Rapid Response: Getting Word Out About the Science Being Done to Determine the True Scope and Impact of the Gulf Oil Spill

The objective of this award is to inform the public about the science and engineering research that is being conducted to determine the scope and impact of the Gulf oil spill. In response to the this environmental disaster facing the U.S., NSF has funded numerous RAPID awards to send scientists and engineers to the Gulf to research the impact of the spill. MacNeil Lehrer Productions, producer of the PBS NewsHour, will report on this research that is ongoing as a result of the unanticipated and disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The PBS NewsHour team of experienced producers and correspondents will produce at least nine segments for broadcast, along with extensive material for online. All the stories will revolve around scientists and engineers and the work they are doing in the Gulf in response to the spill. The online material will include blogs and additional web-only video reports that will deliver content to augment broadcast coverage. The NewsHour will encourage user engagement through regular posting of stores on social media outlets, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, UStream and Disqus, to help the reporting on the oil spill go viral. The online/on-air correspondent Hari Sreenivasan will conduct web-exclusive interviews with scientists on the forefront of the Gulf research. The NewsHour Extra, the website that reaches 200,000 educators per month, will post the science coverage on the Daily Video Clip Tool, which provides educators resources and lesson plans to help initiate discussions with students about the science, environmental and engineering issues raised by the rapidly-changing story. The new Student Reporting Lab project will locate classrooms in Louisiana to contribute original, youth-focused reporting on the oil spill when school opens in August. The NewsHour will coordinate efforts with PBS stations located in the Gulf to create a synergy and extend the usefulness and life of these efforts. The reach of the PBS NewsHour is significant. The national daily broadcast delivers an audience of approximately 1.1 million viewers. The NewsHour public radio broadcasts reach an average of 63,000 listeners daily across the nation. Outside the U.S., the PBS NewsHour television broadcast is available on the American Forces Television to more than 800,000 military and State department personnel around the world. In addition, audiences across Canada, Australia, Japan and Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America tune into the service via various channels and satellite services. The Online NewsHour visitor numbers exploded in May 2010 to 5+ million monthly pageviews and 1.5+ million unique visitors. The NewsHour Extra website, which targets educators, will provide resources for classroom teachers to discuss the science, environmental and engineering issues raised by the spill. The proposed Student Reporting Lab promises an innovative new addition to the outreach efforts to engage young people in directly reporting on the oil spill and the impact on their communities. The deliverables produced under this award will be consolidated on the NewsHour website (www.pbs.org/newshour) where they will create a permanent record of this critical research for the general public.

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