Is There Any News About the College?

Earlier this year, I announced the launch of the Public Relations Intranet. This is a resource for publicity how-tos and presenting the college’s brand, and an overview of some of the PR office’s work.

One of our ongoing tasks is news generation. You can see all of the news releases that the PR office has issued on the Publicity Mainstays page of the Public Relations Intranet.

I often look for (and find!) items right here in SUNY Niagara Today that I believe have a chance of getting placed, often only locally, but sometimes in a regional media outlet. Here’s how I choose what to develop as news.

Early in my career I took a job at a community newspaper in a college town. Hired as a reporter, I rose to the position of deputy editor. In those roles, I saw hundreds upon hundreds of news releases. I used the judgment I developed there to decide what to push forward at SUNY Niagara. The key question I ask when considering any story idea is this:

Why would the readers/viewers/listeners of “Media Organization X” care about this?

Is this direct? Definitely, and it’s kind of pointed, too. But is it valid? You bet it is, because news decision makers have plenty of options when it comes to fulfilling their purpose of consistently resonating with their audiences.

That means that some announcements and happenings at the college gain the attention of editorial desk staffers but others don’t. While there’s never any guarantee of coverage, you can see the all of stories that we’ve tried to place (and sometimes succeeded) on the Public Relations Intranet.