Reaching beyond the journal: Christine Parsons on working with the media
Some research shouldn't remain confined to academic circles. But how do you get your valuable findings into the hands of newspapers, radio and TV – without losing control of the story? Watch Professor Christine Parsons, share her experience of bringing research to the public through media collaborations.
A couple of years ago, Professor Christine Parsons, head of the Interacting Minds Centre, led a noteworthy study examining whether and old model describing crying behaviour in infants was in fact accurate.
Their results challenged some long-standing assumptions about when – and how much – babies cry in their first year. Knowledge that she and her team found might be really valuable to parents in aligning their expectations when a new family member enters the stage.
But as the professor explains, the journal format didn’t leave much room to highlight the aspects most relevant to parents.
To address that, Christine Parsons to get and her team wrote up their own pitch and then got in touch with the faculty’s communications officers to get help with shaping a clear and accessible message.
This helped spark the interest from media outlets across Denmark, the UK, and Germany – including health organizations, parenting sites, and national newspapers.
In the video, the researcher reflects on what she’s learned from working with journalists – especially about the value of requesting to review quotes before publication, which as she puts it: “That takes a lot of the fear away.”
For Christine Parsons, communication in a broader sense is gratifying not just professionally, but on a personal level as well:
“It is extremely rewarding to see our knowledge reach the people who might benefit from it.”
(copy 313)
Contact
Professor Christine Parsons
Aarhus University - Department of Clinical Medicine and
Interacting Minds Centre
Telefon: +45 87 16 21 27
Mail: christine.parsons@clin.au.dk