Abstract

Much like a statistician or data scientist, journalists must find the stories hidden from the busy and noisy data set of news that’s happening around the world. But how do they do that? How do journalists decide what’s important and newsworthy – and what isn’t? I spent nearly thirty years producing and managing television newscasts in the United States. I had to answer that question every day, sometimes multiple times a day. In this talk, I will explore the elements of timing and emotion when it comes to driving journalists’ decisions. I will show you how to incorporate some of this thinking into how you pitch your research or engage with news organisations. I will also give you a sense of what a ‘day in the life of a journalist’ is really like so that you may better appreciate who it is you’re trying to connect to.