Media Relations Policy

Purpose

The University of Findlay is a private university, but its operational and relational philosophy values and champions as much transparency as possible for accurate and ethical information dissemination. The news media are therefore recognized as an essential communication component. UF's intent is to be responsive to media while respecting our University community's right to privacy.
Official Spokespeople

The University Marketing and Communication Office's media relations coordinator is the primary point of contact. The marketing director serves as the secondary spokesperson. UF administrators may also designate another member of the administration or staff to serve as the official University spokesperson on specific issues and in certain circumstances.

Working with our Media Partners

All media requests should immediately be forwarded to the media relations coordinator who will respond in a timely, courteous and professional manner with media representatives and the proper students, faculty and staff for optimal information distribution.

Students, faculty and staff who wish to initiate contact with the news media should first coordinate with the media relations coordinator.

The media relations coordinator is responsible for writing and distributing all UF press releases, with the exception of those related to athletic games, team information and corresponding events. The media relations coordinator may, however, write and distribute to media occasional feature stories about athletes, and may distribute other athletic-related information as requested by the athletic director or sports information director.

The timeliness, friendliness and cooperation of students, faculty and staff who are involved with media-related requests are greatly appreciated.

Under no circumstances should information involving pending or current litigation be discussed publicly without prior approval of the University President.

Media who wish to visit The University of Findlay should first contact the media relations coordinator. Once on campus, they must, during the duration of their visit, be accompanied by the media relations coordinator or another staff member whom he or she designates.

Proper Responses Regarding:

Direct contact (via telephone, text or in person) by the media – The media relations coordinator should be contacted via email, telephone or text; updated contact information can be found by accessing www.findlay.edu and using keywords "media relations coordinator" under a faculty/staff search, or in a general online search on the University's home page. Media representatives who initially speak directly with students, faculty or staff by telephone should be thanked for their coverage interest and then notified that their request will be forwarded to the media relations coordinator to further assist them.

Media who are noticed on campus as being unaccompanied by a University communication representative – Ask media representatives if they need any assistance, if they are intending to meet with the media relations coordinator or another University communication representative while on campus, and what type of UF-related topic they are seeking to cover. Then contact the media relations coordinator, or the marketing and communication director if the media relations coordinator is not available, to provide notification of the media's presence, along with which news organization the media are representing and where they are on campus. The University's goal as a private institution is to strive for a balanced approach that takes into consideration the rights and privacy of students, faculty and staff while also assisting our media partners whom we recognize as valuable and crucial public information resources.

Students, faculty and staff who have University-related information that they'd like to publicize – Contact the media relations coordinator as soon as possible to allow enough time for writing, multimedia production if warranted, and public notification. If needed, the media relations coordinator will assist in the crafting of press releases, social media postings, video and other timely public notification strategies. For planning purposes, both internally and for our media partners, preliminary information is always welcome. Public notification that is provided as early as possible enables media representatives to adequately plan for publishing and coverage as well.

A publicized error or other misinformation – Notify the media relations coordinator as soon as possible about the type of mistake that was made, where it was seen and when. The media relations coordinator will work with representatives from the respective publication to correct the error and, if necessary, provide more information on a University-related topic for greater comprehension and potential subsequent coverage.