Op-Ed and News Pitching

• News should be timely and relevant to a significant number of people.
• Will the story have impact?
• Does it affect a lot of people or a limited few?
• Does it have emotional appeal?
• Does it advance Georgia Tech’s strategic goals?

Qualities of national news stories:

• They relate to broad interests.
• They have multimedia potential – still images, video, and animations.
• They add something substantive and relevant to the national discussion.    
• Stories that advance Georgia Tech’s strategic plan.
• Stories that advance the goal of diversifying the research program.
• They demonstrate the societal benefits of research.
• They contain verifiable facts.
• They contain verifiable research based on publication in refereed journals or presentation at major conferences (releases should be developed ahead of publication or presentation dates).
• They rely on reputable and objective sources.

Local news stories, like national media, should be timely, advance Tech’s strategic plan, and relate to a significant number of people.

They should also be stories that relate to or reflect the following: 

• Connection to Georgia Tech.
• Georgia Tech’s economic impact on the state.
• Human interest to Georgians.
• Georgia Tech’s commitment to service and community.

Opinion and editorial pieces should meet the publication’s standards in terms of length. The publication may also edit or fact-check the submitted piece.  

Qualities of a successful op-ed include:

• Timely and relevant.
• Expresses a clear opinion.
• Reaches a conclusion or issues a call to action.
• Provides facts to back up the argument.
• The author is identified. 
• The author is an expert in the field.
• Style is tailored to the publication (news, academic, sports, etc.)
• Has been proofread.