The Georgia Tech community operates much like a small town within the larger metro Atlanta area. As in any city, the news aims to serve a wide range of people with varied interests and levels of participation in campus life.
On the whole, campus news should be timely, accurate, relevant, and interesting to a large proportion of the Georgia Tech community.
What are we looking for in campus news stories?
- Timely: The subject is a recent event, upcoming event, or breaking news or issue.
- Accurate: Information is taken from reliable campus sources, cross referenced, copyedited, and fact checked.
- Relevant: The information is relatable or tied to people’s lives within the Tech community. Or, it localizes a national issue or topic.
- Interesting: People will enjoy reading about the subject and it could, in some way, enhance their Georgia Tech experience.
- Strategic: The information aligns with Georgia Tech's strategic plan and goals.
Areas of Emphasis
Campus communication covers a broad spectrum of information. It will emphasize those stories that support any of several key areas:
- Diversity
- Safety
- Sustainability
- Teaching and learning
- Campus leadership
- Tech’s influence
- Life at Tech
- Working at/for Tech
How Do We Find News?
- Meetings with campus communicators, administrators, faculty, and students
- Social media
- Campus listservs and other communications
- External media
Determining Whether to Cover a Story
- How does the story connect to an area of emphasis or strategic goal?
- Who would be interested in knowing this information, or who does this affect?
- What is the value in sharing this with the rest of campus?
- Does sharing this story serve me, or others?
- Is now the time to write about or share this news? If you can only tell the story once, is there a better time to do it?
Elements of a Campus News Story
- Firsthand interviews with students, faculty, or staff members
- Supporting facts or data
- Background context and links to related content
- Accompanying media, such as photo or video
- Direction for more information (a website or other point of contact)
Other Things We Value
- Accuracy
- Timeliness
- Writing quality
- Consistency
- Brevity
- User experience
Where Does Campus News Get Distributed?
- Georgia Tech News Center
- Daily Digest
- The Whistle
- Other campus communication channels (print and online)
- Social media
Related Links
Editorial Guidelines
- Stories should be written in a clear, engaging, and accessible style that minimizes jargon and buzz words.
- Stories can range anywhere from 300 to 1,200 words.
- Articles must include at least one visual asset (photo, infographic, illustration, video, audio, etc.).
- Each photo or illustration should have a one-sentence caption, plus a photo credit, if possible.
- Authors are responsible for verifying all facts, including dates, as well as the correct spelling of names of people and organizations.
- Please refer to and use our Editorial Guide.
- Gatech.edu requires all authors to transfer exclusive copyright, including the right to electronic distribution, to the Georgia Institute of Technology.