Making headlines

Working with the media to communicate research

While the mass media play a critical role in communicating information, it is often difficult to interest them in covering research. Many journalists argue that research is presented in technical formats that are difficult to understand and that researchers are sometimes elitist and or too theoretical. Researchers, on the other hand, can be wary about engaging with the media because they lack experience of working with them or fear their work will be misrepresented.

The African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) has used innovative strategies to encourage African media to cover its research on health, including:

• enhancing media interest in and motivation for reporting on research 
• creating opportunities for informal interactions between journalists and researchers 
• strengthening the capacity of journalists and researchers to work together to ensure research is communicated in an accessible and accurate manner.

APHRC has held regional awards of excellence for African journalists to build interest and enthusiasm for reporting on research. The awards were thematic, raising journalists’ awareness and knowledge about underreported issues such as sexuality. APHRC has learnt that the awards need to be carefully designed to create the right incentives and provide support to journalists. Where budgets are limited, smaller cash awards may still be valued for the prestige they offer but in other cases only larger prizes may attract entries. Having larger numbers of winning categories may encourage more journalists to apply. The awards led to increased quantity and coverage of reporting on APHRC research.

Collaborating with professional media associations and networks or building relationships with individual journalists are both effective ways of engaging with journalists. Holding regular informal meetings between journalists and researchers can help build good working relationships, for example by organising lunch discussions, informal talks and visits to research sites. APHRC was able to increase journalists’ motivation by holding briefing sessions before large research dissemination meetings and producing media packs that break down technical issues in an accessible way. Helping them to identify people to interview or ways to access further resources can also be useful.

For APHRC, building capacity to report on research works both ways. Journalists need training and awareness-raising events whilst researchers need training in media skills. And journalists and researchers can help train each other, for example by speaking at training workshops or facilitating sessions.

APHRC’s engagement with the media has led to two-way learning and engagement between journalists and researchers, enhanced capacity, confidence and motivation of researchers to engage with journalists and vice-versa, increased demand for APHRC’s research and enhanced media coverage.

Rose N. Oronje and Joanna Crichton
African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC), Shelter Afrique Centre, Longonot Road, Upper Hill, PO Box 10787-00100 GPO, Nairobi, Kenya
T +254 20 2720400
roronje@aphrc.org

APHRC is a partner in the Realising Rights RPC

What has APHRC learnt?

• Effective strategies vary according to the characteristics of the media in different countries. 
• For awards of excellence in journalism, ask your target journalists what kind of awards and incentives would appeal to them.Include support for journalists, such as information packs. 
• Build respect and trust between journalists and researchers by creating opportunities for informal regular interaction and mutual skills building. 
• Building the capacity of journalists and researchers to work together can lead to greater appreciation of each other’s role and increased interest in getting research into the media. 
• Journalist associations can be effective platforms for reaching journalists.