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* SCIENCE AND THE MEDIA *
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On 26 November at the end of the second European Week for Scientific
Culture, journalists and researchers will meet at CERN to discuss
the coverage of science in the Media. This conference will be
addressed by top editors, journalists, scientists and politicians.
To avoid polite but fruitless theorizing, we would like to have the
points of view of as many scientists as possible. Can you help us by
answering some questions?
Your first reaction being the most valuable, use Dylan's constant
(Don't think twice, it's all right). If you have colleagues with
strong feelings on the subject, kindly forward them the
questionnaire, to be e-mailed back by November 10 to
Science.Press at cern.ch .
For more info contact Neil_Calder at macmail.cern.ch
To answer, just write an X before your choice (multiple answers
allowed); on open questions, start writing on the line of the open
selection. Then, send back the edited text to Science.Press at cern.ch .
Example:
X 1a Europe
2i others (which) my pet
1. NATIONALITY
1A. WHICH CONTINENT ARE YOU WORKING IN?
1a Europe
1b America
1c Asia
1d Australasia
1B. WHAT IS YOUR NATIONALITY?
2. YOUR SOURCES OF GENERAL INFORMATION
2a TV
2b radio
2c daily newspaper
2d weekly magazines
2e monthly magazines
2f books
2g cyberspace (which network)
2h family, friends, colleagues
2i others (which)
3. THE PRESS, WHAT FOR?
3a cartoons
3b weather forecast
3c politics
3d international news
3e tv programmes
3f science reports
3g stock exchange
3h serial murders
3i sports page
3j others (which)
4. YOU FIND MOST RELIABLE
4a local news
4b world news
4c politics
4d economics
4e sports
4f science
4g horoscope
4h others (which)
5. YOUR OPINION ON SCIENCE REPORTS IN THE MEDIA
5A. MOST SATISFYING FACTORS
5Aa knowledge of the specific field of research
5Ab good historical background
5Ac clear explanation of relevance
5Ad appropriate though simple language
5Ae illuminating metaphors
5Af your own name quoted
5Ag others (which)
5B. WHEN SATISFIED
5Ba you tell the journalist or editor you appreciated
5Bb you recommend the journalist to your colleagues
5Bc do nothing
5Bd others (which)
5C. MOST IRRITATING FACTORS
5Ca ignorance
5Cb copycat
5Cc unreliable sources
5Cd hype
5Ce misleading language
5Cf misprints
5Cg your name quoted
5Ch others (which)
5D. WHEN IRRITATED
5Da you write to the journalist or editor correcting the facts
5Db you organize a boycott of the paper or tv or radio broadcast
5Dc you keep cool since you expected it anyway and do nothing
5Dd others (which)
6. CLOSE ENCOUNTERS
6A HAVE YOU HAD PERSONAL CONTACT WITH THE SCIENTIFIC PRESS?
6Aa Yes
6Ab No
6B. WHY HAVE YOU BEEN IN CONTACT WITH SCIENCE JOURNALISTS?
6Ba actually, you are quite a science journalist yourself
6Bb for an interview on your own work
6Bc a judgement on a colleague's work
6Bd general information on your field of research
6Be confirmation of discoveries (Higgs boson, Bad breath vaccine,
and such)
6Bf appreciation of a fashionable theory (SUSY & sparticles,
Anthropic Principle, Darwinian A-Life, Chaotic
chromodynamics, and such)
6Bg prophecies on Nobel prize laureates
6Bh others (which)
6C. WERE THE RESULTS SATISFYING?
6Ca yes
6Cb no
6D. DID YOU LEARN ANYTHING FROM THE PROCESS?
6Da yes
6Db no
7. THE MEDIA MIRROR
7A. IN THE MEDIA SCIENTISTS ARE MOSTLY DESCRIBED AS
7Aa performing miracles
7Ab promising but not delivering miracles
7Ac practical problem solvers
7Ad arcane problem solvers
7Ae squandering public money for their toys
7Af unworldly beings working for the common good
7Ag ignorant of public needs (Ivory tower syndrome)
7Ah devising means of destruction for the military
7Ai devising means of enrichment for private -their own-
business
7Aj suffering from an overcompetitive environment (Publish or
perish syndrome)
7Ak others (which)
7B. ACCORDING TO YOU, JOURNALISTS PRIVATELY DESCRIBE SCIENTISTS AS
7Ba informative
7Bb straightforward
7Bc concerned
7Bd jargon-prone
7Be arrogant
7Bf power-hungry
7Bg living on a different planet
7Bh others (which)
8. WHO NEEDS WHOM
8A. WHY SHOULD RESEARCHERS TALK TO THE MEDIA?
8Aa good for their career
8Ab to share the enjoyment and pains of research
8Ac to attract brilliant young minds
8Ad to increase public private funding for their labs
8Ae to spread ideas and methods that are good for society at
large
8Af to dispel unreasonable fears expectations
8Ag because they receive taxpayers money and are accountable for
it
8Ah because their work brings changes and society should be
forewarned
8Ai others (which)
8Aj they shouldn't
8B. WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING (NON) EVENT WAS MOST HARMFUL FOR THE
SCIENTIST'S PUBLIC IMAGE?
8Ba cold fusion
8Bb no-forthcoming AIDS therapy
8Bc uncontrolled dissemination of uranium
8Bd bio-engineered human genes (Leyden University calves)
8Be Chernobyl
8Bf others (which)
9. LEARNING NEW TRICKS
9A. AT YOUR WORKPLACE, ARE THERE GUIDELINES ON HOW TO MEET THE
MEDIA?
9Aa yes
9Ab no
9B. IF NOT, SHOULD THERE BE?
9Ba yes
9Bb no
9C. CAN SCIENCE REPORTING BE TAUGHT?
9Ca by journalists
9Cb by scientists
9Cc by communication experts
9Cd by no one
9D. CAN TALKING TO THE MEDIA BE TAUGHT?
9Da by journalists
9Db by scientists
9Dc by communication experts
9Dd by no one
10. WIN A FREE RIDE
10A. SUPPOSE AN EDITOR INVITED YOU TO SPEND SOME TIME AT HIS
NEWSPAPER, WOULD YOU ACCEPT?
10Aa yes
10Ab no
10B. WHICH NEWSPAPER WOULD BE YOUR FIRST CHOICE?
11. HAVE YOU HEARD OF THE EUROPEAN WEEK OF SCIENCE CULTURE?
11a yes
11b no
THANK YOU!
Results will be published on the World-Wide Web, at
http://info.cern.ch/SciencePress.html , the 26th of November.
To get them by mail, just send by that time an email to
listserv at info.cern.ch with the body
SEND http://info.cern.ch/SciencePress.html
