Writing About Sustainability Science for the Media: How to Be Both True-to-Fact and Tell a Good Story

Abstract

Communicating the findings of sustainability science credibly, accurately, and in ways that meet the needs of public communities presents a challenge for academic researchers. This article reviews the findings of communicating sustainability science to a community audience through mainstream media, from an online blog written by a sustainability studies postdoctoral fellow for the New York Times (NYT)–Scientist at Work. The postdoctoral fellow reported in the blog (March 19–26, 2013) on sustainable community development research on the coast of British Columbia. Field reports included textual and photographic information, with supporting multimedia documentation. Based on lessons learned with the NYT–Scientist at Work, this article identifies a set of best practices sustainability scientists might employ to communicate their research both true-to-fact and telling a good story. Recommended communication of sustainability science best practices include: (a) Find the sex, drugs, and rock and roll in the science; (b) It's the scientist's byline—be prepared to defend all the scientific findings regardless of their source; (c) Make science dissemination a part of the research process, not an afterthought; (d) Little of the science will actually get published—find the sound bites; and (e) Leave time for rights and permissions discussions.