图片：©CABI
09/04/19
脚本实用指南
如何说服媒体报告您的研究
Speed read
- Either convince the editor successfully and get free coverage, or pay for advertising
- Knowing who is the right person to approach is important
- It is important but not enough to know what makes news
By:查尔斯·温多（Charles Wendo）
On this page
Pitch successfully or pay
您需要在媒体上说服谁？
Reporters vs editors
From ideas to stories
What journalists want
Pitching to the media
Pitch or press release?
Personalise the pitch
您的故事是新闻价值吗？
Some practical ideas
Make it convincing
How to structure your pitch
Pitch successfully or pay
有两种主要方法可以使您的研究进入媒体：您要么说服记者，您的信息有趣且重要，足以报告他们，要么您为空间付费，并且它作为广告或赞助内容进行。
您需要在媒体上说服谁？
记者有各种角色和头衔。要获得媒体报道，您需要说服以下内容：
• Reporters. They collect information, package it and submit to the editor for approval and further processing. Reporters work with editors to decide what to report on. The reporter either takes an assignment from the editor or comes up with their own idea of what to report on and pitches it to the editor. Some reporters specialise on particular topics such as business, science, and entertainment while others are unspecialised (general) reporters. It is more rewarding for scientists to find and work with journalists who specialise in covering sciences because they are more likely to appreciate the issues and report accurately.
•编辑。他们计划，指导记者，决定要发布的内容并对出版的内容承担责任。每个部分或段都有编辑器，尽管一些编辑人员处理了多个部分。一些媒体有科学部分和科学编辑。那些没有科学编辑的人仍然可以在新闻或功能等可用部分中发布科学信息。
• Programme producer (electronic media). Like editors they plan, make decisions and take responsibility for what they produce. They may be in charge of programmes such as talk-shows and documentaries.
These roles may overlap, for example some journalists work both as editors and reporters.
Reporters vs editors
So who is the person to approach and convince? Ultimately the editor or producer is the person to convince because they make decisions on what to publish. One way is to convince the editor or producer and they will then assign a reporter to work with you. The downside is that editors are busier and harder to catch. Besides, you may not successfully influence the editor to give the assignment to the reporter you prefer to work with.
另一种选择是将这个想法提交给记者，然后将这个想法介绍给其编辑。一个好的记者很可能会说服编辑，一个故事值得花时间和精力。在这种情况下，您可以与您喜欢的记者一起工作，但是有可能记者无法说服编辑者，尤其是如果故事没有惊人的启示。
From ideas to stories
在新闻业中，一篇用于出版或广播项目的文章称为故事。它可能是新闻项目，专题文章，纪录片或任何其他适合媒体的格式。
Some stories just happen and the media report them, for example a volcanic eruption. Others are initiated by journalists, for example a reporter may want to find out how Ebola survivors are coping one year after an outbreak and then report on it. Yet other stories are conceived outside the media outlet, for example a press release on research findings or any other announcement.
What does this all mean to a scientist? It means you have an opportunity to influence what journalists report on. Journalists are continually looking for stories worth reporting – give them an interesting story idea and they will take it. If they ignore your story, it means either what you are presenting to them is not newsworthy or you have not presented it to them convincingly.
So, what do journalists want? Why do they pay attention to some issues and not others?
What journalists want
To be successful in convincing the media to report about your research, you need to bear in mind记者想要什么科学家以及为什么。In summary, journalists want the following from scientists:
•新闻价值的信息，给他们一个新的故事
• Informed views to enrich a story they are working on
•快速回应使他们击败截止日期
Pitching to the media
您可能会有很棒的研究结果，但是除非您介绍您的研究的故事，但新闻工作者可能不知道意义。向编辑或记者提出故事想法以考虑的过程称为投球。
Whether you pitch by email, phone, face-to-face or in a social media messaging app, it has to be brief, newsworthy and straight to the point.
Pitch or press release?
您可能会想知道，为什么科学家或传播专家会烦恼向媒体推销任何东西，而不是简单地撰写新闻稿？
In writing a press release you compose one message, usually in several hundred words, that goes out to all media outlets. A press release on research findings usually provides much of the information that a journalist needs for a basic story; it answers the 5W and H questions as follows:
• Who did the research?
•他们发现了什么？
• When did they publish it?
• Where did they publish the findings?
•为什么发现很重要？
•他们是如何进行研究的？
On the other hand in pitching you may not have time and space to answer all these 5Ws and H. You want to quickly grab the attention of a busy editor. A pitch, therefore, has a much shorter and more personalised message to quickly get the editor’s attention and then you can provide them with additional information.
也就是说，推销和写作新闻稿并非互斥。您可以在电子邮件正文中编写音调并附加新闻稿。
Alternatively you might decide to pitch just to a few media outlets that matter to you most, in which case you might not need a press release.
Personalise the pitch
一条消息以名字来解决新闻记者，并解释了为什么您的研究发现对他们感兴趣的消息可能比通过电子邮件发送给数百个媒体的通用消息更好地吸引了记者的注意力。此外，个性化信息可以帮助您与记者建立富有成果的联系。
Therefore, you need to know the media outlet well, including the sections or segments where your information might be placed and the editors, producers or reporters handling them. Do not try to pitch to an editor whose section or segment you have never read or viewed.
