Education PR: A checklist to ensure your education organisation captures the media’s attention
- Sep 13, 2023
- 1 min read
Updated: Apr 28
Media relations is one of the most valuable tools available to UK education organisations, but getting it right requires more than sending a press release. Whether you work in a school, a multi-academy trust, a college or an EdTech company, this checklist from Sparrowhawk Communications, a UK education PR and communications consultancy, will help ensure your stories reach the right journalists.
Do the journalists I’m planning to email cover the topic of my story?
If a competitor was doing this, would I expect to hear about it on the radio, TV or in the local media?
Is there too much that sounds like marketing material in my story?
How often is the name of my organisation mentioned? It shouldn’t be more than three times
Have I included a quote from someone senior and is the quote succinct?
Have I taken out all cliches, such as ‘groundbreaking’, ‘revolutionary’ and ‘iconic’)? Have I stripped out the jargon and hyperbole too?
Have I included as links - rather than as attachments - an image, case study and multimedia materials, such as an infographic and visualisation?
Is the pitch short enough to not put a journalist off reading it, but long enough to include the key elements?
Does my subject line make a journalist want to open my email? Try to make it eight words or less.
Read more on the subject here:
For more tailored advice on education PR and media relations for schools, MATs, EdTechs or universities, contact: jessica@sparrowhawkcommunications.com
