Media Relations

media relations n.
Maintaining good and open communications between members of various media outlets and a client, or between the public relations professional and the media as a means to effectively communicate client messages. (Public Relations Wiki)

UW Oshkosh media relations
The Integrated Marketing and Communications media relations team is responsible for developing and implementing a comprehensive media relations strategy designed to build the University’s visibility in print and broadcast media locally, nationally and internationally. The media relations team responds to inquiries from journalists, coordinates media interviews and press conferences, prepares news releases, media advisories and news tips, and proactively develops and maintains effective working relationships with the media.

The media relations team also provides strategic communications advice to administration, faculty and staff, assisting in defining the communication needs of the departments, programs and colleges and recommending the most effective means to meet their goals, paying special attention to complex and/or sensitive issues.

Keep us informed
If a situation or event arises that may attract media representatives to the campus, or if a reporter already is on campus to cover a situation or event, please inform Jaime Hunt at (920) 424-1398 (cell: 920-410-4763) or David Williams at (920) 424-2068, immediately so that we may work to assist the media in the most appropriate fashion.

Share your ideas
As UW Oshkosh continues to develop a stronger presence with the media, we encourage faculty and administrators to become more involved and take a proactive role in notifying the media relations team of events, new programs and scholarly activities.

Part of our job is to provide expert guidance on whether a story is newsworthy. We will help you try to find angles to stories that would help you gain interest from the media. How is news determined? People in the media consider news to be something unusual, and they consider how many people would be affected and how those people might be affected.

The media relations team uses a variety of tools to share UW Oshkosh’s story with the media. Here are some examples of what might happen to your news tip:

• Your idea or project may become part of a pitch when we call or write a specific reporter or group of reporters.
• News may get packaged into a news tip sheet, which is a collection of interesting story ideas that is sent to targeted media.
• The idea may be used in a news release or media advisory.
• The story might be used for UW Oshkosh Today.

Media Relations can help faculty and administrators to prepare for media appearances. Among the services provided are: staging mock interviews; image consulting and help dealing with hostile questioning. E-mail Jeanette DeDiemar at dediemarj@uwosh.edu or Jaime Hunt at huntj@uwosh.edu
for more information.