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Work with the media
Richard de Grijs
Reader in Astrophysics, Department of Physics & Astronomy, The University of Sheffield, UK
I think the most important thing, in any science-outreach setting, which also applies to talking to the media, is "think audience" -- and adjust your language accordingly. It's no use to explain your work to journalists as if they were colleagues, as they will most likely not understand much of the jargon that inevitably creeps in -- and you'll lose your audience!
Keep your message simple: a few sentences (or a single paragraph if it's a written communication) should convey the key issue. If you can't summarise it within this limit, work on it, or perhaps it's not quite something the general public may catch on to.
Although you have to keep it simple and short, do NOT make things up or tell you audience something that's incorrect -- you'll be caught out sooner or later if you do...
It's no disgrace if you don't immediately know the answer to a question. Journalists will either look it up themselves, ask someone else, or you may be able to get back to them. Again, don't simply make something up that may be incorrect.
In the UK, whether or not your research appears in the popular press doesn't do anything to your career. I think it's nice to do if you like doing outreach, and in a way it's a manner of telling the public what you've done with their money!
I occasionally get phone calls asking me to comment on certain issues later that day. If it's an issue I know something about, I try to read up a little on it (popular websites are probably all you need to look at). Don't go too deep into the subject matter as you'll lose your audience. If it's on an issue I don't feel comfortable with talking live on air, I may suggest a suitable colleague at my own or another institution.
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