What to do if you are mentioned in a
CRC Reef media release

Usually, the way we let the media know about a story is to write a media release. The CRC Reef media team will draft a media release based on conversations with the researcher and other relevant people such as managers or industry representatives.

The release will include your contact details, including office and mobile phone numbers, so journalists can contact you to follow up the story.

Approval

Once the media release has been checked by the researcher, it goes through the approval process. It is sent to CRC Reef’s Board members, program leaders, and communicators from CRC Reef’s member organisations. This happens at least two days before the release is distributed to media, to give everyone enough time to comment on the release.

Distribution

The media team will organise a suitable day to distribute the release to the media. Releases are sent out at 8.30am to up to 1000 media outlets in Australia and overseas, and journalists may call at any time during the day.

Availability

It is vital that you are available to respond to calls from journalists about your story.

Journalists have very tight deadlines, and most will need to submit their story the same morning that they received the release – if you miss a call, or have to call them back, do so in minutes, not hours.

The interview

An average radio news story is 50 seconds long. On television news it is about 75 seconds, of which interviews make up about 15-20 seconds. So it’s important to have a strong, simple message.

A good interviewee – what the media call ‘the talent’ – uses simple language and concentrates on one or two points. They make their research sound relevant and interesting to the average Australian – often by focussing on the application and benefits of the science, not the research itself.

Read the Tips for being interviewed.