Mesonets%20and%20the%20Media

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Mesonets and the Media

• Derek Arndt
• Assistant Vorticity Manager
• Oklahoma Climatological Survey
• June 25, 2002

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Why give this talk?

• Simply to emphasize that a positive relationship
  with The Media can be built and maintained
• The positive relationship helps you get your
  message out
• The message might be important information
  related to an environmental/weather event
• The message might be important information about
  you and your project!
• To share some of the ideas that have and havent
  worked in my short time in this area.

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Background

• Meteorologists and climatologists are like
  traffic engineers, stockbrokers, and baseball
  managers

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Background

• Meteorologists and climatologists are like
  traffic engineers, stockbrokers, and baseball
  managers
• Much of the public is convinced they know your
  craft as well as you do!

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The Silver Lining

• There is a lot of interest in what you do!
• Weather and climate have a direct, recognizable
  impact on peoples lives

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Two Considerations

• Media as data clients
• Looking for consistent, concise information
• Media as message-deliverers
• Looking for credible information providers
• This is a chicken and egg scenario!

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Data They Like (their version)

• Lists
• Tables
• Brevity

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Data They Like (our version)

• Lists
• Lists are conveniently reproduced without
  investing a great deal of effort in wrapper
  text
• A great way to introduce relevance
• Tables
• See lists
• Brevity

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Products that clicked
This is particularly popular with the broadcast
media. Several Oklahoma stations use this list
nightly (adding their own unique stamp).
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Products that clicked
A daily product whose reliability and simplicity
make it a favored target of the print media. Can
dress up a standard weather story.
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Products that clicked
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The OCS / Mesonet Ticker

• Originally an internal feel good e-letter
• Research accomplishments, cool data, milestones,
  etc.
• I copied a few friends at TV stations and papers
• Now in its 5th year as a daily with over 100
  recipients in research and media community
• http//ticker.ocs.ou.edu/

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The OCS / Mesonet Ticker

• Web and e-mail distribution
• Content and education level is varied
• Climate info, cool wx observations, safety tips,
  info relevant to current events, old-fashioned PR
• Tone is casual
• (they get formal releases all the time)

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The OCS/Mesonet Ticker
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What You Might Avoid

• Elaborate graphics
• Big operations already have excellent graphics
  departments
• Smaller operations cant or wont run them
• Long-winded academese
• Resist the urge to unnecessarily hedge, caveat,
  disclaim, and conditionalize

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What You Might Avoid
one example
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What You Might Avoid
Before it had a chance to percolate in the
ground, it just hung around in the air, said
Derek Arndt, climatologist for the climatological
survey. It was kind of like a heat lamp on a wet
surface. "Better to keep your mouth closed and
be thought a fool than to open it and remove all
doubt. Mark Twain
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Other Considerations

• Know your network
• What does your network do better than any other
  source?
• Know your resources
• Does your office have an obligation to inform the
  public?
• Does a potential partners office have a similar
  obligation?

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Other Considerations

• Be consistent
• A great product, delivered once, pales in
  comparison to a great product delivered daily or
  weekly
• Consistency adds to credibility

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Thank you

• Happy vorticity management!