Find out if your institution has a press office. If it does then they will help support you with any media related work. It is essential to take the time to find out how to work with them and where to find them. 

Complete the following task if where you work does indeed have a press office. Find out the following information.

• What are the contact details for your press office? These include an email address, a physical address on campus and a telephone number. Sometimes the office will have an out-of-office number for urgent matters.

• Who runs the press office? Find out who is the head of communications.

• When is the best time to get in touch with them? This is particularly important if you are working on something you think is newsworthy. They will need plenty of notice about what you are working on so they have enough time to prepare a release.

• Do they offer face-to-face media training? If you anticipate regularly dealing with the media, this is something you should consider doing.

• Do they have a database of media contacts? You might be keen to target a specific outlet for your research.

• What else do they offer? Some press offices will help you rehearse for interviews or talk to you about news angles, for example.