It’s never been more important for PR teams to get it right

Research communication is crucial if governments, companies, and society are to use the best evidence to drive change, but ensuring the research finds its way into society in a timely and actionable fashion is no easy job in a world that is flooded with information. The relationship between schools and the media is therefore crucial. 

Last month’s MaKi conference brought together communicators and business school researchers to the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), an international business school based in Switzerland, with the goal of improving links between business schools and the media to ensure that schools are better able to communicate the impact of their research to a broad audience, whether via op-ed pieces or talking directly on social media.

The underlying themes of the three key takeaways from the conference aren’t inherently new to the PR community, but revisiting them with a laser focus in the current environment is instructive. And while this conference was inherently focused on business, the takeaways here apply to any and all kinds of research that colleges and universities want to promote.

1. Help Journalists Do More With Less. 

Owen Matthews, a journalist at the Daily Telegraph and Spectator, reminded us that journalists and academia are two ends of the same spectrum – one of ideas. He said that journalism is the process of explaining to others what one doesn’t understand themselves, which is where the relationship with academia and the experts within becomes so symbiotic.

He explained that while you have some journalists who are experts on their topic, many are anything but. Whereas in the past, many journalists fell into the former camp, it’s increasingly the case that most journalists are anything but, with hollowed out newsrooms forcing many to become generalists. As a result, relationships with journalists are crucial in helping to plug that understanding gap and ensuring that articles are as well informed as possible. 

He also highlighted that while legacy media can be hugely influential, social media has also provided enormous platforms to people, whether on X, YouTube, or Spotify, that can be more impactful than traditional platforms. This has created a landscape where the traditional media is not the sole way of reaching the public, with influencers vying for attention and, increasingly, brands able to communicate directly with the public.

What is also clear is that speed matters, and while academic articles can often have a lifecycle of months or years, news articles operate in hours and minutes, with social media operating on an even faster timescale. As a result, availability is key, and the fewer steps required to get insights from experts, the better in terms of getting ideas into the media.

2. Target Your Pitches to the Publication — And the Journalist

It is essential to do your research so that you know both the best format for pitching and also the brief of the journalist you’re pitching to. Bloomberg’s Hugo Miller explained, for instance, how frustrating it is to receive pitches that are completely unrelated to what he covers or are generic and often un-newsworthy.

Timeliness also matters, with Sian Phillips, editor of BusinessBecause, explaining that pitches have to be able to tap into what matters in the moment. She also said that schools should not be disheartened if pitches don’t get coverage immediately, as the information all gets stored and could be utilized at a later time. Ben Stevens, from Times Higher Education, also reminded the audience that timeliness is subjective, and what you find relevant may not be relevant to the publication, which further emphasizes the value of doing research into the kind of stories they’ve been running recently.

3. Make Scientific Information Accessible with Plain Language

Much academic research from universities is rooted in an evidence-based approach that remains highly attractive to the media. A key challenge, however, is ensuring that research is shared in an accessible way. The event highlighted that few journalists have the time to digest papers in their raw form, and the often obtuse language presents another barrier. As such, schools must make research more accessible, both in written form and in spoken form, with media training cited as a key tool to ensure faculty can communicate clearly and accessibly.

As I mentioned in a previous article, this vital, yet usually unrewarded, work is often undertaken by female researchers. While one might argue that this is slightly different in business schools as there are clear commercial benefits from being able to show how your research has real-world implications, it is nonetheless something for schools to be mindful of as they not only make research accessible but also the process of communication is fair and equitable.

There’s a clear desire among business school leaders for their ideas and research to play a part in making the world better. Being able to communicate those ideas in a timely and accessible manner is a fundamental part of that process. Conferences like MaKi help to bridge the gap between academia and the media, which goes some way towards helping schools achieve that goal.