All CMES events should be posted to the CMES web calendar and sent to the mideast list. By using Create CMES Event, your event will appear on the calendar, the Event Series page (i.e. Islam and the West Seminar page), and the CMES home page as the event draws near.
If your event could be of interest to the greater Harvard community or Boston-area residents outside of academia, we encourage you to create and distribute fliers or posters. CMES is able to provide a list of campus locations. As the center's name will be affiliated with your event, be sure to provide a draft to CMES staff for approval before going to print. We also suggest you list your event in the pages of local media calendars.
The Gazette is Harvard’s community newspaper. It is delivered free to faculty and staff offices, undergraduate residences, and other locations around the University.
Calendar listings are due a week before publication date. The newspaper publishes on Thursdays, but check the website as they skip Thursdays that coincide with University breaks. Visit the Gazette contact page for more information about listing an event.
Events can be posted to the Globe and boston.com by using the form located here: http://calendar.boston.com/events/new
You need a boston.com account in order to access the form.
The Metro is a free daily paper readily available on the T. Listings information located here:
http://www.metrobostonnews.com/us/article/2007/07/18/23/3943-72/index.xml
The Boston Phoenix is the local alternative weekly. Listings can be submitted at: http://thephoenix.com/Listings/Notify.aspx
Listings are due by 5 p.m. on Wednesday for the next week’s issue.
WGBH is an established public television and public radio broadcast service located in Boston. It operates over ten stations—primarily WGBH 2 and WGBX 44 (television) and WGBH 89.7 FM (radio). Listings can be submitted at: http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wgbh/events.eventsmain?action=submitEvent
Listings must be submitted at least two weeks prior to the event.
If you think your event or program is worthy of greater coverage in local media, you could spend time planning a targeted PR campaign. It is important to find the right reporter—for example, visual arts, photo arts, or current affairs—at each outlet (including TV and WBUR) and make direct contact by phone with the reporters. Use Harvard’s Lexis-Nexis access to find reporters that have written about similar topics in the past. This usually indicates an interest in the area and increases the likelihood of coverage.
The key to getting coverage is to have an actual well-thought-out story idea to pitch. Not just: Here's a show. But: Here's why this show is important, or here is an element that is fascinating and worthy of deeper probing. Sometimes people call reporters with very thinly developed ideas, mostly looking for publicity. What about the practices of the Safavid period are relevant today? relevant locally? teach something we're missing in our own economic/cultural exchanges? In today’s world of journalism, more and more presenters have to do some of the initial work of developing strong ideas for stories.
Also it helps to make a personal connection with a reporter: "I saw your excellent story on XYZ and thought you might be interested in a photo exhibition at Houghton Library."
Don’t pitch the same story to more than one reporter at the same paper, magazine, or media outlet. Doing so is considered a PR faux pas. If a reporter is not interested in your story, be sure to ask them if they know someone else who might be.
Copyright © 2009 The President and Fellows of Harvard College
