KU News Guide
About KU News
Led by Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, director and university spokesperson, KU News Service is composed of former journalists who bring expertise on how to work with news media and improve opportunities for earned media placement.
Staff members include three public affairs officers (PAOs) who cover research and discoveries from KU experts, pitching these stories to national and international media outlets. If you know of a faculty member or scholar in your area whose ongoing or completed research has potential for widescale media attention, please reach out to your designated PAO or email KU News.
Under the guidance of Christy Little Schock, assistant director, KU News Service will edit and distribute news releases on behalf of schools and units about events, new programs, awards, grants, research discoveries, student news and other topics. Unit communicators typically write these stories. The KU News archive shows a good sample of stories that KU News accepts for external distribution.
FAQs
Per the university media guidelines policy, KU News Service is responsible for official interaction with media for the KU Lawrence and Edwards campuses. This coordination ensures that news is accurate and delivered by a KU office that has daily contact with the media. All units except for KU affiliates and others noted in the university policy should distribute external releases through KU News.
Note: The KU Medical Center campuses have their own communications teams and policies.
Other university stories submitted to KU News, including those written by school and unit communicators, will be:
Opinion pieces, marketing copy and feature stories without a timely news peg are examples of stories that are not distributed to media. Stories with a targeted, narrow audience within a school or center also may best be self-published rather than hosted and distributed by KU News.
KU News publications
About 100 Kansas and Kansas City area reporters, writers, editors and producers across online, print, radio and TV outlets subscribe to this list. KU News Service typically sends one digest of KU stories Monday through Friday, occasionally more.
KU News also maintains a list of active news outlets across Kansas and the Greater Kansas City area that are not subscribed to Media-1. KU News will also distribute your story to those outlets if the story is pertinent to their coverage, whether by location or topic (such as arts or economic development).
KU News distributes student news, including the dean’s lists and graduation releases, across Kansas to relevant outlets. For significant student achievements, KU News will research and send releases to student hometown media outside of Kansas/Kansas City.
If your unit covers a significant research discovery or other topic outside of the KU News staff’s purview, staff can help find outlets outside of Kansas for distribution, typically through the department’s contracted service, Meltwater.
Stories shared through KU News will be included in KU Today, the universitywide newsletter.
About 100 Kansas and Kansas City area reporters, writers, editors and producers across online, print, radio and TV outlets subscribe to this list. KU News Service typically sends one digest of KU stories Monday through Friday, occasionally more.
KU News also maintains a list of active news outlets across Kansas and the Greater Kansas City area that are not subscribed to Media-1. KU News will also distribute your story to those outlets if the story is pertinent to their coverage, whether by location or topic (such as arts or economic development).
KU News distributes student news, including the dean’s lists and graduation releases, across Kansas to relevant outlets. For significant student achievements, KU News will research and send releases to student hometown media outside of Kansas/Kansas City.
If your unit covers a significant research discovery or other topic outside of the KU News staff’s purview, staff can help find outlets outside of Kansas for distribution, typically through the department’s contracted service, Meltwater.
Stories shared through KU News will be included in KU Today, the universitywide newsletter.
KU Today FAQs
Lawrence, Edwards and KU Medical Center employees and affiliates, as well as several hundred external readers and stakeholders encompassing retirees, media, alumni and Kansas policymakers. Except for GTAs and GRAs, students do not receive KU Today.
KU Today is an opt-out publication, so mandatory employee communications should be distributed through other university channels.
Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters, excluding state holidays when the university is closed as well as spring break. KU News staff will send a reminder email of final daily edition dates each semester. These final daily issues are timed closely with when submissions drop off.
KU Today publishes Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays in the summer, typically beginning the week after Commencement and moving back to a daily schedule the week before fall classes begin.
If you have published a story on behalf of your school or unit suitable for KU Today but not for broader media distribution, email KU News, and we generally will share the story in KU Today if it’s hosted on your website.
KU Today also includes links to KU Calendar items, social media posts and other internal channels, if an event or subject is not a topic for a full media release. Please don’t hesitate to email KU News to recommend it for inclusion.
Note: KU Today submissions should include a link to the content if it is not a KU News-hosted news release, such as a school webpage or KU Calendar event. This allows you to update these links with new information, rescheduling details and other changes after an item publishes in KU Today.
Creating an article
Although we are all KU storytellers, writing news content is different than writing for marketing pieces. If you’re new to writing news, you will find some guidelines below.
The KU News archive page shows a range of media releases and approaches to storytelling. However, the examples below from several KU communicators across the Lawrence campus are especially helpful guides for those new to preparing media releases. Below are examples of some basic news that communicators may encounter.
