This article tells faculty how to prepare for being a media content expert

1. ASCOTech
Yoda and Mr. Clean on
TV and in a Digital Universe
Dominick M. Maino, OD, MEd, FAAO, FCOVD-A
Geoffrey W. Goodfellow, OD, FAAO
F
aculty are often called upon to ic institutions and realize the research public’s perception of the institution
play multiple roles within our manuscript we haven’t started to write and can have significant and far-reach-
educational universe. At the yet is supposed to be submitted for peer ing impact. Faculty who interact with
beginning of the day, we don review today! the media can increase student recruit-
the garb of the clinician and preceptor, Our lives are busy and complicated but ment, faculty recruitment, research
and later, we may put on the laboratory certainly worth the living. Making sig- collaborations, fundraising, improve
coat of the researcher. The next day, we nificant contributions to science, clini- patient care delivery, and boost referrals
may be scheduled to teach a course and cal practice, and our college community for specialty care.”
a laboratory, serve on an institutional is all in a day’s work for the academic.
committee, and hold office hours. In Our institutions frequently rely on us How to prepare for a
the middle of the week, we may go to to be content experts. If you haven’t media interaction
a private practice where we integrate been asked, forced, or cajoled into be- Jennifer Sopko, Director of Communi-
all the latest science into the art of op- ing interviewed by the ubiquitous me- cations and Media at the Illinois Col-
tometry during our direct patient care dia, you will. Fear not, this article will lege of Optometry (ICO), has these
experiences. The week may not be over help prepare you. tips for interacting with the media:
yet, because on the next day, we may
see one or more students with a wide The role of faculty and the • Know what is expected. How will
variety of problems that require our the interview be used? Will it be
media live or taped? Will you or the in-
person management skills and psychol-
ogy degree (by life experience) to calm We recently asked Dr. Elizabeth Hoppe, stitution be the focus or is the in-
a distraught second year student. Founding Dean of the College of Op- terview to be included in a larger
tometry at the Western University of story?
But wait! There’s more! On the next
Health Sciences, her opinion of the role • What’s your point? Decide before
day, we fly out to Missoula, Montana,
of faculty and the media, and why fac- the interview what your main point
to give an invited lecture for the state
ulty should get involved with the me- is and try to convey that through-
association’s annual meeting. The fol-
dia. According to Dr. Hoppe: “Media out the interview.
lowing week we’re scheduled to partici-
access has changed dramatically with
pate in the American Academy of Op-
new venues on websites, blogs, and • Remember the audience. When
tometry meeting, presenting a poster, answering questions, think about
social networking sites. Video clips are
and soon after that, we are taking the the family sitting on the couch.
shared around the world, sometimes
College of Optometrist in Vision De- Talk to the audience, not to the re-
with unpredictable results. Media par-
velopment Fellowship examination. We porter.
ticipation and interaction by faculty
finally return to our respective academ-
has the potential to positively affect the
Dr. Goodfellow is an associate professor and Dr. Maino is a professor at the Illinois College of Optometry. They invite your feedback about this
and all ASCOTech columns and your suggestions for future columns. Are you a media content expert? Tell us what you are doing.
We want to hear about it. E-mail dmaino@ico.edu or ggoodfel@ico.edu. Please visit http://www.MainosMemos.blogspot.com.
Optometric Education 92 Volume 35, Number 3 / Summer 2010

2. • Keep it simple. Try to avoid us- How do your colleagues Who, what, when, where,
ing industry jargon or technical prepare how and why?
language. Deliver your message in
a way that the general public can American Optometric Association Any good 1950s movie about newspa-
understand. Board of Trustees member, media per reporters always emphasized that,
spokesperson and one of Vision Mon- as a reporter, you needed to know who,
• It’s OK not to know. If you don’t day’s 50 Most Influential Woman, Dr. what, when, where, how, and why, and
know the answer to a question, of- Andrea Thau recommends that you then verify the facts even if you were
fer to look into it or refer the re- have no more than three main points quoting your mom. We can use these
porter to another source. Try to and that you repeat them at least three key words as guidance for our interac-
avoid “no comment” or giving a times. She also recommends that you tions with the media.
