NOBEL PRIZE FOR PHYSICS 2013 - MEDIA COVERAGE REPORT
On Tuesday October 8th 2013 the Nobel Prize in Physics 2013 was awarded jointly to François Englert and Peter
W. Higgs "for the theoretical discovery of a mechanism that contributes to our understanding of the origin of
mass of subatomic particles, and which recently was confirmed through the discovery of the predicted
fundamental particle, by the ATLAS and CMS experiments at CERN's Large Hadron Collider"
Over 25 million people in the UK either read this story in the press or saw it on television news
The story was mentioned on over 430 UK television news bulletins on October 8th and 9th
Over 40 UK newspapers and publications carried the story on October 9th reaching over 10 million people
The STFC communications team had done substantial work in the build-up to the announcement, along with
colleagues from BIS and FCO, to ensure that the UK media would be fully briefed on the science around the Higgs
boson and that recognition would be made of the substantial work by UK institutions and UK researchers in
proving the theory through our support of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.
Briefing documents and videos were made available for use by the media and a series of quotes were collated,
including from a number of UK particle physicists, The Minister for Universities and Science David Willetts, the
Prime Minister David Cameron and the Foreign Secretary William Hague, that celebrated the award.
In addition, on the day itself STFC co-hosted a media briefing with the Imperial College London communications
team and Department of Physics, about the award. We also had on standby numerous UK particle physicists who
were available to take calls from the media about the Nobel.
In attendance at the media briefing were journalists from The Financial Times, The Times, The Telegraph, The
Daily Mail and Professional Engineering magazine. Listening in to the briefing online were The Guardian and the
Independent. Channel 4 News also filmed interviews at Imperial in the afternoon. Each of these outlets ended up
using material from the media briefing in their reports.
Total UK audience reach for this news story on October 8th and 9th was over 25 million people.
Initial broadcast coverage on the Tuesday included reporting on BBC News (round the clock), Sky News (also
round the clock), ITV news (1 O’Clock News, 6.30pm and News at Ten), STV news and Channel 4 News (7pm).
Audience reach was over 9 million people. Over the 8th and 9th of October the story was mentioned on over 430
UK TV news bulletins.
Print media on October 9th carried the story to over 10 million people across all the mainstream UK newspapers
with The Guardian and The Scotsman carrying it on their front pages. Further coverage then appeared in the
regional press, frequently linked to quotes supplied by particle physicists at local universities. In addition Reuters
UK and the Press Association carried the story across to much of the rest of the UK press. Over 40 UK newspapers
and publications carried the story on October 9th.
Coverage continued on to October 10th and 11th with further features, opinion pieces and letters.
Tracking the online media coverage of the phrase ‘Higgs boson’ over the last two weeks, using the Meltwater
Media Monitoring Service, it can be seen that after the Nobel announcement the number of stories spiked from
the mid-teens daily to many hundreds daily. There was a further spike at the weekend after the University of
Edinburgh media briefing with Professor Higgs took place on Friday October 11th.
This chart shows the number of stories reported per day around the period of the Nobel announcement.
DAILY PRINT AND ONLINE MEDIA COVERAGE AROUND THE 'HIGGS BOSON'
(data from Meltwater Media Monitoring)
600
500
500
400
300
266
200
96
100
11
13
11
12
14
22
47
47
118
48
39
10
0
Mon
Sept
30
Tues Weds Thurs Fri Oct Sat Oct Sun Mon Tues Weds Thurs Fri Oct Sat Oct Sun Mon
Oct 1 Oct 2 Oct 3
4
5
Oct 6 Oct 7 Oct 8 Oct 9 Oct 10 11
12 Oct 13 Oct 14
BROADCAST MEDIA
The story was mentioned on mainstream television news bulletins 433 times on October 8th and 9th.
