The Naked Civil Servant
I had a media training course at work today. I didn’t know much about it beforehand so I didn’t really pay much attention to the tutors or the bios that had been provided. However, as I listened to the female tutor, it slowly dawned on me that I had heard her sultry voice somewhere before.
Of course! It was Susan Alexander, BBC journalist and presenter extraordinaire, telling us how to talk to the media! How cool was that? And she was very impressive, and not a little intimidating. I no longer have a disdain for arts graduates - this one really knew what she was talking about, and was sharp as a tack. No bullshitting possible here. The reason I didn’t make the connection before then is that all of us compartmentalise our lives, and don’t expect to see things or people out of context: I would have had the same trouble if I had gone to sit down on the sofa in my living room and found the Queen sitting there.
But then I realised something else that had subconsciously stopped me from making the link from radio to reality: every previous time I had heard Susan’s voice I had been naked. Naked, because when I listen to Radio 4 at the right time in the morning I’m nearly always in the shower. I didn’t mention the naked thing to Ms. Alexander though: I thought she might find it weird.
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3 Responses to “The Naked Civil Servant”
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But what did you learn about dealing with the media? Do you plan to exploit your crash course? Do you have perhaps a little more respect for, and understanding of, the poor souls who have to get all that science stuff into the media?
I guess I’d say that I have more respect for science journos, and other ‘technical’ journos such as, say, financial or health ones, and less for ‘gossip’ journalists. One thing that has stuck with me is that it is no good whining about a journalist not understanding your topic (which I never did much anyway, but it’s common amongst scientists) - it’s as much the specialist’s job to make sure the public understand what the point of their work is. After all, more often than not the public is paying our salaries…
The main way I am using my course is that I am practising getting the principal point across in writing *first*, now I have seen how editing is carried out - basically, chopping with scissors from the bottom of the article upwards. Leave the technical detail until the end.
It’s been very useful.
Suggest argue, because only in a dispute born truth.