Particle Pa ticle Ph Physi ysics cs Co Coll llid ide Jamie - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Wh When n Pu Publ blic ic Re Rela lati tions

• ns an

and d Pa Particle ticle Ph Physi ysics cs Co Coll llid ide

Jamie Dorey, Open University Richard Holliman, Open University Eileen Scanlon, Open University James Gillies, CERN Contact: Jamie.dorey@open.ac.uk

Overview

• Documentary analysis; ethnography; interviews

(Dorey, 2015)

• The Position of Scientific Public Relations in the Circuit of Mass

Communication

• from ‘Press Office’ to ‘Communications Group’
• Introduction to CERN: ‘Adhocracy’ Organisation
• CERN’s ‘Official’ Communication Architecture
• Tensions Rising from the Centralisation of Communication Functions
• ‘digital scholarship’ and social media

Circuit of Mass Communication

• Four Main actors
• Interact to influence

production, content and reception of media coverage

• ‘pre-digital’ model
• Where do Press offices sit

within this circuit?

• Intermediary position

between Scientific Institutes and the Media (Miller, et al. 1998)8)

Press Offices/ Science Media Centres

CERN Communications Group: additional functions

1 2 3 4

(Adapted from Miller, et al. 1998)

CERN

• More than 10,000 scientists from 600

universities in 113 countries.

• Four Main Detectors: ATLAS, ALICE, CMS,

LHCb

• 'Adhocracy' organization:
• Complex environment
• Unique outputs
• Multidisciplinary teams
• No single person dictates
• Organised competition between

experiments

• within a culture of openness

CERN’s Communication Architecture

• Decentralised Communication

Network

• Allows more participants
• Increase feelings of belonging
• Harder to coordinate at a strategic

level

• Coordinated roles and

responsibilities

• Reward and recognition

Issues around Centralised Communication

• Easier to meet strategic goals
• Can limit the number of voices heard; gatekeepers vs. bottlenecks
• Need a balance between DIY and Command and Control approaches to

Communications

• digital scholarship and engagement via social media
• Public Relations Groups may lack the resources to support individual

communication activities

Points for Discussion

What role should Press Offices/Communication Groups play in the public arena? To what extent should the press officer act as a critical journalist? (from Fahy, 2011) Corporate science writing or science journalism, can the public tell the difference - and does it matter who writes the story? Command and Control vs DIY Communication: Could/should public relations groups promote DIY communication strategies amongst researchers?