Why SEO Matters to Reporters and Bloggers: an Interview with Wil Reynolds

basics

Who Reads Communication Breakdown?

Posted 25 April 2013 by Matt Shipman

Communication Breakdown has been around for more than six months now. And while you've had the chance to learn a lot about me, I don't know a lot about you. The first step in Communication 101 is to know your audience, and it's time I did that. I pulled together a brief survey to help me learn more about my readers and figure out what I can do to make Communication Breakdown better. Please take a moment to fill out... Read more

Posted in Uncategorized |

1 Comments | Permalink

Do Not Bury the Lead

Posted 8 April 2013 by Matt Shipman

The opening lines of any written work are essential. This is true of news stories, blog posts and novels, and I’ve written about it before. But I forgot to mention an important point that all news writers (including bloggers) should bear in mind: you need to tell the reader right away why they should bother reading what you wrote. In other words, do not “bury the lead.” The lead (rhymes with greed) is the news hook of the story: What’s... Read more

Posted in Uncategorized |

3 Comments | Permalink

Thou Shalt Not: The Science PIO Commandments

Posted 25 March 2013 by Matt Shipman

Public information officers (PIOs) often have a bad reputation among reporters – and not without reason. Bad PIOs can be annoying, misleading, frustrating and whatever the opposite of helpful is. When I made the move from being a reporter to being a PIO, I made a list of commandments for myself. Some of these things are specific to PIOs who work on science-related issues, but most apply to everyone in the business. If some sound familiar, it’s because I’ve mentioned... Read more

Posted in Uncategorized |

5 Comments | Permalink

Four Ways to Open a Science Story

Posted 9 March 2013 by Matt Shipman

There are many ways to begin a story. And finding the right opening line can make writing the rest of the story much easier. Finding the right opening line is also important if you want the reader to keep reading. I am not the first person to say this. Tim Radford’s famous “Manifesto for the Simple Scribe” lists the all-important first line in rule number 12, which says (among other things) that “there is always an ideal first sentence.” But... Read more

Posted in Uncategorized |

6 Comments | Permalink

Deciding Which Journal Articles to Promote

Posted 5 March 2013 by Matt Shipman

Public information officers (PIOs) write news releases and blog posts, which they pitch to reporters in hopes of convincing the reporters to write stories about, well, whatever it is the PIOs wrote about. As a PIO who covers a lot of scientific research, I do this too. I’ve been asked several times recently how I decide which research findings to promote, and which ones I (respectfully) decline to write about. That’s what this post is about. First off, when it... Read more

Posted in Uncategorized |

3 Comments | Permalink

The Pros and Cons of Embargoes

Posted 26 February 2013 by Matt Shipman

Embargoes are a fact of life for many people in the science communication field. But a lot of people don’t know what they are, why some institutions require them and/or why some people don’t like them. In a scicomm context, an embargo is when a journal, researcher or public information officer (PIO) gives reporters a copy of a journal article before the article is published – but bars those reporters from releasing any stories about the journal article until it... Read more

Posted in Uncategorized |

6 Comments | Permalink

Should PIOs Sit In On Interviews?

Posted 24 January 2013 by Matt Shipman

I recently had an interesting Twitter “conversation” about whether public information officers (PIOs) should be allowed to sit in on interviews between reporters and researchers. Some good points were raised, and I thought I’d talk about it a little here. In my opinion, there is no need for me to sit in on an interview between a reporter and a researcher. The researchers I work with are all grown men and women who are quite capable of handling themselves. Furthermore,... Read more

Posted in Uncategorized |

5 Comments | Permalink

Preparing For an Interview, Part Three: Researchers (for TV and Radio)

Posted 17 January 2013 by Matt Shipman

To many researchers, the only thing more terrifying than doing a taped TV interview is doing a live TV interview. Going on live radio is only a little less scary. But if you are prepared, and don’t panic, TV and radio interviews can be very effective science communication tools. First of all, here are some numbers to explain why TV is so important. In September 2012, the Wall Street Journal had the largest circulation of any U.S.-based newspaper, with approximately... Read more

Posted in Uncategorized |

2 Comments | Permalink

Preparing For an Interview, Part Two: Researchers (for Print and Online Media)

Posted 14 January 2013 by Matt Shipman

Scientists are often nervous about being interviewed by reporters. This is often because they are worried that reporters will misrepresent their work or make them look foolish. Human ingenuity is boundless, so there is no foolproof way to ensure that reporters will get everything right. However, there are things that scientists can do to help ensure that they communicate their work effectively, and significantly improve the odds that their work is presented accurately. (Note: interviewing scientists is no picnic for... Read more

Posted in Uncategorized |

7 Comments | Permalink