“It’s important to think about your work in a way that the public would be interested in,” says Martin Antony, professor and chair in the department of psychology at Ryerson University in Toronto, who has given over 300 media interviews.
Media Driving Research
Antony and his team were trying to recruit participants for a study the public wasn’t interested in so they pitched a general article on hoarding to newspapers within the context of the study.
“Having a bit of reputation through the media has been helpful for recruiting participants for research projects, and it has also helped for disseminating results of projects.”
Antony has recently taken to giving lectures to his graduate students on how to get noticed in the media and how to use media exposure to your advantage.
“Some percentage were in that situation where they need to talk to the media but they have no idea how to do that, and they have no exposure to information on how to do that,” says Antony. “Having been interviewed on many topics over the years, I’ve learned to be careful on how I phrase things.”
Martin Antony (@RyersonPsych) explains #psychology behind #gymnophobics, real-life ‘never-nudes’ @NBCNews #Ryerson http://t.co/YKHeTy5Kn7
— Ryerson University (@RyersonU) May 17, 2013
While Antony’s specialties lie in perfectionism, phobias and anxiety disorders, Antony said that his favourite topic to talk about is the media.
“As someone who works in anxiety and fear, anything that contributes to anxiety is interesting,” Antony says. “The media exaggerates threats. Things like terrorism and ebola get much more coverage than obesity and heat, which kill far more people.”