There are lots of ways to work in broadcast or electronic media. National Public Radio's Science Friday, for example, has two producers (one of whom is co-executive producer of the Science Friday website with Ira Flatow, the host and executive producer). They do the research, pre-interviews, and writing that make the show a success week after week. And Science Friday also has a web site (www.sciencefriday.com), with supporting material assembled and written by a web producer every week. And don't forget about all those science producers, researchers, and writers on television, commercial radio, and the Internet.
Nearly every broadcast show has an executive producer who gets the money together and manages the projects, producers who do most of the research and writing, talent who appear before the microphone or camera, plus technicians and advisors. News shows typically add editors, and large organizations have business managers and fundraisers. There are plenty of ways to bring your science skills to a broadcast job.
One of the first things you need to figure out is what kind of work-especially what kind of deadlines-you feel comfortable with, because when the show must go on, it won't wait for you to be ready! If you're a perfectionist, you may hate daily deadlines. Monthly deadlines may be hard for procrastinators. Do you like talking? Writing? What frustrates you? Some days you may not want to talk to anyone, but talking to people is what a producer does for a living.
There are several kinds of jobs in broadcast science journalism, and if you look closely, you may find one that's a perfect match for your skills and interests. Because there is such a broad range of jobs, and salary varies with the details of the job and the specific employer (public radio vs. for-profit TV, for example). Once you have identified a position that interests you, contact others with similar jobs to get information on salary ranges and typical benefits.
Broadcaster (In Some Contexts Known As "Talent")
Science journalists who report their stories on the air or host a talk show, like Joe Palca or Ira Flatow, are probably the most visible (or audible) members of the science broadcast community. There are few media outlets that hire full-time science correspondents-NPR has what may be the largest science broadcast staff in America. Reporters for local news shows may find themselves reporting on science, and more often on health stories, but that is rarely all they cover.
Ira Flatow, host and executive producer of Science Friday, National Public Radio, says:
I've been reporting on science for National Public Radio for more than 25 years. As a science correspondent from 1971 to 1986, covered science, health, and technology for NPR, reporting from such far-flung places as the Kennedy Space Center, Three Mile Island, Antarctica, and the South Pole. Since 1991, I've been the host and executive producer of Science Friday, a science talk show on NPR.
Before joining NPR, I was the news director at WBFO-FM in Buffalo, New York. It was at WBFO that I got my start as a reporter while studying for my engineering degree at State University of New York at Buffalo.
In the midst of my career as a radio reporter, I also worked in television; from 1982 to 1981 was the host and writer of the Emmy Award-winning PBS-TV science program, Newton's Apple. I've also reported on science for CBS News, CNBC, Westinghouse (TM Magazine, PBS, and on health and medicine for Newsweek Video.
Executive Producer
The executive producer is the manager of a particular media program. As the executive producer for Newton's Apple, Richard Hudson is the chief entrepreneur of its new science initiatives. His executive producer role requires him to cultivate relationships with the National Science Foundation and other sources of funding for the show.
In any given week, he must follow not only advances in science and the possible stories they might lead to, but also developments in science education, where television plays an increasingly important role. He spends a lot of time and energy networking with the science-education community, and because of that relationship he has been very involved in the development of the new national science education standards.
As the executive producer of Science Friday, Ira Flatow developed the idea for the show, lined up funding, and hired the production staff. He also negotiated contracts for rights, equipment, office space, telephones, and everything that relates to putting on the show. He continues to manage the staff and budget.
Richard Hudson, Executive Producer, Newton's Apple, KTCA-TV, Minneapolis, took a circuitous route to his current job:
I majored in physics in college, and worked for a commercial research lab for a couple of years after I graduated, starting grad work in solid-state physics at night. But the draft was still in force, and my number came up. I was an active musician, so I enlisted in the U.S. Army Chorus in Washington for 3 years. While there, I got a master's in drama (another interest) and, after leaving the Army, another master's and a doctorate in Music. My specialty was opera, and for a decade I stage-directed operas for regional opera companies, gradually working more and more on televised productions of theater and opera.
In Minneapolis, I started the touring company of the Minnesota Opera, and I had a number of contacts at KTCA-TV. They had just started a funky science show, with that well-known NPR science guy, Ira Flatow, and were looking for producers with varied experience and I fit the bill.
Around the Newton's Apple production schedule, I did a couple more operas and produced two holiday music programs for PBS, but gradually devoted myself more and more to communicating science. I now serve as the science editor of the many projects we have here, and I am the executive producer of Newton's Apple.
