By Delali Kumapley, University of Ghana

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Because most of us grew up talking, we think communicating is easy, but communication is purposeful behaviour,” - Prof. Abena Yeboah-Banin (Lecturer, Department of Communication Studies, University of Ghana).

  On a regular day for a researcher, data from a multitude of sources will be consolidated to produce new knowledge. This daunting task requires so much rigour that it can become the sole occupation of the researcher. The new knowledge produced by the researcher naturally becomes a source of interest to other scholars and academia seeking new information, and they often become the target audience for new research. Other groups of people may not be as interested in the researcher’s work, or seek it out, however they must be considered in the research communication process, particularly the non-academic audiences comprising policymakers, media practitioners and the general public. CHORUS researchers from the Ghana team held a capacity strengthening workshop on the importance of carefully considering non-academics in research communications. This blog summarises the useful discussions at the workshop, facilitated by Prof. Abena Yeboah-Banin, lecturer at the Department of Communication Studies, University of Ghana.  

Why should researchers communicate their findings with policymakers, media practitioners, and the general public?

During the CHORUS Ghana media engagement activities, journalists alerted researchers to include them in the entire study. In other words, at every point in the research when there are preliminary findings, the researchers must be willing to engage with the media and not wait until the tail end of the research to share the findings. The media, like other non-academics, may not be interested in the research process itself but would want to know how the findings, whether preliminary or final, will apply to their lives or work. Therefore, in communicating with these audiences, the researcher must:

• Ensure they know the audiences they are communicating with and make them core recipients of the message by spending time to define which aspect of the research should be conveyed to them.
• Give the non-academic reasons to be interested in the research findings.
• Communicate effectively with the non-academic using compelling audio, visuals, experiences, anecdotes, analogies etc
• Bear in mind that their work is not complete until the research has gotten to their main subjects of the research.
• Note that the non-academic audience does not care about the research findings until it is made relevant for them and this can be done by answering the question of how the work impacts their lives and why they should be concerned.

 

Research communication and the media

Generally, the media as non-academics, serve as conduits for carrying one’s research findings to the larger general public. They have access to the eyes, ears and minds of wider audiences but when interacting with the media, the researcher must acknowledge that the media in most countries especially in Ghana is a business thus they require news items and programme ideas that appeal to the audiences. Thus packaging one’s research findings in a manner that makes it newsworthy, while answering the question of who is most affected and how badly the findings affect them must be paramount. Before a researcher engages with the media, they must set out an agenda and tease out the most important message and if a researcher does not have an answer to a question posed by a journalist during an interview, they must admit they do not have that information. The media assist in sharing one’s research findings and amplifies the knowledge while increasing its uptake and the more one shares credible information, the more the researcher is seen as an expert in that field and the higher the likelihood that their opinion will be sought when matters in that field arise. To also ensure researchers are not misquoted by the journalist, they must ensure they do not use technical terms in their communication and the message must be tailored to match their demands. Before a researcher engages with the media, they must set out an agenda and tease out the most important message and if a researcher does not have an answer to a question posed by a journalist during an interview, they must admit they do not have that information. The media assist in sharing one’s research findings and amplifies the knowledge while increasing its uptake and the more one shares credible information, the more the researcher is seen as an expert in that field and the higher the likelihood that their opinion will be sought when matters in that field arise. To also ensure researchers are not misquoted by the journalist, they must ensure they do not use technical terms in their communication and the message must be tailored to match their demands. Other ways that researchers can communicate with their non-academic audiences include documentaries, docudrama, feature articles, advocacy briefs, and summary briefs among others.

“ To build trust with the audience, scientists must demonstrate that they are competent experts and must also come across as warm, caring and human.” – Prof. Abena Yeboah-Banin (Lecturer, Department of Communication Studies, University of Ghana).