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Media Skills Training for PG research students

In one intensive three-hour session gives participants a general understanding of the media, including how journalists work, how to get coverage, how to prepare for interviews, and how to manage expectations. This is followed by individual coaching and mentoring in interview techniques, during which the participant is interviewed twice with video playback and analysis afterwards.
Institution(s):
University of Southampton
Region(s):
South East
Date first submitted:
16 Jan 2009
Date last modified:
14 Dec 2009
Relationship to RDF:
  • Domain A: Knowledge and intellectual abilities
  • Knowledge base
  • Domain B: Personal effectiveness
  • Professional and career development
  • Domain C: Research governance and organisation
  • Domain D: Engagement, influence and impact
  • Communication and dissemination
  • Engagement and impact
Focus:
  • Personal effectiveness
  • Research project skills
  • Academic practice
  • Career development
Audience:
  • Postgraduate researchers
  • Doctoral researchers
Range:
  • Faculty
Impact Level 2: Learning

Attendees of this training consider themselves better equipped to interact and work with the Media.

Rationale, aims and outcomes
What is the rationale for doing this?
How does it fit with institutional strategy?
What are the main features of the provision?
What are the aims and expected outcomes?

The ability to engage successfully with the media is of crucial importance in ensuring that the public understand science and technology and that decision-makers can have an informed knowledge and opinion about future directions. Media training is essential in building confidence and awareness of how to get the best out of media opportunities, and it also adds great value to general communication skills. As science and technology becomes ever more specialized it is hugely important that researchers can communicate not only with the media, but with potential research funders, business, and colleagues in other disciplines.

We will have a greater number of early career researchers who are media-savvy and able to communicate their research effectively.

Engagement
Are there any pre-requisites for engagement, e.g. levels of skill, years of experience, essential pre-activities?
How many participate in each 'activity'?

No prerequisites for participation.  Average trained per year = 100.  The intensive sessions require a limit on numbers.

Evaluation: benefits, challenges and next steps
How do you monitor effectiveness?
Who do you seek feedback from?
Do you have benchmarks?

see above under "rationale".  The course is extremely popular with students and postdocs alike.

The course is coordinated by colleagues in an academic school, and staff-time/availability can be a challenge.  The activity is supported by Roberts funds which enable staff-time to be bought out as appropriate.

This is a core activity and we wish to continue and build on it.  There are similar courses run in the other Faculties, and it would be advantageous to look at developing and coordinating provision across the university.

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Owner

Mrs Jo James