Like many political scientists, I get calls from journalists and producers looking for commentary on politics, especially now during #elxn43 in Canada. So here is a series of tips for political scientists (and others) on doing media commentary:

Now, by "commentary" I specifically mean reactions to political news and developments, not features on one's own research.



Political scientists can get a lot of calls on issues in their general area (e.g. Canadian politics), even if it's outside their specific research focus.

Some is what I call "dial-a-quote" commentary. Reporters don't really want our deep thoughts; they just need an expert to supply a suitable quote in the right place. "Party A says this. Party B says that. But political scientist XXX says 'both are kind of right.'"