|
What
We Do
Since
1985, the American Astronomical Society has systematically increased services
to the media to foster greater coverage of astronomical research. We have
upgraded press activities at our meetings and initiated an electronic
press release distribution service for cooperating observatories, universities,
and other organizations. We developed written guidance on how to write
press releases and how to present press conferences for scientists participating
in our meetings, and offer counsel to institutional PIOs on embargo and
"story-marketing" issues. We operate a referral service to put
inquiring journalists in immediate touch with specialist experts. During
this period, press attendance at our meetings has increased from a handful
of reporters to as many as 204 registered journalists and PlOs. An Internet
hub in our press room facilitates efficient filing of stories. Coverage
of findings reported at the meetings has been sufficiently extensive that
on occasion newspaper editorials and journalist trade-paper stories have
been devoted to the coverage itself. Our press activities are entirely
separate from the Society's programs in education.
Our electronic press
release distribution service is for journalists and is not offered to
the public or to our fellow scientists. We are serving the media, not
competing with them. As of February 7, 2002, there were 1163 persons in
the news media and 216 PIOs on this distribution. PIOs are sent releases
separately, as some material cannot be sent to them in advance of the
respective embargo times.
We find that the most
effective way to obtain coverage of our field in all media is to direct
our planning toward best satisfying one media component: daily newspapers
and wire services. Wide coverage in magazines, broadcast media, and other
outlets, we learned, is reliably attained when there is heavy coverage
in the dailies.
Some specific aspects
of our program are: (1) press officers are working scientists with undergraduate
teaching experience; (2) we feature stories we think reporters will want
to cover, not just stories that scientists think are deserving of coverage;
(3) we select the roughly 10 press conference topics and 60 other press
release topics per meeting according to perceived newsworthiness, not
presumed scientific significance; (4) there is no preference for invited
speakers, prize lecturers, etc., in press activities.
Several Divisions
of our Society also have press officers. The embargo policies, briefing
formats, etc. of their meetings differ from procedures at national Society
meetings.
Divisional policies
reflect perceived ease or difficulty in attracting journalists. Reporters
at the well-attended national meetings receive releases not sent to absentee
journalists and national meeting press conferences are not available by
telephone, webcast, etc. to absentees. In contrast, at those Divisional
meetings where low press attendance is expected, briefings may be by conference
call, with illustrations posted on protected websites, and embargoed press
releases may be distributed widely beforehand. Two Divisions have also
initiated science journalism awards, to foster excellence in reporting
on their disciplines.
Expert
Referrals
We
maintain lists of experts on detailed aspects of astronomy and space,
not limited to US residents nor to our members, and provide immediate
referrals to journalists based on
- area of expertise
- geographical location
- estimated communications
skills
as appropriate. Lists
are updated daily. Originally, queries were mostly by phone; now most
arrive by e-mail.
How
We Do It
Presenting
the News
Speakers
at AAS meeting press conferences are strongly encouraged to use visuals.
Dual projectors and dual screens, video projection, and computer projection
are routinely used. Digital photos taken at the briefings are uploaded
promptly to the WWW, where they can be downloaded for use in media reports.
We send each participating scientist simple, detailed guidelines on how
to speak at one of our press conferences and on how to organize and write
their press release. All correspondence is by e-mail and is copied to
the speakers' institutional PlOs, whom we encourage to assist them and
to dry run their press conference talks. In some cases, our staff also
coaches speakers at the meeting site on the eve of a press conference.
Enjoying
the Occasion
Press
tours to important research facilities are a popular activity at AAS meetings.
The Society rounds up a bus load of journalists; the institution hosting
the tour, or their sponsor agency, foots the bills. The snapshot at right
shows the press bus en route to Mount Wilson Observatory during a June
2001 meeting in Pasadena. Douglas Isbell (National Optical Astronomy Observatories
PIO) is at front left. Knowledgable readers can also recognize Deborah
Zabarenko (Reuters), John Noble Wilford (The New York Times), Robert Roy
Britt (Space.com), Tom Siegfiied (Dallas Morning News), and Govert Schilling
(De Volksrant, The Netherlands) among others in the picture.
Filing
the Story
Journalists
use their own portable computers to file directly over the Internet. At
larger meetings, the AAS provides two Internet hubs for reporters, so
that many writers can work comfortably without leaving the Press Room.
Shown in the photo at right (from left to right) are Charles Petit (US
News & World Report), Bas den Hond (Trouw newspaper, Amsterdam), and
David Aguilar (PIO, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics). Note
the reporters'mailboxes at left in the background. (Only a few are visible.)
Each journalist accredited to an AAS meeting has their own mailbox in
the Press Room. The staff distribute a copy of every press release to
every mailbox, ensuring that each reporter gets a complete set. Also note
the banner with the AAS logo and name. Because our small Society must
control cost very carefully, the original proposal to order a banner for
the Press Room (eventual cost, $150) was kept under study for over a year.
When it was finally authorized and procured, the banner appeared on the
three major US television networks in reports on the first meeting at
which it was displayed.
Budget
$17,654
in 2000
Authors
Stephen
P. Maran, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Lynn Cominsky, Sonoma State University
Laurence A. Marschall, Gettysburg College
Contact
Dr. Steve Maran
NASA GSFC
Code 600
Greenbelt, MD 20771
Phone: (301) 286-5154
e-mail:: Stephen.P.Maran.1@gsfc.nasa.gov
Back
to Best Practices home page
Back
to Best Practices posters page
Created: 6/4/02
Last updated: 8/17/02
Contact: inquiries@nist.gov
|
Photo courtesy Gemini
Observatory
Photo courtesy National Radio Astronomy Observatory
The
Washington Post Magazine
By Dave Barry
February
17, 2002
The New York
Times
January 15, 2002
The New York Times
By
George Johnson
January 20, 2002
AAS Press Conference
AAS photograph by Richard Dreiser, ©2001 American Astronomical Society.
AAS Press Bus
AAS Photograph by Richard Dreiser, ©2001 American Astronomical Society.
Press Room Internet
Hub at an AAS Meeting
AAS photograph by Richard
Dreiser, ©2001 American Astronomical Society.
|
