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Poster presented on March 6-8, 2002 at the conference on Communicating the Future: Best Practices in Communication of Science and Technology to the Public, co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, and NIST. Poster topics were selected as "best practices" through a formal peer review by a committee of distinguished science writers, educators, and researchers. Building a
National Newswire for Scientific, Educational, and Nonprofit Institutions
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Abstract The University of California (UC) system faced increased difficulty in the mid-1990s getting its news into major daily newspapers. One problem: Papers had gone digital but the university was still distributing news by mail and fax. In addition, the media landscape was becoming more complex. UC knew it also needed to distribute its news widely on the Internet and through the principal research database services. A small group investigating this situation at Berkeley determined that higher education and scientific institutions needed nothing less than their own dedicated wire service. This service would deliver releases directly to the computers of major news organizations. And, the wire also would handle the technical and legal arrangements to get news into the myriad Internet channels and major research databases. No one institution
acting alone could create such a service, but many institutions actively
collectively could support a new national wire. The group that designed the AScribe service included journalists, public affairs professionals, newspaper publishers, and computer systems specialists. Key goals were to develop a system that would allow public information specialists to: 1) cut through the incredible volume of news delivered daily to news organizations; 2) respond to around-the-clock news cycles; 3) explore new opportunities for coverage; 4) enhance credibility by sending releases across a trusted wire in the company of other credible information; 5) take advantage of distribution technology that has worked well for corporate news; and 6) extend the shelf life of news through inclusion in electronic databases. The service also had to be easy to use and affordable. The wire was launched by four people working full-time using personal funds and outside investment by individuals involved in the media and higher education. It was created with the assistance of the San Jose Mercury News and The Associated Press. Initially, the wire operated only within California, connecting the UC system and other universities to the state’s major daily papers. After functioning for a year within the state, AScribe began to offer service to research institutions and media outlets across the country. The wire now moves news on behalf of 500 organizations and agencies and reaches top media organizations across the country. AScribe cannot evaluate performance of the wire in accomplishing the diverse goals of over 500 separate organizations. Therefore, AScribe relies upon several indirect measures to determine the service’s effectiveness. Key measures include: 1) anecdotal reports—users often report that they receive additional media contacts and broader coverage; 2) renewal rate—organizations renew their annual contracts with AScribe at rates above 95 percent; 3) usage rate—the average daily and annual usage of the newswire has risen steadily since inception; and 4) news outlet adoption rate—additional newspapers and publications continue to request AScribe’s newsfeed for news-gathering purposes following their review. Ascribe Newswire has
become an important tool that public-interest organizations rely on to
effectively deliver news to both traditional and new media channels. AScribe
provides a vehicle for collaboration and collective action that demonstrates
its value to the organizations that send news via the wire every day. Budget $1.5 million Contact Ron Wolf Back to Best Practices home page Back to Best Practices posters page Created: 1/24/2003 |
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