"I try to respond to every inquiry coming from reporters, only because as a Catholic theologian it
is important to be of service to the larger public and one wants to see that they get the facts right.
My least-favorite inquiries come from national television news shows since, one, it requires that
one go to a television station and wait forever until the linkup is set; and, two, the interviews
tend to be reduced to sound bites. I usually turn down talk show hosts like Bill O'Reilly because
they are a blight on the media and one never gets in a word edgewise. The best informed
interviewers, in my experience, are the reporters for National Public Radio. I also like talking to
newspaper reporters, especially if they have the religion 'beat.'"
-- Professor Lawrence Cunningham, theology
"I think of my professional vocation as having three dimensions: teaching, scholarship and
service. It seems to me that talking with the media, and sharing my views and analysis through
op-eds and magazine articles, can -- if done carefully -- be both good service and a part of good
teaching. Academics are blessed with the time to think hard and the training to write well about
things that people need and want to know about. We do good service, I think, not only to our
institutions but to our communities and to our fellow citizens by contributing in an accessible
way, and untainted (one hopes!) by merely partisan or economic motivations, our expertise to
public conversations."
-- Professor Richard Garnett, law
"I believe it is important to get the results of research out not only to colleagues in the guild but
also to members of the public, who should find them interesting, important and useful. It can be
difficult for me personally to work with journalists, because their procedures and standards and
knowledge base are often so different from social scientists'. But I continue to try to keep those
relationships and communications open, to make myself available to journalists, for the sake of
the dissemination of findings and also to help keep Notre Dame in the public eye, which is good
for the University."
-- Professor Christian Smith, sociology
(October 2007)
