Jennifer Holshue, Deputy Director – Editorial Operations at EurekAlert! provides insights for Press Officers and Communicators for using EurekAlert! following their member surveys.
For public information officers (PIOs) and communicators, getting the word out about the latest scientific research and news from your institution is top of mind and begs the perennial question: how do I make my content stand out more to journalists? At EurekAlert!, we work with both sides of the relationship – press officers and journalists – and are uniquely positioned to gather insights to help answer this question through our yearly member surveys.
First, a bit of background: What is EurekAlert!?
EurekAlert! is an editorially independent platform for distributing science news content from publishers and research institutions to the media. With over 1,600 organisations actively submitting content and 13,000+ journalist-members across 100+ countries, it’s a widely trusted hub for science communication internationally.
Survey Highlights: Journalists
We asked our journalist-members how they use EurekAlert!, what they value most, and what they want more of. Here’s what stood out:
- Top reasons for using EurekAlert!: In ranked order, access to embargoed and public news releases, fact-checking, sourcing multimedia, and finding expert contacts are the main reasons journalists choose EurekAlert!.
- Context and details: Journalists want more than just a press release – for example, including the research paper’s DOI or a link to its abstract is a crucial piece of information they look for. Author contact information, multimedia assets for reporting use, and access to interview opportunities are also highly valued. Thinking about what will make the reporter’s job of writing their story easier and then proactively including those details in your outreach is essential.
- Multimedia preferences: Charts, infographics, edited videos – including vertical and short-form – and research-related images, but not stock photos or plain headshots – were the top formats journalists in our survey want. High-resolution versions are preferred because they are the most usable, and journalists didn’t mind if the video was branded.. See our multimedia policy for more information about this.
- Embargoes matter: 73% of journalist respondents said the presence of an embargo is important in their decision to cover a story. If you have content to share under embargo, aim to post it about a week before the embargo ends to give reporters time to produce well-researched stories.
Survey Highlights: PIOs
PIOs shared their experiences with submitting content and using EurekAlert!’s tools:
- Underused features and content types: Many PIOs weren’t aware of tools like the tip sheet import and journal alert service. Many also said they were aware of our other content types, like Feature Stories and Media Advisories, but that they don’t use them. So, take advantage of all the ways you can share your science with journalists and general readers. Check out our website for more about our content types and what’s eligible.
- Multimedia myths: Concerns about fees, file limits, and actual demand exist but EurekAlert! accepts up to 7 multimedia files per release at no extra cost, and according to the survey reporters do want usable multimedia that’s relevant to the story.
- Tip sheet impact: More than half said the tip sheet service helped them connect with authors and issue news releases. This free service is unique to EurekAlert! and helps bridge the communication gap between publishing researchers and their press offices.
- Top reasons for using EurekAlert!: Our trustworthy embargo management, access to reporters globally, robust editorial quality control and customer service, and our high visibility in external search engines like Google were a few of the reasons PIOs cited.
About the Surveys
We conducted our surveys between 6 February and 2 April, 2025, and sent them to all active EurekAlert! members. The response rate for the PIO survey was 5% with 449 respondents and for the journalist survey was 6% with 690 respondents.
If you’re doing science communication on behalf of your institution, I encourage you to join or learn more about how EurekAlert! can help you reach your goals.