deliberately vague answer. always mention optometry, doctor • Who. Today the “who” of potential
• Be yourself. Relax and be conver- of optometry, and whomever placed media that need our content expert
sational. the media piece or the organization skills is endless. Not only do we have
• Credibility is everything! you represent (ASCO, AOA, COVD, television, radio, and newspapers, but
AAO, etc.). In addition, she says, do we now have social digital media, such
not assume you will be asked the ques- as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, You-
Toni Bristol, a public relations and tion you want, but be ready to respond
marketing expert at Expansion Consul- to their questions by weaving in your Tube, and SOVOTO. We have digital
tants, Inc., agrees with Ms. Sopko and message. encyclopedias written by readers and
adds these points: blogs that attract national and interna-
ICO faculty member and public access tional followings. One of modern day’s
• Flag your key message. Tell the television talk show host, Dr. Janice digital conundrums is not that we have
reporter what your main points are Jurkus agrees. To be prepared, she says, limited information, but that we have
by prefacing your statements with, be sure to know the topic you’ll be ex- access to way too much information
“The most important thing for pected to discuss and always be hon- without appropriate filters in place.
your viewers to know is …” est. She also suggests that you speak Radio and television interviews often
• Dress appropriately. Strive for a in short, declarative sentences using are live, which means your message
professional, somewhat conserva- “sound bites,” avoid run-on sentences, goes out to the target audience imme-
tive look. For on-camera inter- and don’t say “ahhhh” too much. Fi- diately. You only get one shot to convey
views, wear colors that light up nally, she says, “If you are being pho- your points in a clear way. Newspaper
your eyes. Avoid distracting cloth- tographed or appearing on TV, look and magazine interviews, however, are
ing. Don’t wear heavy makeup or either at the interviewer or at the cam- generally a little less formal, which gives
jewelry that will catch the light. era. Do not look down or around the you more opportunity to think about
If you wear eyeglasses, your lenses room.” ICO’s Dr. Valerie Kattouf adds, your words and to rephrase as neces-
should have an AR coating, and “Keep your responses brief and avoid sary to deliver your message. The one
your frames should not block your ‘doctor’ language while coming across drawback with this medium is that
eyes from the camera (Figure 1). in a natural, unscripted, and conversa- your words can often be misinterpreted
tional manner.” by the writer who assembles the final
story. I (GG) have had my comments
Figure 1 taken out of context on occasion, and it
When interacting with the media, always dress is considered professionally unaccept-
professionally and conservatively. able to ask to edit the final manuscript
before it is published; however, some
authors will extend the courtesy of re-
viewing the manuscript for any errors
prior to publishing.
• What. What can you, as a faculty
member, contribute to this somewhat
riotous cacophony of frenzied media
output? Quite a bit, actually. If your in-
stitution’s public information team does
not come to you, you should go to them.
Start with what you know and then take
a look at the current “hot” media topic.
Perform a Google search or set up a
Google and/or PubMed alert to stay in-
formed about topics being discussed in
Optometric Education 93 Volume 35, Number 3 / Summer 2010

3. the realm of cyber media and to receive new technology (Figure 2). give back to the profession in a positive
the latest published research. If any top- • Where. It often makes little difference manner.
ics fit your content expert résumé, then if your institution is in a big city or a
present your idea to your public infor- small college town. Content is king Yoda and Mr. Clean?
mation people, explaining how your when it comes to the new media. Your If you’ve read this far, you must be
knowledge can benefit the institution message can just as easily go national wondering about the title of this ar-
and its many constituents. Even if your from Big Rapids, Michigan, as it can ticle. One of my west coast colleagues
institution’s public information staff from New York City. often refers to me (DM) as Yoda (of
does not understand the importance Star Wars fame). I would like to think
of your topic, or if your topic does not • How. Drs. Hoppe, Jurkus, Kattouf,
and Thau, as well as Ms. Sopko and he calls me this because of my extensive
fit into their established timetable, do knowledge base, sage advice, and air of
not give up. Consider contacting your Ms. Bristol have provided some great
tips on the “how.” We suggest you ap- quiet authority. However, from time
public information people about once to time when looking in the mirror, I
every quarter with an idea. This will proach the media and the public from
the standpoint of, “If I wanted to im- notice that I am assuming a physical
demonstrate that you want to help and form similar to that of my Jedi friend
you have a genuine interest in how the press my mom, how would I do it?” or
“I want to discuss this topic in such a (i.e., short, round, and fuzzies growing
media perceive the institution. about my head).
