Social Workers and the Media: Interview with Maiken Scott

Episode 77: Despite the fact that social workers are on the front lines and behind the scenes in nearly every facet of life, we're mostly invisible in the entertainment and news media. And when we do show up in the news, it is rarely good. In order to get an idea of what social workers could do to make a difference, I decided to go to the source - a journalist.

In today's episode of the Social Work Podcast, I speak with award-winning journalist, Maiken Scott from WHYY in Philadelphia. Maiken starts by describing what she does – a day in the life of a reporter. She talks about how she finds experts to interview. We talked about how social workers can combat this misperception that social workers are the same as child welfare workers. She encouraged social workers to become advocates for their own professions. She points out that psychology, medicine, and nursing gets all sorts of information to reporters. Social work does not. She talked about what she looks for in a "good interview." We ended with Maiken's ideas for how social workers could influence the stories that are heard in the media.

If you want to find additional references and resources, as well as a transcript of my conversation with Maiken, please go to the Social Work Podcast website at socialworkpodcast.com. You can connect with other social workers at the Social Work Podcast Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/swpodcast, or follow the Twitter feed http://www.twitter.com/socworkpodcast. You can listen to the Social Work Podcast from socialworkpodcast.com, by downloading the episodes through iTunes or any number of other apps, or you can stream the 10 most recent episodes right from your mobile device using the Stitcher Radio mobile app http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/social-work-podcast/the-social-work-podcast.