The greatest impact of science is on science itself - the public does not gain any knowledge from scientific breakthroughs unless it is specifically communicated to it. Unfortunately for scientists, the layman takes no joy from reading scientific journals. That is why public knowledge of your scientific breakthroughs comes largely through go-betweens, media-savvy interpreters who bring science to all in engaging, interesting, and simpler ways. Scientists are understandably frustrated when the media oversimplifies findings to the point of scientific inaccuracy. They are even more frustrated when the media is unable to distinguish rigorous findings from pseudoscience outside the checks and balances of peer-review, giving equal air-time to both.

You could cut out the middleman and communicate with the public directly, but attempting to do so invites a host of other problems: finding words that the public understands, writing in a way that incites, interests, and reaches a large audience. Furthermore, the public does not share your vision of what is interesting, it has a much shorter view of what you call tomorrow, and it wants your confidence, not your confidence interval.

In this class, you will discover the power of the media, and how to leverage that power. You will learn how to feature your science in interesting ways that attract media attention. In particular, you will learn how to write for the media (press releases, infographics…) as well as prepare yourself for facing the media (interviews, phone calls, tv, radio…).