Introduction to the News Media

The Science Media Centre flagship event- Introduction to the News Media – will take place in person on Wednesday 5^th February at King’s College London (Denmark Hill Campus) from 13:30 until 17:30 with a drinks reception until 18:30.

Introduction to the News Media is a seminar devised over ten years ago by the Science Media Centre aimed at persuading the best scientists of the case for engaging with the media. We do this through a number of things:

• A talk from a press officer from the SMC, demonstrating clear examples of the way great researchers engaging with the media improves the quality of science being reported
• A talk from an institutional science press officer who explains what support is available to scientists wanting to interact with journalists
• A rare opportunity to listen to and question a panel of national news science journalists about the way they report science, what they need from you and how best to engage with them to get the most accurate coverage
• A panel of several scientists who have put their toe in the choppy media waters and lived to tell the tale giving you the good, the bad and the ugly of their experiences

It’s a hugely informative, entertaining and popular afternoon. And it’s FREE.

Is it for you?

These free events are designed specifically for scientists with little or no media experience. They are fascinating in themselves, but the greatest benefit will be for scientists who work on issues likely to be in the news but who are either media shy, feel negatively about engaging with journalists or are downright scared that they will get it wrong. We welcome scientists, engineers and medics in academia or industry from any institution (postdoctoral level or professional equivalent and above; senior scientists are particularly welcome).

Please do invite any of your scientists who meet that criteria who you think might be interested, please feel free to pass on this information to them!

Register your interest

Anyone wishing to attend should register interest, please please complete our application form. Please note, filling in this form does not automatically guarantee your place. Places will be confirmed via email at a later date.

Places are limited and we’re looking for scientists and engineers at least some way into their research careers, so we don’t generally allocate places to students but if they would like to register their interest, we can try and offer them places from a waiting list closer to the time.

For any further queries, please email introduction@sciencemediacentre.org.

Directions:

The best way to travel to the IoPPN is by train:

IoPPN is a 5 minute walk from Denmark Hill station. Denmark Hill station is managed by Southeastern on its lines from Victoria to Dartford and from Blackfriars to Sevenoaks. It is also served by London Overground.

There are direct links to Victoria (9 minutes), Blackfriars (10 minutes), Canada Water for the Jubilee Line (12 minutes), Lewisham for DLR (13 minutes), Farringdon (16 minutes) and St Pancras for Kings Cross (20 minutes).

Please ensure you plan your journey in advance and leave with extra time to spare.

Here’s a useful webpage with directions on how to get to the IoPPN https://www.kcl.ac.uk/visit/denmark-hill-campus