Answers to the university community’s frequently asked questions about Media Relations at DePaul.   

What does Media Relations do?
What is Media Relations’ mission?
How do I contact Media Relations?
What is DePaul’s media procedure?
What are DePaul's procedures for filming on campus?
If I contact Media Relations about a DePaul story idea, is media coverage guaranteed?
Will Media Relations help me attract an audience to my campus event?
Can Media Relations get reporters to cover my event?
How do I get word to the DePaul community about my news and events?
Does Media Relations do advertising and marketing?
Where can I find brand and logo information?
Does Media Relations do event planning?
What is Media Relations’ internal reporting structure?

What does Media Relations do?   
Media Relations works with faculty, staff and administrators to identify newsworthy story ideas that support strategic DePaul messages. The staff brings the best of these story ideas to the attention of journalists through press releases, targeted reporter pitches, fact sheets, faculty expert guides, news tip sheets and other communication methods. Staff members also respond to journalists' requests for faculty and staff interviews, provide advice to faculty on handling media interviews and writing opinion pieces (op-eds), serve as spokespersons for the institution and support crisis communications.

The department produces several guides and online resources, including a "Media Guide to DePaul Experts" for journalists and Media Interview Tips and Op-Ed Writing Tips for faculty. Media Relations’ Web site, newsroom.depaul.edu, features a News Releases Archive, a searchable guide to DePaul Experts, Fact Sheets about various aspects of the university and a standing feature highlighting DePaul in the News.

What is Media Relations’ mission?   
To place media stories that communicate DePaul’s position and prominence and support DePaul’s strategic plan and mission.

How do I contact Media Relations?   
To reach appropriate staff members, see Contact Us.

What is DePaul’s media procedure?   
DePaul is a private institution and its campuses are closed to news media, commercial and other non-university filming unless prior permission is granted by the university. News media seeking to film on campus should contact DePaul’s Media Relations Director at (312) 362-7165.  Representatives for commercial film projects (movies, non-news television programs, advertisements, etc.) should contact DePaul’s Associate Vice President for Public Relations at (312) 362-6225.

The university is open to DePaul student and faculty film projects as part of academic courses, as well as advertising and promotional projects arranged by university officials for university purposes, if members of the DePaul community managing these projects provide adequate prior notice to the Director of Media Relations as well as departments with business that may be affected by the presence of cameras and camera crews.

For information about the use of DePaul’s name, likeness, logo and other corporate marks by those within or outside of DePaul, see DePaul's Brand Resources. To inquire about permission to use DePaul logos, contact the DePaul’s Associate Vice President for Public Relations at (312) 362-6225.

What are DePaul's procedures for filming on campus?   
DePaul is closed to filming by non-university and commercial entities except in special circumstances. DePaul is open to student and faculty film projects as part of academic courses as well as advertising and promotional projects arranged by university officials for university purposes.

This procedure details the requirements to coordinate approved filming on campus, request an exemption to allow filming by non-university and commercial entities and secure written approval for use of DePaul's name, identity or corporate marks in any film project.

Exemptions for non-university filming and student or faculty film projects that are intended for use outside the classroom setting and include DePaul's name, identity or corporate marks must be approved by the associate vice presidents for Public Relations and for Marketing Communications, and in some cases the university's president, prior to filming. This approval process is designed to protect DePaul's image, reputation and corporate marks.

If I contact Media Relations about a DePaul story idea, is media coverage guaranteed?   
Alerting Media Relations to a potential DePaul news or feature story does not guarantee media coverage. It is our job to evaluate the newsworthiness of all ideas presented to us and pitch only those that carry DePaul’s key messages and have the most coverage potential.

After we contact the media with a story idea, reporters, editors or producers decide whether to pursue the story based on their news judgment. They will weigh the idea’s newsworthiness based on a number of factors, including whether the idea is fresh, important, timely, unusual, first of its kind, part of a larger societal trend, impacts a wide audience, involves large amounts of money or people, and/or has a link to a "hot" story currently in the news. In considering story ideas, journalists also ask themselves questions such as "How much value does this item have to our readers, viewers or listeners?" and "Is it among the most important stories we may cover today?"