way that my mom could understand it
• When. Periodically throughout the easily.” If you do this, the message you As you can imagine, I have the perfect
year, various media, especially televi- want to get across will be heard and un- face for radio! If you have a similar
sion and radio, designate a week or two derstood by the vast majority of those physiognomy, plan on your public rela-
to count their viewers and listeners. whom you are trying to reach. tions career to be in radio, print, and
You may want to time your message to digital media … or just get on TV any-
occur just before or during a “sweeps • Why. Why should you become in-
volved with the media? Dr. Hoppe way. We all know that on TV we look
week.” Also, consider timing your news heavier, and with HDTV, every facial
releases, blog messages, Facebook page notes, “Faculty members who represent
their institutions well in the media will nook and cranny shows up (Figure 3).
updates, and other media outreach ef- The bright side is that when people see
forts to coincide with special events, increase their value to the institution.”
When you interact successfully with me in real life, they tell me how much
such as the Olympics to talk about younger and thinner I appear! On the
sports vision, or the release of the next the media, you also feel a sense of ac-
complishment and a renewed belief other hand, my clean cut, handsome
3D blockbuster movie, an opportunity but follicly challenged coauthor has a
to discuss binocular vision problems that what you do matters to others.
It provides an opportunity for you to face for all media (Figure 4)!
that can interfere with enjoying this
Figure 2 Figure 3
Timing is everything for Dr. Dominick Maino Dr. Valerie Kattouf experiences a
who discusses binocular vision dysfunction true “close up” as she demonstrates
related to the release of Avatar with ABC-TV the cover test while the camera
Health Beat producer Christine Tressel. looks on.
Optometric Education 94 Volume 35, Number 3 / Summer 2010

4. Finally, as Dr. Arol Augsburger, Presi-
dent of the Illinois College of Optom- Figure 4
etry, notes, “Talking to the media is Dr. Geoffrey Goodfellow discusses the new Illinois
no different from interacting in many Children’s Vision Law on the ABC-7 news.
social or business settings. We all must
manage our messages, whether we are
talking to reporters or not. We are all
marketing our messages daily. In every
conversation we have, we either market
ourselves well or badly, but we are mar-
keting!”
Now that you know the who, what,
when, where, how and why of it all, it’s
time to get busy. Talk to your public
information people. Start a blog and a
Facebook page. Tell your story.
WHAT YOUR COLLEAGUES ARE DOING
In the Media Blogs
AOATV 3D Movie Vision Syndrome News From the AOA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NUYtklUCCs http://newsfromaoa.org/
WLS TV Healthbeat Report: The 3-D Dilemma National Network of Libraries of Medicine
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/ http://nnlm.gov/gmr/blog/2009/07/06/jerry-du-
health&id=7298893 jsik-retires-from-illinois-college-of-optometry/
AOA News University of Missouri–St. Louis Blog
http://www.slideshare.net/DMAINO/maino-aoa- http://blogs.umsl.edu/news/category/college-of-
news-3-2210 optometry/
MainosMemos
Facebook http://www.MainosMemos.blogspot.com
Michigan College of Optometry on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/pages/ YouTube
Big-Rapids-MI/Michigan-College-of- SUNY PSA
Optometry/316876455569?v=wall http://www.youtube.com/
Southern College of Optometry on Facebook watch?v=TrgcFH9cZ44
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Memphis-TN/ Southern California College of Optometry
Southern-College-of-Optometry/300445971137 http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query
New England College of Optometry on Library =southern+california+college+of+optometry&
Facebook aq=f
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Boston-MA/ Illinois College of Optometry on YouTube
New-England-College-of-Optometry-Li- http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=
brary/25189318659 Illinois+college+of+optometry&aq=f
Illinois College of Optometry on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chicago-IL/
Illinois-College-of-Optometry/400752138798
Optometric Education 95 Volume 35, Number 3 / Summer 2010