Best of CASE District VII Award
 

Institution: University of California, Los Angeles

Title of entry: Tripling Coverage: The UCLA Wildfire & Climate Newsletter

About this entry: A disciplined new approach to media outreach in one topic area resulted in hundreds of annual media placements, increased effectiveness in traditional pitching, and tripled coverage in leading outlets.

UCLA’s deep bench of wildfire and climate experts were eager to share knowledge with the public by way of media coverage. However, the quantity of interview requests from important but small outlets was daunting. The UCLA Wildfire & Climate newsletter was created to develop a rapport with environmental reporters at the nation’s most respected outlets. The newsletter proactively informs journalists about timely perspectives and new angles on topical climate stories (fires, floods, drought, heat, equity, policy, greenwashing). The newsletter, now sent to 110 reporters, generally focuses on one to two experts in each edition, providing ready-to-print quotes. Editions publish weekly during California’s peak fire season (June through early November), when faculty are traditionally most in demand. It publishes monthly November through May to maintain regular contact with media, supplemented by traditional pitching of ongoing published research.

In addition to more than 100 stories in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, AP and NPR (with a 35% increase from 2021 to 2022), the project nearly tripled placements in priority outlets (73 in 2021 to 195 in 2022). The 596 total stories tracked included research and faculty pitched either in the newsletter, or to media contacts where relationships were strengthened by the newsletter.

Reporters from targeted outlets connect directly more often. Faculty remain motivated to provide research and expertise.