Should I publish or present in academic conferences before doing science outreach?

Question

I have just finished fieldwork and the media and the community I’ve been working with want me to give a talk on preliminary results. Should I first present data to colleagues?

Answer 1

That is often not necessary and often unpractical, but there are risks involved. The media and local actors need information now while academia works on a slower time scale. So by the time you finished the discussion in academia (if it ever finishes), the media and local actors will often have lost interest.

However, the risk is that preliminary results often contain errors. Often there are also legal and moral issues (e.g. privacy) you need to take into account. All this will differ to a huge extend depending on e.g. the subject of the study, the design of the study, and geographical context. So the best advise we can give you is to discuss this with your advisor.