Edit: See also this comment with some excellent quick advice.
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Here’s a frequent mistake that’s easy to avoid: If you want to debunk an incorrect myth or preconception about EA, preempt it by clearly stating the opposite (i.e., the true facts).Don’t explain the myth itself and how it’s incorrect, because that will be counterproductive.
Example: Don’t ever say “People sometimes think EA is a cult, but it’s not.” If you say something like that, the journalist will likely think this is a catchy line and print it in the article. This will give readers the impression that EA is not quite a cult, but perhaps almost. This is a real concern – e.g., I’ve seen this in a subheading of an otherwise favorable article.
Instead, say: “There’s a diverse range of perspectives and approaches in the community. Some give 10% of their income, but many don’t. People have different backgrounds, different opinions on which methods to use, and different opinions on which causes are most important. What brings us together is trying to find out how to do good with a scientific mindset.”
Of course, the above statement might not be sufficiently interesting to be printed verbatim in an article, but that’s fine. It still informs a journalist’s overall impression of the community and helps them give a correct description of the community in their piece. Goal achieved!
See also this paper on how debunking myths can make people believe them more, not less: “(…) efforts to retract misinformation can even backfire and, ironically, increase misbelief.” (Disclaimer: I haven’t evaluated the paper or checked for replications, etc.)
To expand on “I’ve seen this in a heading of an otherwise favorable article”, I was told in my media training that typically
the body of the article is written by one person (a journalist)
The heading is typically written by a different person (the sub-editor)
Even if you have a good relationship with the journalist, who may well *want* to write a balanced article, the sub-editor is typically unwilling to compromise on the power they have in deciding a heading, and this choice is quite important for how readers perceive the whole piece.
Thanks for adding this, Jonas. I just added a brief blurb that I think is related to this. (See the section about required skills, where I’ve added a note about being personable but willing to be “awkward”). These are the kinds of tips I’d usually discuss and rehearse with someone in an interview practice session. I notice this post is more about how to evaluate a media opportunity and self-assess readiness, rather than what to do during an actual interview. The latter is something I talk more about with people when we’re rehearsing for a specific interview.
When rehearsing mock interviews with people, I’ve noticed that the point you raise is one of the things that most trips people up though, which I think is understandable.
If someone asks you, “Some people have said butter is blue. Do you think that’s true?”, it’s almost a knee-jerk response to answer “Really? No, I don’t think butter is blue. I believe butter is white or yellow, because....”. The problem is that our natural instinct here works against us. “EAs ‘don’t think butter is blue’” is a much weirder and more intriguing quote than, “EAs ‘think butter is white or yellow.’”
It’s takes practice to get out of this habit and ensure that the words you say consist only of words you want to appear in the article, without giving fodder to competing/distracting/inaccurate messages. (You might still be misrepresented or misunderstood even then, but this is one strategy to lower that risk). The advice of interview coaches is just what you said, Jonas: that you should start right in describing your actual beliefs, and not repeat the question.
It can look something like this:
Q: Some people have said butter is blue. Do you think that’s true?
[Take a breath, smile, omit the first part of the response that comes into your head. Say,..]
A: Actually, I think butter is white or yellow. [or]
A: Actually, I don’t think that’s within my area of expertise.
[Pause. Let it be awkward if needed, wait for a new question]. [or]
A: Hm, no; what I do think is true is...[(possibly unrelated) point that you want to give a good quote about in order to communicate with your readers/viewers].
The last approach can feel especially awkward, but can be very effective in avoiding clickbait quotes and providing content you actually want to be quoted.
This is a very good point. Also, one of the coauthors of that paper was my Honours supervisor (Ullrich Ecker), and I’m pretty confident that that general body of research holds up pretty well (though not 100% that it holds up perfectly). That’s based primarily based on my impression of the studies’ methodologies (having read quite a few), on there being a variety of studies from different authors finding similar results, and on there being plausible theories to explain findings. On the other hand, I don’t think I’ve seen replications using exactly the same methodologies as earlier studies (more like tweaking them in small ways and seeing how effects generalise) - not sure that’s a problem; just saying.
I’ve also briefly discussed the relevance of this area of research to EA’s epistemic norms here, and I may try to go into more detail on that in future if I have time and people think it’d be valuable.
