The Society for Radiological Protection
Publicity for Society Meetings
Guidance for Speakers
The Society for Radiological Protection is committed to promoting itself
as the leading Scientific Society in the UK for all who are professionally
concerned with safety aspects of uses of ionising and non-ionising radiation.
An objective of the Society is the promotion, advancement and dissemination,
to the public advantage, of knowledge of radiological protection and allied
fields.
In accordance with this objective, Scientific Meetings and Conferences
organised by the Society for Radiological Protection are open to both members
and non-members. All material presented, verbal, visual or written is,
de-facto, therefore in the public domain. The Society issues press releases
promoting the events and invites accredited journalists to attend and report
on the proceedings. Journalists are able to join in any discussions and
question and answer sessions. Journalists are also free, with the speaker’s
agreement, to interview speakers after any formal sessions.
As part of the advanced publicity, the Society may ask speakers to provide
a one page summary of their presentation for publication as a press release.
SRP has an agreement with the Institute of Physics Press Office, who provide
the services of a professional to assist with the writing dissemination
of news releases. All releases will be cleared with the speaker before
issue, and if necessary, with the speaker’s organisation’s own media relations
team. Those speakers not selected for advance publicity may wish to consider
preparing their own releases to highlight points from their presentation
to interested journalists. In preparing press releases please be aware
of the following points.
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Although the audience for your presentation is a technical one, the audience
for your news release may have little or no knowledge of the subject. Keep
it simple with short sentences. Avoid jargon and acronyms. Imagine you
are speaking to relative or close friend.
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Don’t be afraid of spin. If you don’t provide a positive context, then
don’t be surprised if a journalist finds a negative one. Bad news, conflict
and criticism are the media’s stock in trade.
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The media wants news not history. Events are more important than issues,
personalities more important than ideas.
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Don’t expect all the little nuances of your paper to be reported. Some
difference of perspective and emphasis is inevitable. For journalists,
when deadlines are tight, roughly right will do.
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There is common ground. All responsible journalists and scientists can
agree, without prejudice to editorial or professional freedoms, that the
general public has the right to accurate information.
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If in doubt, get help. Your organisation may have media relations professionals.
SRP can provide advice through the meeting organiser and the Communications
Committee.
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