MyGlasgow News

As a centre of research excellence and home to a large academic staff with detailed knowledge and understanding of a variety of specialist subjects, the University of Glasgow has a duty to contribute to the public debate.

Citizens, industry leaders and politicians alike have a keen interest in listening to informed opinion from academics to help shape their own views and decisions, on everything from politics to health.

The opportunities are varied and many for staff to provide insight and comment on a wide range of subjects that inform and guide public policy or simply engender a greater understanding amongst society on a particular issue. Staff can also rely on the University’s Media Relations Office for help and guidance on how and where to provide views and opinions to the media. 

One way of contributing is through simply being willing and available to respond to media enquiries on your area of expertise, as the University receives numerous phone calls every day from journalists seeking expert comment and input into their stories.

This can be for newspapers, radio or television and, if the thought of appearing in or on any of these formats seems daunting, guidance as well as media training is available from Corporate Communications.

The media team can proactively seek-out opportunities to contribute or pitch suggestions to media – from a 750-word ‘op-ed’ in The Scotsman, to highlighting to TV news programmes your expertise and availability to comment on an issue of the day.

Other ways of commenting include blogging and social media. Examples of opportunities include:

The Herald – (www.heraldscotland.com) has recently launched a new contributory section of its ‘op-ed’ pages. Articles are around 650 words and while the circulation of the paper continues to fall, it is still widely read by key decision makers in Scotland. This opportunity to contribute adds to that already available in The Scotsman – which has a number of columns where academics can write on a subject of interest to the wider public – in the Scottish Perspectives section (www.scotsman.com/opinion).

The Guardian’s Comment is Free website is another good outlet for your views, (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/mar/04/you-tell-us) where you can pitch the idea yourself (or with the assistance of the media relations team).

Further afield, The Chronicle of Higher Education (www.chronicle.com) – a US-equivalent to the Times Higher which has a wealth of opportunities where you can air your views (and they pay for contributions too!) The University has campus-wide access to premium content of The Chronicle. Another US-based, and US-centric, online publication is Inside Higher Education (http://www.insidehighered.com/) which also has opportunities to contribute.

Indian media – as a key market for recruitment and collaboration India’s huge media environment is always kept supplied with material from the Media Relations Office. There are numerous opportunities to contribute opinion articles or simply to promote research or programmes in the education supplements of newspapers such as The Times of India, Deccan Herald, The Hindu, New Indian Express and the Kolkata Telegraph.

Examples of previous comment articles can be supplied to help guide your own thoughts and put them into words and the media relations team is always here to help you get the text just right.

For more information or to discuss ideas, contact: media@glasgow.ac.uk 

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First published: 4 July 2013