SharingtheNews:HowtoProduceanEffective

MediaRelease

La MonicaEverett-HaynesUAUndergraduateBiologyResearchProgram

July20,2016

ABOUT ME: From Journalism to Communications

• Trained Journalist • Current writer, senior communications manager for UANews• Ph.D. Candidate, Higher Education • Devoted higher education sector, sharing the value and benefits of research

WHY BOTHER COMMUNICATING SCIENCE TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC?

iStockphoto/Thinkstock

BENEFITS TO COMMUNICATING SCIENCE, RESEARCH

• Createpublicawareness• Gainpublicandprivatesupportforyourwork,vision

• Addressapublichealthorsafetyconcern• Announcethelaunchofaproductorservice

• Convey importantinformationrelatedtopolicy,practice• Promotearelevantcontemporaryorpastevent;envision

thefuture• Interjectyourvoiceintoaconversation

• Provideadviceorfeedback• Highlightawards,recognition

ANATOMY OF A PRESS RELEASE

FORIMMEDIATERELEASE (ifpreviouslyembargoed)ORNEWSRELEASE

CatchyHeadlineinBold

Optional: Addasummarythatconciselydescribesyouwork.

TUCSON,Ariz.— Startoffwithahighlyinformativeleadthatspeaksabouttheimportanceandimpactofyourwork.

Wecall this“invertedpyramidwriting.”Youwanttospendsometimeheredetailingthetimelyandrelevantnews.

“Thisiswhereyouwanttoaddastrongquoteaboutyourwork,”saidLaMonicaEverett-Haynes,seniorcommunicationsmanagerforUANews.

Next,offersomecontext,ordiscussyourmethods.Whatisyourcontributiontoyourfield?Howareyouadvancingtheexistingbodyofknowledge?

Youcanspendthesubsequentparagraphsdetailingtheoriginsofyourresearch,yourcollaborators,yourfundingagenciesandotherrelevantinformation.

###Contact:LaMonicaEverett-Haynes520-626-4405leverett@email.arizona.edu

SAMPLE UANEWS PRESS RELEASE

NEWS RELEASE

July 7, 2016

Newly Discovered Planet Has Three Suns

TUCSON, Ariz. — If you thought Luke SKYWALKER'S HOME PLANET, TATOOINE, was a strange world with its two suns in the sky, imagine this: a planet where you'd either experience constant daylight or enjoy triple sunrises and sunsets each day, depending on the seasons, which happen to last longer than human lifetimes.

Such a world has been discovered by a team of astronomers led by the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona, using direct imaging. The planet, HD 131399Ab, is UNLIKE ANY OTHER KNOWN WORLD - on by far the widest known orbit within a multi-star system. The discovery is published online by the journal Science.

Located about 340 light years from Earth in the constellation Centaurus, HD 131399Ab is believed to be about 16 million years old, making it ONE OF THE YOUNGEST EXOPLANETS DISCOVERED TO DATE, and one of very few directly imaged planets. With a temperature of 850 Kelvin (about 1,070 degrees Fahrenheit or 580 degrees Celsius) and weighing in at an estimated four Jupiter masses, it is also one of the coldest and least massive directly imaged exoplanets.

Strong,conciseheadline

Timely,interesting

intro

Thenewshook

Context,background

Signalsnews

SAMPLE UANEWS PRESS RELEASE, cont.

"For about half of the planet's orbit, which lasts 550 Earth-years, three stars are visible in the sky, the fainter two always much closer together, and changing in apparent separation from the brightest star throughout the year," said Kevin Wagner, a first-year PhD student in Apai's research group and the paper's first author, who discovered HD 131399Ab.

"HD 131399Ab is ONE OF THE FEW EXOPLANETS THAT HAVE BEEN DIRECTLY IMAGED, AND IT'S THE FIRST ONE IN SUCH AN INTERESTING DYNAMICAL CONFIGURATION," said Daniel Apai, an assistant professor of Astronomy and Planetary Sciences, who leads a research group dedicated to finding and observing exoplanets at the UA.

The CO-AUTHORS on the paper are: Markus Kasper and Melissa McClure of the European Southern Observatory in Garching, Germany; Kaitlin Kratter at the UA's Steward Observatory; Massimo Roberto at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland; and Jean-Luc Beuzit with the Université Grenoble Alpesand the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, both in Grenoble, France.

# # #

Contact:Kevin WagnerUA Deptartment of Astronomykevinwagner@email.arizona.edu

Compellingquote

Contributiontothefield

Collaborators

Closereleasewithcontactinformation

THE RESULTS

PREPARING YOUR RELEASE

BEFORE

• Determineyourangle:Compellingresearch,100%Engagement,

uniqueexperience/perspective, etc.• GetapprovalfromyourPI

• Respectembargos

DURING

• Usegeneralterms,tryandavoidjargon• Keepreleases to400-500words• Gatherquotesandcontext• Nameyourfundingagency• Triplecheckyourwork

AFTER

• Sendtoaneditorandonereporterwithapersonalizedmessage• Waitseveraldaysbeforefollowingup

• Afollow-upemailand/orcallisappropriate– offer toprovideadditionalinformationortosendimages

THE MINI BIO:YOU ARE AN EXPERT

• Own what you know• Amplify your experiences – research,

service,personal story:Fellowships,certifications,trainings,awards

• State unique contribuitons• Linkyour work to contemporary,

current issues andconcerns• Drilldownandbespecific:

No.ofpresentationsNo.ofpublications

No.ofactiveprojectsGrantamounts

SAMPLE MINI BIO

Rebecca A. Finger, PhD Student of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

For most of the Arctic, warmer temperatures over the last 150 years have shifted the timing of springtime snow melt to earlier in the year, thereby increasing the length of growing seasons. My research focuses on how these changes in growing season length and snow melt timing with effect plant physiology and phenology, biogeochemical cycling, and ecosystem water balance. I am a Joint Science Education Program Fellow, where I help teach high school students from the USA, Denmark and Greenland about Arctic ecosystem ecology

SAMPLE MINI BIO

Patt Morrison, Columnist

Patt Morrison is a longtime Los Angeles Times writer and columnist who has a share of two Pulitzer Prizes. Her broadcasting work has won six Emmys and 11 Golden Mikes. Her book about the Los Angeles River was a bestseller, and she was the first woman in nearly 25 years to be honored with the L.A. Press Club’s lifetime achievement award. Pink’s, the legendary Hollywood hot dog stand, named its veggie dog after her.

IT’S TIME TO WRITE!

Choose your exercise:

DraftPressRelease

• Consider how your work istiedto acurrent issue,problem

• Write acompellingintroduction

• Describe the relevance ofyour research,findings

• Develop 1-2strong quotesdescribing the importanceandimpact ofyour work

Draft Personal Statement

• Describe your service,research to date – why areYOUanexpert?

• Explain why your particularwork isimportantto yourscientific community, thegeneral public

• Describe your long-rangegoals,tiedto your schlarshipand/or current work

THANK YOU

Additional ResourcesNationalAssociationofScienceWriters

http://www.nasw.org/

CouncilfortheAdvancement ofScienceWritinghttp://casw.org

CONTACT:LaMonicaEverett-Haynesleverett@email.arizona.edu

520-626-4405