safe.• Let me assure/reassure you ...  • This is excellent value for money• We’re asking vital questions about the nature of reality• We’re looking for the underlying design/patterns of Nature• We’re searching for the key to unlock the ultimate mysteries of

Nature  • Peer at the workings/fabric of the universe• Journey continuing the path that started with Newton and Galileo...' • New insights into what everything is made of.' • Truly amazing discoveries • What I'd like to emphasise at this point is...' • Analogies: early map-makers; no manual to drive this - not an off-

the-shelf machine; Christopher Columbus; not like a rocket, you light it and off it goes; particle physics is a foundation stone for all research;  we’re looking for the missing piece of the puzzle; we’re trying to connect up all the dots

US key messages

• The human imperative to discover the nature of the physical universe is a fundamental part of American identity, and every American has a stake in the outcome

• The LHC will launch a new era of discovery in the physical sciences

• The LHC brings together men and women of science of all nationalities and cultures in the largest scientific collaboration in history

• The LHC and worldwide particle physics create technology for the future

• The LHC plays an important role in scientific and technical education

CERN key messages

• CERN is the world’s leading centre for fundamental research, seeking answers to questions about the Universe.

• CERN brings nations together. Over 9000 scientists of over 100 nationalities work here.

• CERN advances the frontiers of technology and engineering.

• CERN trains the young scientists and engineers who will be the experts of tomorrow.