8 October 2013
(212 mentions the day of the announcement)
BBC – 132 mentions
ITV – 38 mentions
UTV – 3 mentions
STV – 25 mentions
Sky – 7 mentions
Channel 4 – 4 mentions
Channel 5 – 3 mentions
9 October 2013
(221 mentions the day after)
BBC – 204 mentions
ITV – 12 mentions
UTV – 2 mentions
STV – 2 mentions
Sky – 1 mention
Data taken from CISION broadcast media monitoring service
On television Channel 4 News attended the media briefing at Imperial and filmed interviews with Professor Tom
Kibble and Professor Jim Virdee. This footage was used by both ITV news and by Channel 4 News and appeared in
ITV news bulletins at 6.30pm and News at Ten and on Channel 4 in the 7pm bulletin.
BBC News, Sky News and STV News in Scotland all carried the story throughout the day.
Dr Victoria Martin from the University of Edinburgh gave interviews to BBC Radio 4 PM programme at 5.20pm
and to Drivetime on BBC 5Live at 6.15pm
Channel 4 News - Professor Peter Higgs shares the Nobel Prize for physics [audience 700,000]
Used footage from the media briefing
http://blogs.channel4.com/tom-clarke-on-science/professor-peter-higgs-shares-nobel-prize-physics/510
and
http://www.channel4.com/news/catch-up/display/playlistref/081013
BBC News - Higgs boson scientists win Nobel prize in physics [audience 4 million 6pm and 4.9 million 10pm]
Online coverage used quotes from Professor Kibble from the media briefing, from the Minister for Universities
and Science David Willetts and from the PM David Cameron
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24436781
plus
Jon Amos interviewed Professor Kibble and Professor Virdee for his BBC online feature.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24445325
Sky News – Nobel Prize Awarded To Higgs Boson Scientists [audience 1.8 million]
Used the Ministerial quote from David Willetts
http://news.sky.com/story/1151727/nobel-prize-awarded-to-higgs-boson-scientists
ITV News – Britain's Peter Higgs wins Nobel Physics Prize [audience 2.5 million]
http://www.itv.com/news/2013-10-08/britains-peter-higgs-wins-nobel-physics-prize/
STV News - Scientist wins the Nobel Prize for Physics for Higgs boson particle [audience 400,000]
http://news.stv.tv/east-central/242380-professor-peter-higgs-wins-nobel-prize-for-physics-for-gods-particle/
PRINT MEDIA
The Times – Father of ‘God particle’ wins the Nobel prize [circulation 399,339]
Carried the story on page 5 plus an Editorial. They used two quotes from Professor Kibble and one quote from
Professor Virdee both taken from our media briefing. The Prime Minister quote was also used in the article.
A pdf of the article is available.
Daily Mail – God particle genius wins Nobel…and vanished in a black hole [circulation 1,863,151]
Coverage on page 10 used selected quotes from our list of UK particle physicists, from the Prime Minister and
from Professor Kibble’s comments taken from the media briefing.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2450211/God-particle-genius-Professor-Peter-Higgs-wins-NobelPrize-Physics-vanishes.html
The Financial Times – award for boson discovery [circulation 275,375]
Carried the story on page 6 and also carried an Editorial on the award and a Banx cartoon (at top of this
document).
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/595e4682-2ff2-11e3-80a4-00144feab7de.html?siteedition=uk#axzz2hDeHHlMk
The Telegraph – Peter Higgs wins Nobel Prize in Physics [circulation 555,817]
Coverage on page 4 used quotes from the media briefing and from the Minister for Universities and Science David
Willetts
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/10363447/Peter-Higgs-wins-Nobel-Prize-in-Physics.html
The Guardian – Higgs boson scientists share physics Nobel prize [circulation 204,440]
Front cover story continued on page 15 inside. Quotes from Professor Kibble from the media briefing and from
Professor Jon Butterworth (UCL) were used in their coverage.
