Media Relations Best Practices

In most cases, the goal of media outreach is to promote research, events, and/or academic and educational activities. Members of Penn Engineering are permitted to speak freely about themselves and their research.

Out of an abundance of caution, especially with respect to student privacy concerns and FERPA, faculty and staff should never speak about students to the media, including student-run media. If you should ever receive a call about a student past or present, please forward that inquiry to MarComms immediately.

Advice When Working With the Media

When working with the media, please keep the following items in mind:

• Please notify MarComms when you speak with the media.
• Please notify MarComms when you have appeared in the media.
• If you need assistance on a particularly sensitive or controversial issue, please contact MarComms to discuss how you might best respond to a media inquiry.
• Please remember that anything you may say over the phone or write in an email may appear in print, online and other media and once it does appear it will be archived (in some form) for years to come.
• Remember that you are speaking on behalf of yourself, not on behalf of Penn Engineering or the University; please refrain from making “institutional” comments.
• If the reporter’s questions are reasonable, please be cooperative, but don’t feel obligated to comment on issues outside your area of expertise.
• Don’t speculate and don’t guess. If you don’t know something, say so and refer the reporter back to MarComms.
• Always remind reporters to include your affiliation to the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Engineering and Applied Science when referring to you as a source.

If you have any questions about the above, contact us.