Five tips for responding to media questions about your research
If you’re a researcher at a public-facing institution, chances are good you’ll open your email one day and find an interview request from a member of the media. Though most researchers are excited to learn a reporter is interested in their work, one of the most common questions I hear from clients contacted by the media is:
Should I answer this, and what should I say?
Though mastering the art of media relations takes time and practice, you don’t need to be a media pro to respond effectively to the media’s questions about your work. These five best practices can help you build productive relationships with reporters and ensure your work is covered accurately.
Looking for ways to make your work more visible to the press and other audiences?
1. Before responding, do ten minutes of research.
Most of the time, inquiries from reporters are good-faith efforts to better understand your work. But in an increasingly complex media environment, it’s never a good idea to respond to a member of the media without an informed understanding of who you’re talking to. Luckily, it’s easy to access a wealth of information about anyone with an established byline, and reviewing someone’s recent writings or browsing their Twitter profile can teach you a lot about the type of story they might be working on.
If you receive a question from a columnist, search for their past columns on similar topics to make an educated guess about the angle of their upcoming piece. If the inquiry comes from a beat reporter (a reporter who covers news of the day on a specific topic, like the U.S. economy or immigration), ask yourself how or if your research relates to events in the news. If you’ve received a request from a booker for a television or radio show, do a quick search of recent episodes to understand how the show is structured or how it typically uses or discusses academic research.
If you still have concerns about a reporter’s motive after doing your research, ask them directly what kind of story they’re working on. If you receive a vague or cagey response, consider declining the interview or, if possible, talking to a media relations specialist at your organization before responding.
2. You’re not obligated to set up a phone call, and emails are often less risky.
When you respond to a reporter, via email or on the phone, everything you write or say is considered on-the-record unless you specify otherwise. If you’re new to speaking to members of the media about your work, taking a phone call can increase your likelihood of being quoted out of context—or saying something that you later regret.
If a reporter requests a phone interview but you don’t feel ready to jump on a call, respond by politely informing them that you aren’t able to take a phone call, but you can provide some useful information. Form there, include in your email anything you would feel comfortable seeing in print. You can also offer to answer follow-up questions over email.
3. Don’t limit yourself to answering the questions you were asked.
Time and again, I’ve seen academics respond to media inquiries with the narrow goal of answering only the specific questions they were asked. To maintain good relationships with reporters, it’s good to answer their specific questions if you can. But you should also take the opportunity to answer the questions you wish they had asked.
Every time you receive a media request, you have the opportunity to tell the world what they need to know about your area of expertise. Answer the questions you were asked, but also share information you think the reporter should be writing about, whether they asked about it or not.
4. Clarify how your research should not be interpreted.
One of the most common concerns I hear from researchers is a fear that their work will be interpreted more broadly than it should be. Researchers don’t like to overclaim, and they’re worried that coverage of their work will suggest they have.
If this is a concern, make sure you tell reporters not only what your research finds or means, but what it doesn’t find or mean. Reputable reporters want to cover research and information from expert sources accurately. This can be difficult to do, however, if the experts don’t answer their questions. By taking the time to answer questions and clarifying what your work doesn’t show, you greatly increase the odds that coverage of your work will be accurate, fair, and meaningful.
5. Reporters need quotes—make sure to give them one!
Email inquiries from reporters often include specific questions about your work or area of expertise. Reporters want answers to these questions, but they also need quotes for their story. They might not specifically ask you for a quote, but they’re probably hoping to get one (in fact, obtaining a quote could be the primary, unstated goal of their inquiry). If you find reporters contact you often but rarely mention you or your work in their stories, it could be because you’re not giving them something they can put in print. As a result, they’re forced to use your insight as background information.
As you read the news, pay attention to the types of remarks reporters and editors choose to put in quotations. The best quotes are short (a snappy sentence or two) and sum up a source’s main point for the reader of the story. They’re often conversational and less formal.
If you want to be quoted in the reporter’s story, avoid long explanations full of technical jargon or complex sentences that can’t be parsed into short, standalone quotes. If you must include that level of detail in order to fully answer a question, end your email or conversation with a short sentence or two that summarizes your perspective in a conversational tone. If you’re doing a phone or video interview, write this statement down ahead of time and make sure you say it by the end of the call.
Bottom line: If you want your research covered accurately, don’t avoid questions from the media.
Instead, learn to answer them effectively so you can build relationships with reporters and see your ideas make impact. And if you think you or your organization could benefit from additional training in media relations, learn more about my services and reach out with any questions.