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Working with Journalists as a PIO:Five Dos and Don’ts
Ivan Oransky, MD
Executive Editor, Reuters HealthAdjunct Asst. Professor,
New York University Science, Health, and Environmental Reporting ProgramBlogger, Embargo Watch and Retraction Watch
National Association of Science WritersNew Haven, Connecticut
November 6, 2010
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Don’t
1. Call to make sure I got your emailed press release
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Don’t
1. Call to make sure I got your emailed press release
2. Pitch me stuff I never cover In my case: basic science, facility openings, studies that haven’t been published or presented at a reasonably prestigious conference
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Don’t
1. Call to make sure I got your emailed press release
2. Pitch me stuff I never cover In my case: basic science, facility openings, studies that haven’t been published or presented at a reasonably prestigious conference
3. Embargo studies that are already published
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Don’t
1. Call to make sure I got your emailed press release
2. Pitch me stuff I never cover In my case: basic science, facility openings, studies that haven’t been published or presented at a reasonably prestigious conference
3. Embargo studies that are already published
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Don’t
1. Call to make sure I got your emailed press release
2. Pitch me stuff I never cover In my case: basic science, facility openings, studies that haven’t been published or presented at a reasonably prestigious conference
3. Embargo studies that are already published
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Don’t
4. Ask me to agree to an embargo that you plan to let someone else break
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Don’t
4. Ask me to agree to an embargo that you plan to let someone else break
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Don’t
4. Ask me to agree to an embargo that you plan to let someone else break
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Don’t
5. Send embargoed material before I’ve agreed to any embargo, then expect me to uphold it
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Don’t
5. Send embargoed material before I’ve agreed to any embargo, then expect me to uphold it
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Do
1. Convince your researchers to return my staff’s phone calls -- by deadline
2. Get to know what I’m interested in, by reading it, and seeing what I do on Twitter
3. Send me stuff you think I’d be interested in that isn’t from your institution
4. Send me stories from high-impact journals that don’t embargo
5. Convince your researchers not to talk in jargon