The work you do and the expertise you have to offer deserves to be shared. Trent’s Communications team is here to help facilitate coverage on media platforms in order to mobilize knowledge, educate the public and increase the profile of your work and the University.
Trent University is committed to raising its reputation and profile through various marketing and communications programs that inform, engage and motivate key audiences. As a higher-education institution, Trent’s knowledge mobilization efforts play a crucial role in demonstrating our commitment to education, learning and critical thinking.
An essential approach to knowledge mobilizing is collaborating with the media and the public. The communications team at Trent identifies opportunities for the University’s experts to engage with the media in order to increase the visibility and awareness of our research, teaching and operations excellence.
How we can help
By building, strengthening, and leveraging relationships with media and the public, our team can help increase the visibility of our work to showcase Trent’s excellence. We provide guidance and services for faculty and staff and the media, including:
- How to engage with media
- Writing and pitching stories and op-eds for the media
- Media management
- Strategic marketing for undergraduate and graduate programs
- Manage interview arrangements and media details
Connect with our team:
Olivia Flynn
Communications & Media Relations Officer
oliviaflynn@trentu.ca
705 748 1011 ext 6180
Kathryn Verhulst-Rogers
Director, Communications
kathrynverhulst@trentu.ca
705 748 1011 ext 6182
Media relations support
Faculty, senior administration and staff are invited to seek advice and support from the communications team on how to effectively secure media coverage. The team offers:
- A searchable experts database for journalists and the public
- Assistance and advice on dealing with media requests/interviews
- Assistance with hosting journalists on campus
- Advice on handling a difficult or controversial issue
- An assessment of the news value of the story, with recommendations on how, when and where to promote the news, including media advisories, media releases, and op-eds
- Trent University’s Clippings – daily news monitoring e-newsletter
Managing media requests and coverage
Members of Trent University’s academia and administration are encouraged to inform the communications team if you have received media requests and/or been featured in news stories. The communications team can not only help manage all media queries received by Trent faculty and staff, but also record, monitor and promote the coverage via other communications channels, such as social media.
Similarly, if an external organization, such as any academic partner, promotes academic work at Trent, the communications team can provide general advice on the efforts, organize promotion on other channels and refer on any media enquiries.
Preparing and distributing news releases
Faculty and staff should get in touch with the communications team if they have news that they would like to share with the media. There are a few different approaches for capturing the attention of the media. Here are a few of the most common options:
- Media advisory: an invite for media to attend an upcoming event or announcement
- Expert advisory: short list of Trent experts available to speak on breaking news topics
- Media release: full news story distributed to key, relevant media able to be published as is but includes contact details for media to follow up
Writing op-eds
Faculty and staff at Trent are encouraged to share their opinion on media hot topics and current affairs. As experts in various fields, your thoughts are important to the public.
Here are a few tips if you are considering writing an opinion piece:
- Story angle and topic
- Articles should be argumentative and topical. Review breaking and ongoing news stories to position your piece, and look to add a new perspective to the story
- Articles should be argumentative and topical. Review breaking and ongoing news stories to position your piece, and look to add a new perspective to the story
- Target publication
- Select one that is relevant to the topic and audience for your piece. There are countless online platforms as well as local and national newspapers but some may be better suited to publish your piece depending on your audience
- Select one that is relevant to the topic and audience for your piece. There are countless online platforms as well as local and national newspapers but some may be better suited to publish your piece depending on your audience
- Word count
- Most editorials should be concise and to the point. Here are the max word counts for a few popular news outlets (applies to both online and print):
- Toronto Star - 650-700 words
- Globe and Mail - 700 words max
- National Post - 650-700 words
- Peterborough Examiner – 500-600 words
- Metroland Durham - 450 words
- Most editorials should be concise and to the point. Here are the max word counts for a few popular news outlets (applies to both online and print):
- Your credentials
- While not all op-eds are written by experts on the topics, including your credentials for writing in the byline brings greater credibility to your position and increases the likelihood of being published
Media Coaching
The communications team can provide media coaching to help faculty, staff and in some cases, students become more effective in their interactions with journalists on a per-issue basis.
To discuss media training opportunities for yourself or your group, please contact Kathryn Verhulst, manager of communications, at kathrynverhulst@trentu.ca.
Integrated Communications
The communications team also works closely with faculty, staff, and partner organizations to develop strategic messaging, stories and materials that reflect Trent University’s institutional strategy.
Our team oversees content and strategy development and management such as:
- Key messages
- Distribution of storytelling assets
- Content planning, distribution and measurement of best practices
- Digital advertising
We are responsible for the following websites and print publications:
- Annual undergraduate and graduate viewbooks
- Mini viewbooks for Trent’s Schools of Study
- Trent Research Breakthroughs e-newsletter
- Trent Pulse
- Trent University’s main social media channels
The information in this website is a framework of advice and guidance for interacting with the media. To discuss media opportunities in more detail, please contact the communications team.