Editors are more likely to listen to you if they know you are their reader, viewer or listener. In any case, you can only know where your information fits within a particular media outlet if you know its structure.
Therefore, you need to do your homework. For example if you are targeting a TV channel, find out whether they have a news bulletin, what the times are, what kind of people watch it and who the editor is. Begin by looking at their weekly programme line-up. What times are their news bulletins? Do they have other programmes where your research can be presented or discussed? For example do they have science programmes? Do they have talk-shows or current affairs programmes where a scientific development can be discussed from a policy or society perspective? Read more about the media outlet from their website. If you still have unanswered questions, approach the media outlet; their front desk, marketing teams or the journalists will most likely be happy to tell you about their media outlet.
您的故事是新闻价值吗？
接近记者之前你应该有一个idea on whether your information can make news. In other words, is it something interesting enough for the general public to want to read or watch in the news? Is the information engaging enough to draw someone’s attention from their cup of icecream? If you told the story to your cousin, would they find it interesting or useful enough to go back and tell it to their family? Would a Member of Parliament be enthused to go and speak about it in the House? Would a journalist be inspired to go back to the newsroom and convince their editor that they have got a great story?
如果有消息，如果有消息：
•揭示新事物
• Relates to something on people’s minds during a given period
•令人惊讶或不寻常
• Is controversial or provokes debate
• Affects a large number of people
• Relates to a prominent or famous person or place
• Is about a place, person or institution that your target audiences relate with
•很有趣
Some practical ideas
Knowing what makes news is one thing but under what circumstances is scientific information most likely to draw the attention of journalists? Below are some suggestions.
• If you have published new research findings that meet some of the news criteria described above, pitch it to the media.
• When an issue related to your research topic is in the news or is trending on social media, contact journalists and provide a scientific explanation and advice.
•是否有可信的机构发布了您的投入的技术报告？这是通过提供背景和其他观点来制作新闻的机会。
• Have you or any of your team members won a prestigious award? Awards often make news.
•你或launc签署了一项主要的新伙伴关系hed a project that is likely to change the lives of many people? Chances are it will get coverage if you tell the media about it.Is there a tragedy that requires scientific explanation and technical advice within your research area, for example a landslide? Make contact with the press directly (or through your institutions’s communications team) to share your expertise and comment.
Make it convincing
Your mission is to convince the editor in one or two sentences that you have an interesting and important revelation. Here are some ways to make your pitch convincing:
•将其与媒体最近发表的故事相关联。媒体通常会发布后续故事，并在第一个故事之后出现新的信息和观点。说服他们，您的故事为他们之前发表的内容增添了深度。
•将其固定在一个流行的话题上 - 当与您的研究有关的问题在社交媒体上或新闻中流行时，人们将很容易注意您的观点和解释
•证明您的发现可以改变许多人的生活，例如可以挽救多少生命？可以创造多少财富？有多少人可以阻止挨饿？
• Think about opportunities for coverage beyond the pure news segment of a media outlet. When something is already in the news the media outlet is likely to host you on a talk-show or let you write a guest article on the subject.
• Show that your research findings speak to the major issues that members of the public are most concerned about, such as personal security, food and income.
How to structure your pitch
球场没有正式作为一个新闻再保险lease. What matters is to catch the journalist’s attention within the first one or two sentences. Here is a suggested approach based on the article ‘Telenomus Remus是非洲Spodoptera Frugiperda生物控制的候选寄生虫，已经存在于大陆’。
•First sentence: Immediately say what you have discovered. Example:We have identified an insect that can be used to control the fall armyworm in Africa。
• Second sentence: State the significance of your discovery. Example:Millions of people across Africa could be saved from food insecurity and financial loss due to the fall armyworm。
• Third sentence: explain why it is important to publish the story now. Example:Millions of African farmers and stakeholders have been eagerly waiting for a solution to the fall armyworm and they would be interested to read about this。
•第四句：陈述您提供的任何随附的文档，例如新闻稿和完整的研究论文或摘要。
•第五句：在必要时提供提供其他信息，图片和任何其他指南。
•最后，在签署电子邮件之前，请向他们提供您的联系信息。在整个音调中，使用简单的语言。
Say it in a language they understand
Above all, present your pitch using words that journalists can easily understand and relate with. You cannot convince anyone by saying what they do not understand. Avoid scientific jargon. Find everyday words or phrases that convey the same message; for example rainfall instead of precipitation, smell instead of olfactory receptor usage and insect instead of parasitoid.
And finally…
You need to make contact and develop relations with reporters and editors so that when you need them your pitch will fall on a fertile ground. Human beings are more likely to read an email if it is coming from someone they know and have met.
此外，如果您不断与记者互动，而不是只有在您想要宣传的情况下才能与他们互动，那么您将获得更多的合作。例如，有许多简单的行为可以使您成为记者的宠儿：
•帮助他们获取通常无法访问的地方的照片。
• Giving them the rights to use your photos.
• Granting an interview or appearing on a talk show when they need your professional views on a matter of public concern.
• Interpreting situations for them.
• Tipping them off when something interesting is going on in science circles.
• Reading, watching or listening to their stories and giving them feedback.
• Pointing them to professional development opportunities, for example trainings or fellowship.
In an nutshell, convincing the media to report on your research should be a continuous process, not a one-off.
Dr. Charles Wendo is the Training Coordinator for SciDev.Net.