Communications - News Stories and Releases
Contact(s)
- Feature Story Writer -
Ronica Stromberg Kettelhake,
rstromberg3@unl.edu,
320 South HARH EC 0973,
Phone: 402-472-8811
- Calendar and Short News Story Contact -
Mark Mesarch,
mmesarch1@unl.edu,
913 South HARH EC 0989,
Phone: 402-472-5904
Communication needs can roughly be divided into three categories:
- Special events (e.g., NASA workshop) or important news reach out to Cara Pasek's team in IANR Communications (cpasek2@unl.edu); if they cannot cover the event contact Larkin Powell for other options. Send a title, description, dates & times, locations and contact information to Mark Mesarch for posting in the SNR Calendar and consideration for IANR/UNL calendars.
- Feature stories with less of a 'deadline' but still with timely interest on unique projects or people in the School—reach out to Ronica Stromberg; she will clear with Cara's team so we are coordinated with them.
- Stories about awards or other short items for the Inside SNR — Provide to Mark Mesarch for inclusion in that newsletter. Suggestions and example are found below.
Always include a photograph or some kind of figure and a caption for the image. Include credit for the image if possible.
Inside SNR is distributed approximately twice a month during the academic year and once a month during the summer period.
Awards and Short News Story Writing Suggestions
- Try to make your sentences 10 words or less.
- Use a person's full name on first reference and then, later in the story, refer to them by last name only. Titles usually go after a name, and the university doesn't use "Dr." or "Ph.D." in news stories. (Neither do the media.)
- In the first sentence of your story, tell who did what, where, and when in that order. The rest of your story will be elaborating on that and telling why and how. You may not always get to the why and how, but if you can explain them quickly, they are good to include. For example, if someone wins an award, you may not always know why they were chosen. The dean or department head announcing the award will often share some of the personal qualities or achievements that garnered the award, so that is good to mention if you know it. Usually, how a university contest or award works is spelled out online so you don’t have to state that, but if it’s a private organization, you could maybe link to its website where its criteria are shown or where it announces winners.
- Use active voice (Jane received an award) instead of passive voice (Jane was given an award). We want to show people taking action rather than being acted upon.
- Try to not have your first line of the story just repeat the headline.
- If you have questions on style, refer to the UNL style manual at https://unlcms.unl.edu/ucomm/styleguide/
Example for an award story
Headline: Doe receives award for best presentation
Jane Doe won "best master's presentation" at the 2023 Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting on August 6- August 11.
Doe received a $200 award and certificate at the conference banquet in Portland, Oregon. Her presentation, "Examining the Impact of Redcedars on Greater Prairie Chickens," relayed findings from her thesis work. The Omaha native has been studying the endangered birds in their Sandhills habitat. She is advised by John Smith, professor in the School of Natural Resources.