5th World Conference of Science Journalists

 How to make a big story bigger [77:34m]: Download

PRODUCER: Emma Young

CHAIR: Bob McDonald

SPEAKERS: Fiona Fox, Kim Griggs, Amy Forbes

SESSION REPORT: Get it onto page one

By Boonsri Dickinson

Bob McDonald, Quirks & Quarks (Canada) opened this fast-paced session by describing how making a story bigger doesn’t mean you have to sensationalize it. Describing how the hobbits story changed from a mere discovery of fossils found on the remote Indonesian island of Flores to scientific debate over if the fossils were really a new species of humans to a controversy over who owns the fossils. “Now that’s sensationalism. We are not talking about that today,” McDonald says.

When Fiona Fox, Science Media Centre (UK), was told that she had three years to land third-world debt on the front page, she made the story bigger by getting the church involved. After Fox had 20 catholic bishops play tug of war to symbolize debt, three major newspapers had third-world debt on the front page.

Fox’s five tips for making a story bigger:
1. Link to topical picture of the day – SARS or global warming
2. Speak out in numbers – use 5 institutions instead of 5 scientists
3. Be an opportunist – “Any sting ray experts, you had your moment.”
4. Take the journalist to the story – “Day trip to an exotic location, like this.”
5. Embrace celebrities.

Now, at Science Media Centre, Fox says getting Dengue Fever and Malaria on the front page is “just as difficult” as getting third-world debt in the paper.

Kim Griggs, freelance science writer in New Zealand, has to make stories bigger “to make a living.”

The green fat nocturnal parrot — Kakapo — sold well. In one trip, Griggs sold the Kakapo story to COSMOS magazine for a feature, to the BBC by interviewing UK volunteers, and to New Scientist for artificial insemination. Though the real reason to pursue stories like the Kakapo is to hold one of the six Kakapos in her hand, Griggs says.

Griggs gave out some handy advice: develop relationships with editors and exploit resources such as list serves. Most importantly, show your credentials by creating a Web site.

A journalism lecturer at Monash University, Amy Forbes, had her start as a science journalist in the Philippines. Forbes stated clearly that “science journalism is not a big thing in the Philippines,” where most newspapers have no dedicated science page.

Forbes described how early coverage of the possibility of Pinatubo erupting, months before it actually erupted, helped save at least 5,000 lives.

Forbes warned reporters to keep away from wacky science stories and instead to personalize stories. Forbes ends on a light notes, the Philippines are full of epidemics according to the media, but the country has something better — not all the stories are tragic.

During question and answer session, all the speakers agreed that as a journalist, you’ll have to do things that make you uncomfortable. The key to making a story bigger (in terms of longevity) — is a timely news hook. It’s a mystery why some headlines stay in the news for weeks, while a briefing on the AIDs vaccine will only be a one hit wonder.

Front-page news is not the only way to get the news out, try magazine features and documentaries. As for tips for dealing with skeptics — well, the media is “allergic to closing down debates.”