Cary Nelson recently ended a six-year stint as president of the AAUP, and while in the office, he made a priority of media outreach. In “Media Matters,” Nelson’s article in the newest issue of Academe, he gives readers tips on successfully getting the AAUP name and viewpoint into the news and into public awareness. It’s good advice for AAUP leaders at any level, whether you are looking to be quoted in a local paper or the New York Times.

Nelson offers advice about how to work with the media, both logistically – knowing a reporter’s schedule so you can make sure to give them a quote or an interview in time – and creatively, by giving many examples of his more successful media campaigns. His examples include the different strategies he used when Yale left the most controversial images out of its book The Cartoons That Shook the World; when Rutgers-Camden first learned that it might be cut out of the Rutgers system; when BP tried to interfere, in Nelson’s view, with academic freedom in the aftermath of the 2011 Gulf oil spill; and more. In short, a wide variety of situations, and hopefully you can take inspiration from these examples to help get the news out about faculty issues on your campus or in your state. Read the full article here.