Will Media Relations help me attract an audience to my campus event?   
Media Relations’ role is to encourage reporters to cover newsworthy DePaul stories, not to draw audiences to campus events. Reporters rarely do stories previewing events, and free event calendar space is becoming scarce. Even if your event does generate a news item prior to the event, it may not target effectively the specific audience you desire or appear before your RSVP deadline.

To ensure success, event planners instead must develop and manage a public relations and marketing plan for attracting an audience, with an appropriate budget and timeline. First, evaluate your goals realistically and identify your target audiences. Then reach these audiences through invitations, fliers, advertising, brochures and/or partnerships with appropriate organizations to access their memberships. These public relations, networking and paid-media vehicles allow you to control the timing and content of your message and to target the specific audience that may be interested so that you can achieve your goals.

Can Media Relations get reporters to cover my event?   
The amount of time and effort Media Relations devotes to publicizing issues and trends that impact the entire university is far greater than the time devoted to inviting reporters to cover individual events. This doesn’t mean that events aren’t important. It simply means that events are finite news items that often generate only a small amount of coverage, whereas issues-oriented stories generate far greater coverage for DePaul. This is the essential difference between media relations and publicity.

If your event is public and you want to explore whether media may cover it, please contact Media Relations at least a month in advance with all pertinent details to accommodate our deadlines and those of the news media. Media Relations will evaluate the event’s potential for media coverage and support events that communicate DePaul’s key messages and are most likely to draw media attention. The bar for this support is high because reporters in Chicago - the third largest national media market - receive hundreds of story pitches every day and cover only a handful of public campus events each year based on timeliness and importance.

How do I get word to the DePaul community about my news and events?   
Faculty and staff are encouraged to directly contact DePaul publication editors with DePaul-focused news and events and to post events open to the university community and/or public on DePaul’s online campus calendar.

DePaul Campus Events Calendar Web site with directions for posting events: http://depaul.edu/about/campus_events/index.asp

Resources include:

Does Media Relations do advertising and marketing?   
While Media Relations coordinates its efforts with DePaul’s marketing and advertising initiatives in an integrated marketing environment, the department is not responsible for marketing and advertising.

DePaul’s Marketing Communications staff works with department and college offices to plan, create and implement a variety of communications initiatives, particularly in the areas of prospective student recruitment and alumni communications. The office is responsible for advertising, recruitment publications, the top layer of DePaul’s Web site, DePaul Magazine, several college alumni newsletters and other marketing and communications projects.

The Marketing Strategy department leads the university’s overall integrated- and brand-marketing initiative. Working in a strategic and consultative manner directly with administrators, colleges and departments, this department ensures that all DePaul divisions leverage the university’s brand identity, utilize research to drive fact-based decision-making and integrate key marketing messages across the university with the ultimate goal of advancing DePaul’s position and prominence.

For more information and staff contacts in Marketing Communications and Marketing Strategy, visit the Web site: http://brandresources.depaul.edu/

Where can I find brand and logo information?   
Marketing Communications created DePaul’s brand standards to help faculty and staff understand whom to contact for assistance with various projects. For more information, go to the Web site:  Brand Resources Web site.

Does Media Relations do event planning?   
While Media Relations manages the media-related aspects of selected events, DePaul’s Special Events staff provides consulting for, and implements, university-wide events that have significant potential to improve DePaul’s market position or enhance its market prominence. This staff also coordinates hospitality and protocol services in situations that involve prominent people, such as elected officials, foreign dignitaries, celebrities, business leaders, trustees or other visitors whose presence can enhance DePaul’s reputation. For more information, go to: Special Events Web site.

Advice for Developing Event Audiences (PDF)

What is Media Relations' internal reporting structure?   
Media Relations and Internal Communications report to the Office of the Vice President for Public Relations and Communications in the University President's division. Internal Communications works with administrators, faculty and staff to identify strategic and timely information to be shared with the DePaul community through e-mails, Web sites, direct mail, publications and the employee newsletter, Newsline. To ensure a coordinated message, Media Relations and Internal Communications also collaborates with the marketing and communications functions of the Division of Enrollment Management and Marketing (http://www.depaul.edu/emm/) and other areas of the university.