Communicating Science: How to Use a News Release to Communicate Science and Technology Research and Development

What is a News Release? / What is a Press Release?

Typically limited to a one- or two-page document, a news release is one of the primary tools used by a communication office to inform an audience about scientific advances (or anything that would be considered “newsworthy” to a particular audience). Although the principal target group for news releases is the press/news media, new releases can reach much, much farther, especially now with the expansive reach of online social networks. News releases also communicate important information to other scientists and engineers, decision-makers and other intermediaries (e.g. Program Managers), as well as to the public.

There are three major types of releases given today’s available media platforms:

  • News Release: the traditional written document that highlights one or more discoveries, an event or accomplishment (including funding award)
  • Photo Release: contains attractive pictures, illustrations or graphics
  • Video News Release: a news release in video form designed for broadcast television or website use—as a news item or feature story. VNRs take the printed word and create the sound and pictures television newsrooms need for variety and to meet the needs of viewers/listeners.

In most cases, high-quality photos and a video should accompany any written news release when available. Audio files are also desirable as long the speakers are properly identified in the file itself or through an accompanying format.

*Note: “Press release” is actually an outdated term that is not generally used by today’s professional journalists. It is an antiquated term from a time when news was solely captured on the printing press.

Why Should Scientists and Engineers Learn How to Write a News Release?

There are many direct and indirect rewards to being proactive in science communication. This applies for both you as the scientist or engineer as well as the broader scientific community, but perhaps even more importantly, for the community of non-scientists.  A news release may be of benefit to any of the above by:

  • Attracting the attention of potential funders
  • Letting the world know of potential science and technology solutions to their problems
  • Creating a broader awareness of your expertise, which may attract interested collaborators, future employers, or business opportunities
  • Allowing the researcher to “speak” directly to an audience to clarify objectives, methods, findings, and goals for further research
  • Alerting the public to potential health, safety or national security concerns
  • Providing an immediate source of motivation in the form of recognition for work that would otherwise go unrecognized if not for the more formal scholarly publication process, occasional conference presentation or poster
  • Helping scientists and engineers to develop critical writing and communication skills useful in an academic setting or a future career in business, government, or philanthropy

Most scientists are often short on two things: funds and time. If you happen to work for a large institution or biotechnology company then lack of funds is less likely to be an issue. Also, more often than not, such companies have PR staff available to promote their activities (although even they may have limitations when it comes to communicating science, but that’s for another blog post). A news release may thus be both an efficient and cost-effective way to get your message out.

How Do I Know What to Consider Newsworthy?

How do you judge newsworthiness when it comes to science and technology? Inherently, results of certain research themselves are worth issuing a news release for, but newsworthiness is based on a number of factors beyond whether someone simply thinks an item is interesting. In general, the following are several criteria that can help you determine whether issuing a news release would be worth your time and effort.

Timing: Remember the ‘new’ in ‘news’ – has the event taken place recently?

Relevance: Does the issue matter to people other than your PI? Is there a direct or proximal influence on people’s lives, health or well-being?

Proximity: Is there potential local appeal (e.g. did an event occur in your city)?

Impact: Do your results have profound implications?

Conflict: Does your scientific discovery settle a controversial debate? (My favorite, like the findings associated with this post)

Human interest: Is there a personal story regarding the scientist that might interest the “average person” or with which the latter can identify?

Mystery: Have you observed a mysterious phenomenon (quantum entanglement, anyone..?), noticed weird details or obtained an unexpected result?

A Major Discovery: Has your research revealed a new phenomenon or class of object, or an incremental gain in knowledge about a principal field of research?

New interesting angle: Has an old result, image or data been looked at in a new way such that it has created a new or confirmed a known result?

A Milestone: Has your work surpassed a record or is it the first, largest, farthest, fastest, oldest, etc.?

A Hot Topic: Is the topic “sexy?” Even if something doesn’t necessarily constitute great science, some topics almost always capture the attention of the public and are quick to make headlines, like black holes, solar flares, and extraterrestrial life.

Aesthetics: Does your device, experiment or image look cool?

Prestige: Has your work been published in a distinguished journal? Features in Nature or Science—who publish original research along with science-related news, opinions on science policy and other matters of interest to those concerned with the wider implications of science and technology—tend to attract more interest from journalists.

Cross-linking: Can you piggyback your results on another related, parallel or even remotely related news story?

How do you Write and Distribute a News Release?

news, media, science communication

news, media, science communication

  • First, check with the criteria listed above and review current news trends to determine if your event, announcement, discovery or creation is newsworthy.
  • Make sure you have the approval of your institution before issuing a news release on their behalf.
  • Be proactive and participate in the process: Whenever possible, start several weeks in advance of an event to identify target audiences for your news release (traditional news agencies like the Associated Press and Reuters, as well as popular science and technology bloggers), distribution platforms (including your own social media sites, and free online software like http://PRLog.com).
  • Arrange for interviews with key people before, during, and/or after.
  • Arrange for media access to events where appropriate (e.g. guest or media passes).
  • Capture and convey the Who-What-When-Where-Why-How.
  • Solicit input from your peers and supervisors before sending out a final news release (a shoddy document won’t get picked up by news media and you will have wasted your time).
  • If a communications specialist is preparing the release on your behalf, be prepared to spend some time explaining the science to lay-persons and to make the necessary information available.
  • Involve other institutions: Coordinate with public information officers (PIOs) of other institutions that have participated in the work, as it might be worth proposing either a simultaneous or a joint release.
  • Create or provide images: Provide high-resolution photographs (72 dpi is standard for online publishing) and appropriately representative images or illustrations that are appealing to accompany the news release. These are almost mandatory if you want to ensure your news will be carried.
  • Add value: Create a specialized webpage containing additional information, translations of the news release, supplemental images or video footage (“b-roll”), graphs, technical movies, etc. Scientists may be in a better position to interface with local media and often have a much more detailed knowledge about them than public affairs offices do.

A Few Final Tips for Writing a Scientific News Release

Given that the majority of research scientists, especially PhD candidates and Post-Doctoral Fellows, might only participate in one or two educational conferences or industry events a year, there is no reason why you should not be looking to issue a news release for any event or item deemed “newsworthy.” Because news releases are designed to focus on items of interest, it is also important that you not be concerned about sharing preliminary data or research. Communicating science does not require full disclosure, so you can still highlight items of interest without going into substantial detail about methods or processes that may be competition sensitive or proprietary.

It is vital in any case when writing a news release to tailor its style, level and content to suit the needs of the news carrier and not of the secondary target audiences mentioned (this does not apply if you are posting directly to your own blog or social media site). As with all other types of science communication, an effective science and technology news release must aim to fulfil three main goals, all of which focus on creating increased awareness of:

  • science and the scientific work process
  • the organization
  • specific scientific projects, instruments or missions

While this article only covered the basics of writing a scientific news release, it captured the most important factors that should enable you to create and issue a reasonably professional, inexpensive and effective communication document on your own.

Nevertheless, if you would like to know more about how to use this tool, either through our 90-minute in person group training session, through online consulting, or using a self-study training guide, then we invite you to contact Veritas Alchemy via the Contact tab, or write to info@veritasalchemy.com and indicate “News Release Training” in the subject line. Our goal is to provide you with the training, consultation and tools to help you develop skills and confidence to communicate that will serve you for a lifetime.

No time for training or for preparing your own news release this time around? No problem – give us a call and we will gladly prepare and promote your news release for you.

Do you have a question about how to write a news release for science and technology, or have you already issued a news release that you would like to share? Please tell us about it in the Comments section below. We would love to hear from you.

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