How much time does a professor have to get a point across during a radio interview? About 10 to 15 seconds, although most of the time people say the most important information in seven or eight seconds, CKOM Radio’s assistant news editor told academics recently.
Kathryn Falkner told a symposium at the University of Saskatchewan that radio listeners don’t want their time wasted. They really don’t need more than the 15 seconds to tell them what’s important.
While newspapers can absorb longer quotes, academics should still think carefully about what they’re saying and prepare for the interviews.
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Kathryn Warden of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix said professors should spend a few minutes thinking of two or three points they want to get across.
They should avoid giving a lot of information for the reporter to read, because journalists don’t have the time to read it.
Warden and Falkner said academics should let the media know if they need time to prepare for an interview or respond to an event, but also be aware of time factors and the competitiveness of the industry.
Professor Taylor Steeves, from the university’s biology department, said the sense of urgency to get news out leaves academics with very little time to prepare.
A fellow academic said he and his colleagues would like an hour or two to react after events, as they need time to hear or read about the event.
Steeves indicated another danger if there’s a rush to use an academic as a source: “The academic is presented as the expert or authority, when he just wanted to comment and not be the authority.”
Steeves also warned of quoting the same person over and over, since that person could be biased and not the best source.
Next week: how are the sources picked?
