Telling the UNMC story through the media

Tom O’Connor

Vicky Cerino

Lisa Spellman

Jo Giles

Nicole Lindquist

In media relations, timing and creativity are everything.

“The landscape is always changing,” said Vicky Cerino, media coordinator. “What’s a good story one day, might not fly the next day. You have to constantly look for new trends and think of new ways to package story ideas to the media.”

One recent success for the UNMC media relations team took place in September when the team learned that Kendra Schmid, Ph.D., assistant professor of biostatistics in the College of Public Health, had developed a program for determining a person’s facial attractiveness.

“We knew it was a good story, but we needed to figure out a way to really make it stand out to the media,” said Jo Giles, media/diversity specialist. “The national presidential election was starting to heat up, so we asked Kendra if it would be possible for her to determine the facial attractiveness of the two presidential candidates. She said, ‘No problem.'”

Utilizing the skills of Giles, who had been a television reporter for several stations before joining UNMC in 2007, and Andrew Nelson, the department videographer, a video was developed to rank the attractiveness of then-Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain.

A story was written by Nicole Lindquist, writer/media specialist. Combined with the video, it gave the media team a powerful one-two punch to pitch to the media.

“When you bring print and video together, it’s called converged media,” said Lisa Spellman, communications specialist. “It’s definitely the new trend in media relations, and UNMC is trying to get out front and be a leader in using this technique.”

In this instance, the media relations team hit a home run. The story was picked up by The Associated Press and was carried in newspapers around the world as well as by a number of television stations.

Dr. Schmid was flown to Los Angeles to do an interview for the Discovery Channel. One newspaper in a foreign country even contacted the public relations department to see if Dr. Schmid could analyze the facial attractiveness of two of its political candidates.

The facial attractiveness story represents just one small blip on the UNMC radar screen. Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D., has a vision to make UNMC a world-class academic health science center, and one important way to achieve this is by raising UNMC’s profile in the media.

In October, UNMC had 177 significant stories that appeared in local, state or national media outlets. These stories reached more than 56 million people and had a publicity value of more than $5.3 million. One of them included a mention of UNMC on “Good Morning America” by GMA co-host Robin Roberts, who was honored this year with the Ambassador of Hope Award by the UNMC Eppley Cancer Center.

In the past year, some of the top national media coverage received by UNMC has included:

• A feature on UNMC artist-in-residence, Mark Gilbert, on the CBS Evening News.
  
• A study by Mark Rupp, M.D., a UNMC infectious disease specialist, on hand hygiene among health care workers that was picked up by media around the world.
  
• An article in Newsweek magazine citing Dennis McNeilly, Ph.D., psychiatry, and his work on a drug therapy to try to curb gambling addiction.
  
• A New York Times story quoting Mohammad Siahpush, Ph.D., College of Public Health, on the effect of happiness on a person’s health.
  
• An article in Parents magazine on sleep issues with children, which featured comments from Brett Kuhn, Ph.D., Munroe-Meyer Institute.
  
• The Weather Channel interviewed Fred Ullrich, College of Public Health, on his heroic efforts as a volunteer scout leader when a tornado devastated the Little Sioux Scout Camp this past summer. The interview will be part of a 30-minute prime-time program that will air at 7 p.m., Thursday, on the Weather Channel (Cox Cable Ch. 43).

So you want to do media? To help prepare key people on campus for dealing with the media, UNMC Public Relations is offering media training on a regular basis. The two-hour program is typically given to 10 or fewer people at a time. The interactive presentation, which would normally cost thousands of dollars if done by an outside firm, is free. It includes actual examples of how to navigate through a difficult interview successfully; how to deal with a crisis situation; and even provides tips on what to wear and how to conduct a TV interview. To help attendees feel more comfortable in front of the camera, the program also features real-life TV interviews that are then played back and used as a teaching tool that all attendees can learn from. If interested in attending a media training session, contact Vicky Cerino at vcerino@unmc.edu, or call 559-5190.

“The medical center is a PR dream — there is always something happening. We look at the media as our best resource for letting the world know all the incredible things happening at UNMC,” Cerino said. “We work hard at building relationships with the media. We want them to come to UNMC when they need a health source. We are the only public health science center in the state. We are accessible 24/7/365, and we bend over backwards to meet the needs of the media in a timely, professional manner.

“One of our biggest challenges is staying on top of all the newsworthy developments taking place at UNMC. We rely on people letting us know when they think they have something of media interest. We have initiated a beat system that helps us keep tabs on the major campus units. But, we recognize that there are still many stories left untold.”

One should never underestimate the power of the media, Spellman said.

“Media relations can truly make a difference,” she said. “It can bring new patients to UNMC and impact the bottom line. It can educate people on their health and save lives. It can even help enlist more people for a research study.”

The media relations world is changing constantly, Giles said. The news release is still around, but converged media is becoming a growing force and new tools such as Twitter, YouTube and Facebook have become an important part of the PR arsenal.

But, one thing never changes — a good story is still a good story — whether you’re in Omaha or New York City. That’s why it’s important for the entire campus to stay alert for potential story ideas, Cerino said, and then pass them on to UNMC Public Relations.

Should someone be contacted directly by the media, they should forward the call to one of the UNMC media relations professionals listed below.

“This allows us to be aware of all media inquiries and ensures that the request is handled appropriately,” Cerino said.

Listed below are members of the UNMC media relations team along with their media responsibilities and contact information:

Tom O’Connor, senior associate director, communications, toconnor@unmc.edu, 559-4690, oversees UNMC media relations activities and serves as a primary liaison for the College of Medicine.

Vicky Cerino, media relations coordinator, vcerino@unmc.edu, 559-5190, lead contact for media inquiries and is a primary liaison for the College of Nursing and College of Medicine.

Lisa Spellman, communications specialist, lspellman@unmc.edu, 559-4693, handles media inquiries and is a primary liaison for the College of Dentistry.

Jo Giles, media/diversity specialist, jgiles@unmc.edu, 559-4696, handles media inquiries and is a primary liaison for the College of Public Health and Academic Affairs.

Nicole Lindquist, writer/media specialist, nlindquist@unmc.edu, 559-9149, handles media inquiries and is a primary liaison for the Munroe-Meyer Institute.

See more about the public relations department at the UNMC news portal .