Workshop on Research Dissemination

By Gitte Gravengaard, PhD, Associate Professor,
Department of Nordic Studies and Linguistics, University of Copenhagen

Purpose

The overall professional goals with this workshop are to:

  • Give the participants knowledge about research dissemination, about the work relation between researchers, and journalists and about how journalists work and think
  • Provide tools which the participants can use in their everyday practice when working with journalists

The overall educational goals are to:

  • Link the theoretical knowledge about research dissemination and journalists closely to the participants’ own practice and research projects through concrete examples, exercises, and discussions
  • Facilitate reflections about the participants’ own research dissemination

Before the workshop, please consider:

  • Which part of your research would you like to tell a journalist about and have him create a media story about?
  • How would you present your research?
  • What would you tell the journalist?

It might be a good idea to write down important key words and bring them to the workshop


Tuesday 22 September

Why should we disseminate our research?

  • Advantages/pitfalls?
  • Joint discussion and a small introduction


What does good research dissemination look like?

  • What is a good story?
  • How can we think about our story?
  • Which counter stories can we expect?

How is a story built?

  • The news triangle

The linguistic level in the story

  • The readably accessible language

Wednesday 23 September

How are experts normally framed in the media?

What type of researcher do you wish to be in the media?

How does journalists work and think?

  • What is a good story seen from the journalist’s perspective?

How do you get in contact with journalists?

  • How do you prepare?

What do you do, when the journalist calls?

  • What are the typical questions?
  • When do you answer yes/no?

What do you do when you sit across the journalist in an interview situation?

  • We tape three researchers on video


Everyone should prepare from home a 30 second answer to this question:
“What is the most interesting thing your research has shown?”

Three researchers will be chosen on the day. After the filming we will watch them in plenum and discuss them.