Goddard Planetary Scientist Carrie Anderson Reaps Benefits From NASA Media Training

When Carrie Anderson signed up for media training last October, she couldn't have known just how useful it would prove — and how soon she would get a chance to put it into practice.

The all-day workshops, conducted by veteran former journalists George Merlis and Kerry Millerick, are designed to enhance scientists' communication skills for encounters with television, radio, and print /online journalists.

Merlis heads the Experience Media Consulting Group, which conducts the training. He and Millerick explain how the media process works and how to obtain the best results from press encounters. In mock on-camera interviews, participants even learn how to cope with hostile, off-topic, or overtly biased questions. This week (April 18–22), Merlis and co-trainer Millerick are conducting a series of workshops at Goddard Space Flight Center and the Wallops Flight Facility.

Anderson got a chance to apply her new media skills not long after participating in the training with several other scientists from the Solar System Exploration Division (Code 690). One day the phone rang: It was veteran space science and astronomy correspondent Ron Cowen of Science News. It was about 1 p.m., and Cowen needed to answer some questions by 4 p.m. that day to meet an editorial deadline.

"He said 'Can I have an interview right now?' And I said, 'No.'"

It seems almost funny in hindsight. Cowen has been working his beat for decades, so if a planetary scientist were to receive an unexpected call from a reporter, you couldn't ask for a better one to drop in on you than Cowen.

But Anderson didn't know Cowen, she hadn't heard of Science News, and the media training had raised her awareness about the importance of being well-prepared for press encounters.

"A red flag went up," she recalls. "I was thinking, 'Be cautious.' I had no idea what to expect for questions, and I wanted to give him a proper, thorough response based on the facts."

She asked him to email her the questions. She also contacted Elizabeth Zubritsky, one of Code 690's science writers, who confirmed Cowen's bona fides. Anderson then answered the questions and emailed them back by 4 p.m.

Merlis says that Anderson made the right moves in this case. "No one should ever take a cold call from the media," he says. "If you do this, you don't have time to prepare for the interview. Additionally, we always recommend checking the interview request with the Public Affairs Office. They may have some insights into the journalist's motives and story."

New to the public eye

Like many young investigators, Anderson is relatively new to the public eye. Her time is spent nose-to-grindstone, doing science and building a body of work. After completing her Ph.D. in Astronomy at New Mexico State University in 2006, she came to Goddard as a post-doctoral researcher.

Two years ago, Anderson was hired as a civil servant scientist. Her current research focuses on observations of Saturn's moon Titan, using the CIRS instrument on the Cassini orbiter as well as other space-based and ground-based observatories.

Last year, Code 690 Public Affairs Officer Nancy Neal-Jones suggested that Anderson participate when Merlis and Millerick came to Greenbelt October 27-29 to conduct media training sessions. Anderson's group included Mike Callahan (691), Jared Espley (695), Bill Farrell (695), Brian Jackson (693), Jim Rice (698), and Ramsey Smith (693).

"I didn't know much about what to expect," Anderson explains. "I perceived it as something you just do. Other new hires and mid-career people had all done it."

Getting grilled

She admits the staged session being interviewed on camera by Merlis — lights glaring in her face — was not a pleasant experience. "I was very put off by it. It was very uncomfortable. Let's just say I was out of my element."

In part, the point of the TV sessions was to make the scientists a little uncomfortable — and to equip them with techniques for maintaining their composure and getting the best results in what is, for almost everyone, a challenging situation.

Merlis and Millerick both worked in the television industry. Merlis served as an ABC News investigative producer and then as executive producer of Good Morning America, the CBS Morning News, and Entertainment Tonight. In his career, Merlis has overseen more than 10,000 broadcast and print interviews.

The grilling by Merlis and Millerick included questions along the lines of this classic: "Why should we spend all this money on studying Saturn's moons when there are so many problems that need solving here at home?"

"We ask that question a lot," Merlis says. "In the 25 years we've been doing media training for NASA, someone in every workshop comes up with that — or some variation of it — as a nightmare question."

One possible answer in a situation like this might be: "That's a great question, but there are better people than me at NASA headquarters to address policy issues. Let me tell you why I think the science we do with Cassini at Saturn is so important."

It's not about dodging tough but legitimate questions; it's about answering the questions you CAN answer authoritatively, speaking as a scientist instead of a politician. But Merlis notes that the "nightmare" question is also an opportunity. "At the same time, one can make a positive point about NASA."

Bruised but better

Anderson came out of the experience perhaps mildly bruised but wiser for it. "If I took anything from that, it was how you get control back — at least some control, if you can manage it — when someone gets confrontational. Now I know that if they do that, to first take a moment to focus my thoughts. I don't have to answer in a nanosecond."

Anderson also learned small but important tricks like including the sense of the question in her answers, which provides the complete and comprehensible quotes and sound bytes that journalists need to tell a story. "Now I am aware of that, if I am approached with a question I can repeat it back in the proper form so it stands on its own."

Scientists and the media sometimes seem like different tribes, struggling to communicate across gaps of language and cultural difference that a scientific education, per se, does not prepare people for. Anderson says the media training filled part of that gap for her.

"It opened up my eyes to the reality when it comes to reporters and the news, and how it works," she says. "I now treat a situation differently because of that class. I'm just more aware, and I feel like I'm a little more prepared."

by Daniel Pendick
SED Web Services Group
Daniel.A.Pendick@nasa.gov