The 2000 Strategic Plan did not lay out specific goals for the Communica-tions program, but it recommended communications aspects in a number of goals and objectives specified for other Society activities. It is within this framework that we have derived our main goal as a committee: to provide the public with more information about physiology and the APS through media and public outreach. Five objectives (implied but not stated in the strategic plan) are critical to achieving this goal:
Objectives:
To attract attention to APS programs and the science published in APS journals, and presented at APS meetings and conferences; to educate people about achievements in physiology and the contributions of the APS; to teach APS members how to communicate their work to the public and the media; to develop public outreach materials concerning physiology; to oversee APS-AAAS Mass Media Science and Engineering Fellowship.
In the following report, Communications activities have been divided and explained according to these objectives.
To meet its communication goals the APS engaged the services of public relations consultant Donna Krupa in 2000 and APS Communications Specialist Stacy Brooks in 2001. Krupa focuses on the APS journals and APS conferences, while Brooks focuses on internal awards programs, fellowships, committee issues, internal routing and agency support. An interdepartmental Communications team deals with day-to-day issues and consults the Communications Committee when its input is needed. The in-house team is comprised of Martin Frank, Marsha Matyas, Margaret Reich, Alice Ra'anan, Sue Sabur, Linda Allen, Stacy Brooks and Donna Krupa.
The Communications Committee is chaired by Andrea Gwosdow. The members of this six-person committee are Gwosdow, Gregory Fink, Judith Neubauer, David Harder, Kawanza Griffin and Hannah Carey.
Objective 1. To attract attention to APS programs, science published in its journals, and presented at its meetings and conferences.
Journal Release Program. The Communications Office publicizes the science published in APS journals through the "journal release program." Each month, abstracts are selected according to their newsworthiness. These abstracts are summarized and compiled into press releases that are sent out to science writers and media outlets. Since APS journal editors and peer reviewers have a first look at the scientific findings submitted to our journals, they have been asked to identify newsworthy articles as have the APS staff copy editors. APS journal supervisors review draft releases from their respective journals for flaws that may have occurred while synopsizing the full articles.
To date, featured journals have included:
- American Journal of Physiology
- Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology
- Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology
- Endocrinology and Metabolism
- Heart and Circulatory Physiology
- Renal Physiology
- Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology
- Journal of Applied Physiology
- Physiological Genomics
- Advances in Physiology Education
- Journal of Neurophysiology
Meetings and Conferences. The Communications program also highlights research presented at APS-sponsored meetings and conferences. Krupa works with the conference organizers to identify abstracts likely to be of media interest. Press releases are developed for chosen abstracts and are then distributed to local and national media. For some of the smaller conferences, related journal article releases are distributed along with the conference releases to underscore the connection with APS.
This year, we have done media outreach for the following APS conferences: "The Power of Comparative Physiology: Evolution, Integration, and Application" (August 2002); Experimental Biology 2003.
APS Awards Program Publicity. APS provides hundreds of thousands of dollars in fellowships each year to programs that benefit scientists, students (kindergarten through postdoctoral levels), teachers and the lay public. These programs have the potential to draw positive attention to APS. Since June, we have highlighted several APS programs geared to students, the educational community and the discipline of physiology. Releases on APS programs are typically distributed locally to both the scientist's hometown media and their institutional press offices. The following programs have been highlighted: Lazaro J. Mendel Young Investigator Award; Giles F. Filley Memorial Awards; Arthur C. Guyton Award; Frontiers in Physiology, Summer Research Teachers Program; and 2003 Distinguished Lectureship Awards.
APS also promotes its annual elections by distributing a press release announcing its new President, President-Elect and Councillors.
Measuring Results. The APS now subscribes to a clipping service that searches newspapers, magazines, internet publications and other media outlets for articles that mention APS. The clips received enable us to track the source of APS media coverage, be it from Communications Office promotional efforts or from another source. The number of clips that each story receives also helps us gauge trends in media topics of interest as well.
Objective 2. To educate people about achievements in physiology and the contributions of the APS.
Timeline of Physiology. The APS Timeline of Physiology was originally created by Krupa as a general marketing tool for the media. The Communications Committee helped identify defining events and discoveries in the history of physiology. At EB 2002, APS members contributed nearly 50 suggestions for additional entries to be included on the timeline. The Communications Committee and Office reviewed all the suggestions and chose 25 major achievements to feature on the main timeline. The History of Physiology group reviewed and commented on the document following EB 2003. Some of their comments were incorporated into the final version. The timeline will be printed as a poster and will also be available electronically on the APS web site.
