How Should Scientists Speak During a Crisis? - 大象传媒 Magazine Solutions Journalism

May 31, 2023

When the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in the United States in spring 2020, political leaders, state officials, and media pundits struggled to explain what was happening and how members of the public could protect themselves from this deadly disease. There was widespread misunderstanding of the among the American public, and recommendations from government officials were . While hindsight is always 20/20, how scientists communicate in a crisis鈥攁nd how the public receives that information鈥攃an be a matter of life and death.

To remedy that, Christopher Reddy, senior scientist in the Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and faculty member of the institution鈥檚 joint oceanography program with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, wrote a book called . He recently spoke with 大象传媒 Racial Justice Editor Sonali Kolhatkar on Rising Up With Sonali about navigating these essential but complex communications during a crisis.

The views expressed here and on Rising Up With Sonali do not necessarily reflect the opinion of 大象传媒 Media.

Sonali Kolhatkar joined 大象传媒 in summer 2021, building on a long and decorated career in broadcast and print journalism. She is an award-winning multimedia journalist, and host and creator of聽大象传媒 Presents: Rising Up with Sonali, a nationally syndicated television and radio program airing on Free Speech TV and dozens of independent and community radio stations. She is also Senior Correspondent with the Independent Media Institute鈥檚 Economy for All project where she writes a weekly column. She is the author of聽Rising Up: The Power of Narrative in Pursuing Racial Justice聽(2023) and聽Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords, and the Propaganda of Silence聽(2005). Her forthcoming book is called聽Talking About Abolition聽(Seven Stories Press, 2025). Sonali is co-director of the nonprofit group, Afghan Women鈥檚 Mission which she helped to co-found in 2000. She has a Master鈥檚 in Astronomy from the University of Hawai鈥檌, and two undergraduate degrees in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Texas at Austin. Sonali reflects on 鈥淢y Journey From Astrophysicist to Radio Host鈥� in her 2014聽聽of the same name.