Imagine you’re a journalist on a tight deadline. You might be working on a trend piece for a globally-read magazine, planning an upcoming podcast recording, or perhaps reporting on a news story for a national daily newspaper. Your draft is due tomorrow, but you urgently need an expert comment to include. Where do you go?
This is often the case for many journalists, who are frequently hunting for academic experts to comment on a particular topic. These subject matter experts are highly in demand, but they don’t even know it.
Sadly this misalignment can lead to journalists missing out on insightful comments from experts, and academics missing out on exciting opportunities to showcase their expertise in the media.
So, what can business schools do to stop this happening?
Be available for media opportunities
Journalists value contacts who are responsive and accessible. Unfortunately, academics are often very busy people, so this is not always possible.
Despite this, sometimes all you need to secure a comment in a top-tier publication is just a 10-15 minute call with a journalist. Finding this snippet of time in your busy schedule can be enough to get your expertise featured in an important, wide-reaching article, consequently improving your reputation and reach in the academic world.
Encouraging faculty and staff to get involved in media opportunities, and helping them understand the value of sharing their research and expertise is an excellent way to ensure that your institution isn’t missing out on influential media opportunities.
Be proactive
Your school might be producing interesting, timely research and have alumni who are changing the world, but these things are unlikely to get picked up by the media if you do not promote them.
There are plenty of ways to promote your institution’s achievements, but you must be proactive. Journalists are unlikely to come to you. But that doesn’t mean they’re not interested in what you have to say.
To successfully secure media opportunities, actively pitch story ideas that highlight your institution’s successes. Regularly distribute press releases to announce significant news, research breakthroughs, and upcoming events. Offer expert comments on trending topics and current events, positioning your faculty as go-to sources for authoritative opinions and analysis.
Create compelling stories
If your business school is launching a new degree programme, publishing some interesting new research, or hosting an event, journalists are going to want to know about it.
Creating a compelling story in a press release, or releasing social media content is a fantastic way of informing journalists about your news. Consider what would be interesting to the public – journalists are looking for stories, not just information.
To create a narrative around your content, ensure you have a human element. Highlight the people behind the research or event, focusing on your students, faculty or alumni. Demonstrate the real-world impact of your programmes and research.
Understand what journalists are looking for
Journalists will look out for stories that are timely, relevant and of interest to their audience. That’s why it’s important to apply your business school’s insights, data and research to current events and trends, to get journalists’ attention.
Another way to do this is to highlight the unique aspects of your business school. For example, perhaps your business school is particularly tech-savvy, with a strong focus on AI, or perhaps sustainability is a main focus for you and you have a lot of academics conducting research into ESG. If your institution has a reputation for having a particular expertise, journalists will be more likely to reach out to you when looking for a spokesperson in that area.
Consider how best to draw attention to this expertise. Thought leadership articles written by faculty are an excellent way to demonstrate this. Another option is to host a webinar on the trending topics of conversation within your school’s area of expertise, inviting journalists to attend. You can find out more about showcasing your institution’s expertise here..
At BlueSky Education, we are always looking out for the stories that journalists want to hear, whether that’s an interesting angle for a general news story, or a trending topic in the higher education sphere. We connect the dots between the stories the media wants and the fantastic expertise offered by our clients around the world.
If your institution would benefit from PR and media relations support around media visibility, contact BlueSky Education today.
Chloë was previously Content Editor for QS Top Universities and QS Top MBA, Chloë produced over 400 articles during her four years at the world’s largest international higher education network. With additional experience writing for trade media, she is also formally qualified with a Level 5 Diploma in Journalism from the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ).