Objective 3. To teach APS members to communicate their work to the public and the media.
Communications Symposium at EB 2003. The APS Communications Committee hosted a symposium entitled "Making Science News" at EB 2003. Organized primarily by Gwosdow, Brooks and Krupa, the program was intended to acquaint scientists with the media and to demonstrate the steps involved in converting a research paper into a news story. The first part of the program featured reporters from newspaper, radio and television discussing the fundamentals of each medium and practical advice on presenting scientific information to journalists. In the second section, APS publicist Krupa led a workshop on how scientists can organize the components of one's research into a media-friendly format.
Gary Robbins, science writer for the Orange County Register; Erik Anderson, science reporter at KPBS San Diego; and Barbara Ware, formerly of FOX News in New York comprised the panel of journalists. They gave their insight into what makes science news and the best practices for getting scientific research covered.
The second part of the symposium was a workshop led by Krupa. She reviewed media basics including the different types of reporters and who should to receive information at different media outlets. Krupa also gave examples of the coverage the APS media relations program has yielded and how she frames stories in a way that will get the attention of a busy reporter on deadline.
Participants followed her through an exercise in messaging that converted their research into four media-friendly points. These points can easily worked into a press release. Finally, she reviewed "Interview Do's and Don'ts" to acquaint participants with what happens on an interview and the best ways to respond to reporter questions.
The Communications Committee was pleased with its first symposium and believes there is value in having a communications/public outreach presence more often than the one-every-three-year rotation (alternating between the Communications, Public Affairs and Animal Care and Experimentation Committees) that is currently allowed. The Public Affairs Committee has given its EB 2004 symposium slot to the Communications Committee. A similar symposium featuring DC-based science journalists and a 25-person, registration-only media workshop are planned as a follow-up.
Objective 4. Develop public outreach materials concerning physiology.
Public Outreach "Tool Kit." At the EB 2003 Communications Committee meeting, the group discussed grass roots outreach and the development of a public outreach "tool kit." This tool kit could include committee outreach write-ups along with links to other APS resources from the Careers and Education web pages (powerpoint slides, related presentation materials, etc.). It would also include links to state societies for biomedical research.
Gwosdow developed a sample how-to sheet entitled "Communicating with the Public: Parent-Teacher Organi-zations." The committee decided to research existing materials on the APS web site and link relevant pieces along with Gwosdow's sample. After evaluating whether members utilize this resource, the committee will decide whether to expand the tool kit for other audiences and topics.
Subsequent topics could include: how-to host a journalist at your lab, how-to arrange/go on a media outlet visit, how-to get involved in your state society for biomedical research, etc.
Objective 5. Oversee APS-AAAS Mass Media Science and Engineering Fellowship
Mass Media Fellowship. The Communications Committee oversees this program that encourages an exchange between science and journalism. This year, the committee evaluated 18 fellowship applications and recommended funding for Alison Burggren who will spend 10 weeks in the newsroom of the Sacramento Bee this summer.
2003 marks the fifth year of APS support of a Mass Media Fellow. Council has asked the Communications Office to perform a follow-up evaluation of the program. To do this, the communications office distributed a brief questionnaire to former APS fellows to solicit overall opinions on the program.
Of the six former fellows (APS-supported or APS student members), two responded. Both were very positive in their answers. Emily Singer, supported in 2002, said, "My summer at the LA Times was the best possible training I could get-what I learned there about the profession in three months rivals what I learned at UCSC in nine months (in a graduate level science writing program)." Singer is currently pursuing a career in science journalism and will spend this summer as an intern at New Scientist magazine in London. Rachel Davis, supported by the APS in 2001, said of her mass media internship, "The fellowship has given me more confidence in my writing and has taught me good reporting skills. It also opened my eyes to the many ways one can enjoy writing, not only as full time writing job, but in many aspects of life and work. My life has certainly been enriched by this experience." Davis returned to the research realm and is now working as a lab manager at Rockefeller University.
The fellowship is now in its 28th year and boasts an alumni roster of more than 400 scientists. According to AAAS: "The program's impact extends beyond the 10 weeks Fellows spend at their summer sites. A significant number of program alumni have been encouraged by their fellowship experiences to pursue careers related to science journalism. Others working as scientists or engineers become more adept at describing scientific concepts to reporters who call their institutions for information. Some hire on as freelancers, or have otherwise incorporated new activities related to public understanding of science into their academic or professional work in science and engineering."
Andrea Gwosdow, Chair
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