SciLine

What are you looking for?

Popular Searches

Media Training

Navigating election-season interviews: A guide for scientists

Scientists: Connect with SciLine

What are SciLine Media Trainings?

News coverage of political issues tends to focus on opinions and attitudes when, in fact, there are often large bodies of research and data that can provide valuable context to news consumers as they consider which policies or candidates to support.

Sharing your knowledge of that research with journalists is one way you can help get facts and evidence into the hands of the public. But speaking to the media about hot-button issues can be intimidating, especially if you don’t have much experience.

That’s why SciLine offered two free, one-hour webinars to help guide you through working with the media on controversial issues, especially those relevant this election season. These sessions covered:

  • What you need to know about how journalists work;
  • Deciding whether to do a specific interview;
  • Preparing your talking points;
  • Getting out of uncomfortable interview situations; and
  • Increasing the odds that a story you’re featured in is accurate.

This training was held on September 23 and October 8, 2024.

Tori Espensen

Training director
she/her

Tori leads SciLine’s training programs, which help both scientists and journalists learn to work better together to bring accurate, engaging scientific evidence to general audiences through news stories. Her role includes developing curricula, facilitating workshops and webinars, and finding creative ways to make teaching science and communication skills dynamic and interactive. Tori’s Ph.D. in biological psychopathology and postdoctoral fellowship in psychiatry, both from the University of Minnesota, allow her to connect with the scientists she trains and share her deep understanding of scientific skills and concepts with journalists.

More from SciLine