This is a guest post composed as part of the NSF Science: Becoming the Messenger workshop, Lawrence KS January 27, 2011
Scientists need to communicate with the public, and the workshop I’m at right now is focused on helping them do that. One of the main concerns that keeps coming up is whether scientists have to “sell their souls” in order to engage the public’s attention. Scientists are worried about sacrificing content and details for entertainment. We’ve heard about how we ought to keep our talking points simple and focused, and how we ought to “frame” our content to speak to people’s interests. Examples have included framing science content in terms of economic or national security interests. There’s been much interest, but some skepticism. Why are scientists skeptical about using effective communication techniques? A group at Kansas State University (myself included) have been wondering about that question. The results from ...