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/oct/08/nobel-prize-physics-peter-higgs-boson-francois-englert
On the 8th the Guardian also ran a live blog around the announcement of the award that offered up explanations
about the science and the people. This included quotes from Professor Kibble taken live from the STFC/Imperial
media briefing and further quotes by the Science Minister David Willetts, STFC Chief Executive Professor John
Womersley, Professor Jon Butterworth (UCL), Professor Paul Newman (University of Birmingham), Professor
Jerome Gauntlett (ICL)
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/oct/08/nobel-prize-in-physics-live-blog
The Express - Higgs 'overwhelmed' by Nobel Prize [circulation 529,648]
http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/435233/Higgs-overwhelmed-by-Nobel-Prize
and the Prime Minister and Professor Michael Duff (Imperial) are quoted in the follow-up coverage
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/435235/Plaudits-for-Higgs-Nobel-Prize
The Scotsman - Higgs and Englert win Nobel Prize in physics [circulation 28,500]
Article uses quotes by the Prime Minister and Dr Victoria Martin from Edinburgh University
http://www.scotsman.com/news/scotland/top-stories/higgs-and-englert-win-nobel-prize-in-physics-1-3131218
The Herald – World acclaim as Higgs boson scientist awarded Nobel Prize [circulation 47,226]
Uses the Prime Minister quote and also quotes from the particle physicist Professor Craig Buttar (Glasgow
University).
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/world-acclaim-as-higgs-boson-scientist-awarded-nobelprize.22371266
Metro – Nobel win for God particle [circulation 1,334,000]
Coverage on page 25.
http://metro.co.uk/2013/10/08/peter-higgs-and-francois-englert-win-nobel-physics-prize-for-higgs-bosontheory-4138699/
The Sun – It's the Boson what won it for Prof Higgs [circulation 2,409,811]
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/5189756/Peter-Higgs-wins-Nobel-Prize.html
The Mirror - British scientist Peter Higgs awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for 'God particle' theory [circulation
1,058,488]
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/british-scientist-peter-higgs-awarded-2350524
The Independent – [circulation 76,802] and I – [circulation 293,946]
Main coverage includes quotes from Professor Kibble taken from the STFC/Imperial media briefing.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/elusive-peter-higgs-and-francois-englert-win-2013-nobel-prize-forphysics-for-work-based-on-higgs-boson-theory-8866516.html?origin=internalSearch
Plus
An article by particle physicist Dr Victoria Martin (Edinburgh University)
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/peter-higgs-there-could-be-no-more-gracious-or-deservingwinner-of-a-nobel-prize-8867052.html?origin=internalSearch
Reuters UK - Higgs boson, key to the universe, wins Nobel physics prize
CERN Director General Rolf Heuer said he was "thrilled" that the Nobel prize had gone to particle physics. He said
the discovery of the Higgs boson at CERN ...
The Reuters article took a quote from Professor Kibble from the media briefing
Evening Standard – Plaudits for Higg’s nobel prize [circulation 700,000]
Includes Prime Minister quote and quote from Professor Michael Duff at Imperial
http://www.standard.co.uk/panewsfeeds/plaudits-for-higgs-nobel-prize-8866663.html?origin=internalSearch
Daily Record - Edinburgh University Professor Peter Higgs wins joint Nobel Prize in physics for his part in Higgs
Boson mechanism [circulation 251,535]
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/edinburgh-university-professor-peter-higgs-2350053
Wired.co.uk – Peter Higgs and Francois Englert awarded Nobel Prize in physics [circulation 49,377]
Used Ministerial quote by David Willetts
http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-10/08/higgs-boson-nobel-prize
Times Higher Education – Higgs and Englert win Nobel Prize [circulation 28,000]
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/higgs-and-englert-win-nobel-prize/2007970.article
Research Fortnight – Higgs wins Nobel Prize [circulation 12,000]
http://www.researchprofessional.com/0/rr/news/uk/universities/2013/10/Higgs-wins-Nobel-prize.html
New Scientist – Elusive Higgs wins physics nobel, shared with Englert [circulation 137,605]
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn24365-elusive-higgs-wins-physics-nobel-shared-with-englert.html
On October 9th The Prime Minister congratulated Peter Higgs on being awarded the Nobel at the beginning of
PMQs. This was then mentioned by a number of sketch writers and is now in Hansard.
