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Learn about me & my missionNovember 25th, 2012 | Adventures With the Dutch Press
This text was fully written by a human.
- Over the past two weeks, I’ve experienced an unexpected turn of events when the Dutch press office discovered my new article before I did. Despite a lengthy revision process and challenges in my project, the press office was excited by the article’s catchy title and swiftly published it, highlighting my work while unfortunately omitting my co-authors from the University of Warsaw.
- This media exposure led to a whirlwind of attention, with numerous phone calls, emails, and interviews. My work on the mathematical model for relationship dynamics was featured across various reputable and less-known outlets, from major newspapers to niche blogs, showing the diverse interpretations of my research.
- Maintaining good relations with the press has proven beneficial, as the media’s interest and enthusiastic coverage of my research have provided psychological comfort and validation, making the routine challenges of academic research feel worthwhile. It’s a reminder of the importance of engaging with the press and leveraging university press offices.
How Did the Dutch Press Discover Me?
The past two weeks have been quite strange. On Monday, November 12th, I headed to work as usual, and to my surprise, a lady from the Radboud Press Office contacted me. She had discovered my new article online even before I did. This article was a collaborative effort with mathematicians from MIM, an extension of my thesis.
The revision process for this article had been lengthy, involving two different journals and a total of around five to seven rounds of corrections over the past year. Most of my work on this paper was done while I was already at my current university, which is why my affiliation as the first author is listed as Radboud. The press office was intrigued by the catchy title and insisted on creating a press release and publishing it online. According to Sumner et al. (2014) in The BMJ, exaggeration in health and science news is strongly linked to exaggeration already present in the press release itself.
The Dutch are quite effective in sharing information. Each university has an office that publishes interesting articles and posts them on specialized websites, which journalists use to gather scientific news. One such website is www.alphagalileo.org.
What Happened When My Article Went Live?
The lady from the press office came to see me in person, discussed the article, provided materials for review, and before I even had a chance to review the final version, the article was published online on Thursday afternoon.
To my dismay, the journalist had omitted mentioning my esteemed co-authors from the University of Warsaw. I hoped that their names as authors in the publication would suffice.
Unfortunately, most media outlets only highlighted my name, which led me to ensure that in a note sent from the University of Warsaw to the Polish Press Agency (PAP) in Poland, my co-authors were given top billing. I truly hope that in Poland, they receive the credit they deserve, as here in the Netherlands, the spotlight has been on me, whether I wanted it or not.
My 5 Minutes of Fame: A Little Media Buzz.
And then came the whirlwind. I received numerous phone calls and emails. I even participated in a few radio interviews, with my boss stepping in to help with the Dutch ones.
Media outlets published dozens of articles. As Strogatz (1988) showed with his classic differential-equation model of romantic dynamics, mathematical takes on love have long fascinated both scientists and journalists, which may explain the interest. When I searched my name on Google, I found, among others, the following articles:
http://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem.aspx?ItemId=125990&CultureCode=en
http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2012/11/mathematical_model_unravels_se.php
http://www.science20.com/science_20/counseling_math_why_your_relationship_sine_wave-96514
http://torontosnumber1datedoctor.com/blog/dont-react-too-fast-or-take-too-long-to-respond/
Additional coverage appeared in Telegraaf, Nieuwsblad, De Standaard, Expatica, Goed Gevoel, and the NanoPatents and Innovations blog.
… some of which, such as volkskrant.nl, are reputable journals and magazines, while others are just private blogs. Not bad at all…
What Did I Learn From the Media Coverage?
It’s interesting how the same information can be interpreted differently — sometimes presented as a significant discovery alongside news from Hubble or biochemistry updates, and in other cases, it ends up in the ‘quirky’ section, right next to stories about the cat-man’s demise. According to Entman (1993), the way media outlets frame the same piece of information — what they emphasize or omit — measurably shapes how audiences come to understand and evaluate it. It’s amusing how they write about something you pursued out of curiosity, and then you see over 17,000 Facebook likes beneath the article.
Maintaining good connections with the press is still valuable. According to Phillips, Kanter, Bednarczyk and Tastad (1991) in NEJM, research findings that received lay-press coverage went on to be cited by other scientists significantly more often than similar findings that were not covered by the popular press. Every university should have a press office, and this consideration should come into play when publishing an article, especially one that’s unconventional.
Now, I enjoy the psychological comfort that my neuroscience accomplishments aren’t just confined to research, as the press office and a few newspapers are eagerly awaiting results due to our positive collaboration. It’s a genuinely nice feeling; knowing that the media is engaged and discussing the outcomes with enthusiastic individuals somehow eases the challenges of the routine, desk-bound nature of delving into brain complexities. Highly recommended.
Please cite as:
Bielczyk, N.
(2012, November 25th). Adventures With the Dutch Press. Retrieved from: https://nataliabielczyk.com/adventures-with-the-dutch-press/
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