Note that leadership announcement may require central university approval:
Alan Allgeier named director of KU’s Center for Environmentally Beneficial Catalysis
Kelly Chrisman Jacques to serve as director for University Press of Kansas
Note that these stories typically require central university approval
New KU School of Business microcredential helps professionals build in-demand sales skills
$1.9M grant will support KU research on boosting drought tolerance in crops
Study: Faced with a hotter future, America needs better data and response plans
KU and community partners publish postcards celebrating the life of Langston Hughes in Lawrence
KU Engineering professor surveys earthquake damage in Turkey
Article submission deadlines
See timeliness recommendations on when to submit a story for publication. Submitting stories 2-3 days ahead of publication is strongly encouraged for KU News Service staff to review and give you time to follow up on story questions and recommendations without urgency. Staff can accept most stories up until 3 p.m. the day before it is to run (3 p.m. Friday for Monday publication); however, stories may be held if there are outstanding questions or if lengthy edits or fact-checking is required.Tips for timing your news release
Find a timely hook.
Press releases and features about a program or research should have a timely element: a newly announced award, an upcoming presentation to the Legislature. Reporters will scan press releases to spot these details to understand “why this news release, why now?” Storytelling through other KU channels may not require this element, but it is fundamental to KU News.Send stories in advance.
Event-based stories are more successful before the event has occurred, maximizing interest in attendance and media coverage. About 1-2 weeks ahead of time is a good timeframe to publish a news release about most university events (earlier if registration is required).Events featuring notable national speakers may also benefit from earlier publication. Also, consider a media advisory to encourage reporters to attend. KU News can advise on best practices.
Some KU units may publish a semester’s worth of programming in one release and write individual releases about 1-2 significant special events when they’re closer on the horizon.Most post-event press releases fail to get media pickup, except for stories about student awards that KU News Service can send to the student’s hometown media outlets. Post-event stories do best 1-2 days after the event, but KU News may still recommend the school/unit publish such stories through its own channels and will consider linking to them in KU Today.
Work with other KU partners.
School and unit news may intersect with other university partners. For example, stories about donation or other gifts need to be coordinated with KU Endowment. Other entities that may require coordination include KU Medical Center campuses, Kansas Athletics and KU Alumni. If your school or unit is co-hosting an initiative or event with another KU partner, reach out to that unit’s communicator to coordinate press efforts and media contacts before submitting a release to KU News.
If stories touch on sensitive topics or issues that may draw undue attention, contact Erinn Barcomb-Peterson in KU News or Joe Monaco in Public Affairs.
Much news with universitywide impact, such as U.S. News & World Report rankings, is written by Public Affairs staff or other central offices. Examples include major faculty honors (Academy of Inventors or AAAS fellows), Fulbright awards, annual faculty hires and retirees. Although these announcements come from International Affairs, the Office of the Provost, Public Affairs, etc., schools and units are welcome — and encouraged to — create follow-up content for their own channels. That might be a short feature zeroing in on this year’s AAAS fellow who’s from your school or a social post welcoming the new faculty to your department.
Local and area media continue to closely follow central university news, including school leadership changes and similar announcements. When appropriate, it is helpful to prepare a media release to announce such news or to complement an internal announcement, closely timed together, for KU media partners to use for their own reporting purposes.
Additional photo guidelines
All stories should be submitted with a Featured Image, which will display with the headline and summary across any KU websites, including the KU News website, and when stories are shared on social media. Every photo should include the following:
Please identify individuals in the photo when possible, including KU students and employees. Also identify when the photo was taken to clarify if it is new work or a file image.
The CMS Alt Text Guide offers guidance on writing good alt text.
If the individual who took the photo is not known or does not seek credit, include the department (KU Marketing, your school or center name, etc.) This helps protect KU work and the appropriate context where it should be used. Please also include a credit for stock or outside images. KU News Service staff are sometimes asked where a photo came from and what permissions were granted.
This is a best practice for accessibility, readability in the areas it will appear in KU webpages, image cropping and avoidance of duplicate text in an image above its headline. Naturally occurring text in a photo (such as a sign, billboard or book cover) is fine. It should be included in the alt text description.
KU News Hub
See the KU News Hub CMS guidelines for how to submit news or to request account access from Information Technology.
Each news story will ask for:
Your URL will be based on the headline. See KU News Hub troubleshooting tips.
This will appear with the headline and photo across KU websites when selected. Note the summary is not like a social post or deck headline and should be written in complete sentences.
There are options to add photos, links and special formatting in the story body.
When you submit the article, please indicate if the media contact should be different from the author. KU News will list the name of the person who submitted the article in both fields if not known.
Tags are for each unit’s use to populate their own website, including KU News. Tags will not carry over when you submit your story, but they can be added back once you’ve selected the published story.
Please provide a Featured Image and include a cutline, alt text and photo credit. Note the additional photo guidelines.
The headline and summary you fill in here will appear when others share your story on social media sites.
There is an option to click “send to KU News” when you have entered a story. That will automate an email to you and to KU News Service staff that serves as confirmation that KU News staff received the story. We will see any comments here that you added around preferred publication date, media contact information or other needs. Staff will respond with confirmation of receipt, any immediate questions and a run date.
Once you submit the story to KU News, it will be unavailable until staff edit and publish the story. Please do not publish the story in advance and then submit to KU News as the story will not be available to any readers until we can process it.