Additional UK media coverage was gained by providing targeted versions of the STFC news release for
computing publications and for the UK regional press. The regionals were put in touch with key UK universities
with particle physics departments in their areas. This additional coverage included:
Computational Scientists Celebrate Higgs Boson Nobel Prize HPCwire
Oct. 8 -- As the 2013 Nobel Prize for Physics goes to Professor Peter Higgs, along with François Englert, for their
prediction of the Higgs in the 1960's, ...
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Higgs Boson theorists share physics Nobel Prize The Engineer
The 2013 Nobel Prize for Physics has gone to Peter Higgs and François Englert for their prediction of the
existence of the Higgs Boson in the 1960s, which was ...
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Higgs Boson Predictors Awarded Nobel Prize for Physics PC Magazine
Belgian Francois Englert and Briton Peter Higgs, who independently predicted the existence of the Higgs boson
nearly 50 years ago, were on Tuesday awarded ...
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Professor Peter Higgs Wins Nobel Prize For Physics Huffington Post UK
Professor Peter Higgs, the scientist who gave his name to the Higgs boson particle, has jointly won the Nobel Prize
in physics. He shares the prize with Francois ...
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Boson boys bag Nobel physics prize: Englert, Brit boffin Higgs have ... Register
Peter Higgs and Francois Englert have won the Nobel Prize in Physics for their work on the theory of what came to be
known as the Higgs boson. Blighty's Higgs ...
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Higgs 'overwhelmed' by Nobel Prize Belfast Telegraph
Professor Peter Higgs, the scientist who gave his name to the Higgs boson particle, says he is "overwhelmed" to
have won the Nobel Prize in Physics.
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Prof Peter Higgs: From Bristol schoolboy to Nobel prize winner Bristol Post
http://www.bristol247.com/2013/10/09/prof-peter-higgs-bristol-schoolboy-nobel-prize-winner-94661/
Nobel Prize for Physics awarded to Higgs boson scientists after ... V3.co.uk
Two scientists credited with the discovery of the Higgs boson – the so-called "God particle”, which could help open
up new understanding about the way the ...
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Liverpool scientists delighted with Higgs Bosun Nobel Prize Liverpool Daily Post 09/10
The lab, run by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), is keen that local firms should benefit
from the particle science carried out locally.
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Nobel prize for theoretical discoverer of Higgs boson particle Aberdeen Evening Express 09/10
PROFESSOR Peter Higgs, the scientist who gave his name to the Higgs boson particle, says he is
“overwhelmed” to have won the Nobel Prize in Physics.
See all stories on this topic »
Durham University expert: Higgs boson "a fundamental conceptual ... Durham Times 09/10
THE award of the Nobel Prize in Physics to the men behind the Higgs boson “recognises a truly fundamental
conceptual achievement in particle physics”, ...
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God particle theorist awarded Nobel Prize Aberdeen Press and Journal 10/10
Professor Peter Higgs, the man who gave his name to the Higgs boson particle, was awarded the highest honour
in science yesterday for his efforts to explain ...
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CERN researcher at At-Bristol Bristol Culture 11/10
The discovery of the Higgs boson particle predicted 50 years ago by former Bristol schoolboy and now Nobel prize
winner Peter Higgs was made last year by ...
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The 'dark universe' beckons Independent Online 11/10
Geneva - With the Higgs boson in the bag, the head of the CERN research centre urged scientists to push on to
unveil the “dark universe” - the hidden stuff that ...
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Why Higgs boson is like a tequila slammer Telegraph.co.uk 11/10
The Higgs boson is notoriously difficult to explain in layman's terms - even Peter Higgs, the man it is named after,
has struggled in the past. The theory says that ...
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Don't fool yourselves that Higgs is easy to understand Financial Times 11/10
Sir, While I happily agree with most of the sentiments expressed in your editorial “The joy of Higgs” (October 9), I
bristle at the nonsensical suggestion that ...
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From the Edinburgh Evening News 09/10/13