- Media and policy: Research communicators can rely on journalists to communicate with policy shapers, both by informing public opinion and hence politicians, and by directly briefing the beneficiaries of the research.
- Two worlds: Journalists work in the active voice, scientists in the passive; with different vocabularies it is not an easy task to link the two.
- Impact: Too few organisations attempt to demonstrate the impact of research communication.
- Visibility: Many organizations need to make their invisible research outputs visible, particularly on the web.
- The quote: Journalists want personal quotes from contacts. But, there is a danger that celebrity researchers are overused and can make ill-informed comment.
- Training: Journalists need support and training to find and report on research, and to support researchers to work with journalists.
- The story: Research clearly carries further in the media when there is a human interest story. Some research themes lend themselves to storytelling more than others.
- Technologies: While new technologies bring new opportunities to promote research, the classic skills are still required.
- Skills sets: The range of actors engaged in research and communication has increased. Technical skills, communication and information management all play a role.
- Ownership: Research can be communicated more readily when there is ownership, either by the benefitting community or by policy makers in the country commissioning a national report.
More:
Euforic newsfeed on information and knowledge
Making research real - research news from IPS Africa
R4D news on research communication