Ideas and Suggestions:
Getting More Attention for Animal Behavior Research

Blame P. Friedlander, Jr.
Senior Science Writer, Cornell News Service

August 7,2000/Animal Behavior Society Annual Meeting, Atlanta Georgia

Establishing an ABS clearinghouse for press releases and animal research stories, similar to the plans used by the American Astronomical Society and by the American Association for the Advancement of Science

1. Develop an e-mail list of newspaper editors, television and radio producers, magazine editors and writers, freelance writers and freelance television producers.
2. Develop a web presence designed for the media.
1. Allow accredited media flexible subscriptions to e-mail lists.
   
   
2. Archive of past press releases (about research) and animal research stories (perhaps that have appeared in collegiate, development publications).
   
   
3. Highlight current research and explain how those scientists can be reached.
   
   
3. Start small.
   1. Send notices to alert college public information officers that a faculty member will be publishing in a forthcoming research journal.
      
      
   2. Highlight three to five newsworthy research stories as short blurbs and send them out on the e-mail list.
      
      
   3. Work with a few university public information officers to develop content for e-mail list, and slowly add more colleges.
      
      

4. Make sure that...
   1. High quality, high resolution photos are available online so that a newspaper or magazine editor can download them.
      
      
   2. Your researchers think in terms of video or audio that is while working on research.