Have we really had enough of experts? by Rob Dawson In an interview with Faisal Islam of Sky News on June 3, 2016, Michael Gove said that the British people have had enough of experts. I remember it well because I had not long left working as Head of News at one of the Research …More
The changing role of the science press officer by Fiona Lethbridge At a sell-out event, 40 Stempra members came to hear from Fiona Fox (Chief Executive of the Science Media Centre), Clare Ryan (Head of Media Relations at Wellcome), Kirsty Walker (Director of Media Relations at UCL) and Craig Brierley (Head of Research Communications at …More
STEMPRA comes to Brum. Stempra’s regional event came to Birmingham for the first time, bringing with it three great sessions on working with journals; pitching to journalists and podcasting. We were joined by journal communication managers Bex Walton (Nature), Emily Head (the Lancet) and Jodie Bell (Taylor & Francis) to talk about how we can …More
Matt Chorley, communications lead at the National Institute for Health Research UCLH/UCL Biomedical Research Centre, reflects on how a journalism course has benefited his medical and science PR. I used to think dealing with the media was easy. In my first job which involved media relations, my press releases were widely picked up, letters to editors …More
by Ed Pinches This year’s STEMPRA social with the Association of British Science Writers (ABSW) and the Medical Journalists’ Association (MJA) saw like-minded folks gather at The Castle in Farringdon. John von Radowitz, a leading science and health journalist whose career spanned over 30 years at the Press Association, was interviewed by Fiona Fox of …More
This is a guest blog from Prof Petroc Sumner, Professor of Neuroscience at Cardiff University, and member of InSciOut, a group of scientists and journalism academics studying how science gets reported in the press and the processes that create misunderstandings and exaggerations. Since we started on the daunting task of analysing hundreds of press releases …More
by Rob Dawson Our international media event was full of top tips to help you go global. Louisa Sampson from United For Global Mental Health gave insights into their global media campaign led by people with lived experience of mental health. Stories and experiences of mental health vary dramatically from country to country and culture …More
by Fiona Lethbridge On Thursday 6 June 2019 Stemprans gathered for drinks, nibbles, networking – and most importantly to discuss purdah (or the pre-election period) and what it does and doesn’t mean for press officers working on STEM stories in the weeks running up to an election. Robin Bisson, Stempra committee member and Senior Press …More
“It’s greed that makes you fat,” wrote Amanda Platell in the Daily Mail back in 2017. “Fatties lack the willpower to stop eating.” I realise that the sole purpose of Mail columnists is to raise the nation’s blood pressure, but this piece so incensed me, I was determined to challenge in somehow. The opportunity came …More
By Emily Head This year’s Press Officer Training Day was a mammoth undertaking with 120 attendees joining us to learn about creating hype-free coverage, working with social influencers, honing the perfect pitch, and more. We kicked off with a welcome from our Chair, Claire Hastings, before getting into the statistics session where Robert Cuffe, from the BBC, …More