Edit: See also this comment with some excellent quick advice.
--
Here’s a frequent mistake that’s easy to avoid: If you want to debunk an incorrect myth or preconception about EA, preempt it by clearly stating the opposite (i.e., the true facts). Don’t explain the myth itself and how it’s incorrect, because that will be counterproductive.
Example: Don’t ever say “People sometimes think EA is a cult, but it’s not.” If you say something like that, the journalist will likely think this is a catchy line and print it in the article. This will give readers the impression that EA is not quite a cult, but perhaps almost. This is a real concern – e.g., I’ve seen this in a subheading of an otherwise favorable article.
Instead, say: “There’s a diverse range of perspectives and approaches in the community. Some give 10% of their income, but many don’t. People have different backgrounds, different opinions on which methods to use, and different opinions on which causes are most important. What brings us together is trying to find out how to do good with a scientific mindset.”
Of course, the above statement might not be sufficiently interesting to be printed verbatim in an article, but that’s fine. It still informs a journalist’s overall impression of the community and helps them give a correct description of the community in their piece. Goal achieved!
See also this paper on how debunking myths can make people believe them more, not less: “(…) efforts to retract misinformation can even backfire and, ironically, increase misbelief.” (Disclaimer: I haven’t evaluated the paper or checked for replications, etc.)
To expand on “I’ve seen this in a heading of an otherwise favorable article”, I was told in my media training that typically
the body of the article is written by one person (a journalist)
The heading is typically written by a different person (the sub-editor)
Even if you have a good relationship with the journalist, who may well *want* to write a balanced article, the sub-editor is typically unwilling to compromise on the power they have in deciding a heading, and this choice is quite important for how readers perceive the whole piece.
Thanks for adding this, Jonas. I just added a brief blurb that I think is related to this. (See the section about required skills, where I’ve added a note about being personable but willing to be “awkward”). These are the kinds of tips I’d usually discuss and rehearse with someone in an interview practice session. I notice this post is more about how to evaluate a media opportunity and self-assess readiness, rather than what to do during an actual interview. The latter is something I talk more about with people when we’re rehearsing for a specific interview.
When rehearsing mock interviews with people, I’ve noticed that the point you raise is one of the things that most trips people up though, which I think is understandable.
If someone asks you, “Some people have said butter is blue. Do you think that’s true?”, it’s almost a knee-jerk response to answer “Really? No, I don’t think butter is blue. I believe butter is white or yellow, because....”. The problem is that our natural instinct here works against us. “EAs ‘don’t think butter is blue’” is a much weirder and more intriguing quote than, “EAs ‘think butter is white or yellow.’”
It’s takes practice to get out of this habit and ensure that the words you say consist only of words you want to appear in the article, without giving fodder to competing/distracting/inaccurate messages. (You might still be misrepresented or misunderstood even then, but this is one strategy to lower that risk). The advice of interview coaches is just what you said, Jonas: that you should start right in describing your actual beliefs, and not repeat the question.
It can look something like this:
Q: Some people have said butter is blue. Do you think that’s true?
[Take a breath, smile, omit the first part of the response that comes into your head. Say,..]
A: Actually, I think butter is white or yellow. [or]
A: Actually, I don’t think that’s within my area of expertise.
[Pause. Let it be awkward if needed, wait for a new question]. [or]
A: Hm, no; what I do think is true is...[(possibly unrelated) point that you want to give a good quote about in order to communicate with your readers/viewers].
The last approach can feel especially awkward, but can be very effective in avoiding clickbait quotes and providing content you actually want to be quoted.
This is a very good point. Also, one of the coauthors of that paper was my Honours supervisor (Ullrich Ecker), and I’m pretty confident that that general body of research holds up pretty well (though not 100% that it holds up perfectly). That’s based primarily based on my impression of the studies’ methodologies (having read quite a few), on there being a variety of studies from different authors finding similar results, and on there being plausible theories to explain findings. On the other hand, I don’t think I’ve seen replications using exactly the same methodologies as earlier studies (more like tweaking them in small ways and seeing how effects generalise) - not sure that’s a problem; just saying.
I’ve also briefly discussed the relevance of this area of research to EA’s epistemic norms here, and I may try to go into more detail on that in future if I have time and people think it’d be valuable.