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Press Office

What we do

The Press Office is the official link between the University and the external media, and we manage the University’s media profile.

We work with local, regional, national and international newspapers, magazines, online and broadcast media in the following ways:

  • Writing and issuing press releases on news-worthy activity at the University. This includes working with academics to generate coverage for research.
  • Publicising major developments at the University and coordinating media coverage for our events.
  • Coordinating responses to media enquiries about the University and its research.
  • Supervising media visits to the University, including filming by TV news crews and documentary companies and press photography.
  • Pre-empting and managing potential ‘bad news’ to ensure the University gets its messages across to the media in the most effective way.

We are also responsible for media monitoring and produce a weekly report of the University’s media coverage, as well as managing and maintaining the news section of the University website. If you would like to receive our weekly media report by email, please contact us.

We are happy to work with academic colleagues to present their work in a way that maximises coverage, including turning technical phrasing into language that is accessible to readers of newspapers and digital news sites. We can also arrange TV and radio coverage and provide support for anyone doing interviews and taking part in documentaries. Our team of press officers, who are former local, regional and national newspaper and online journalists, are happy to advise on how to generate coverage across different audiences.

We would also encourage academic colleagues with a particular expertise on a running news story to get in touch. We have created a guidance document to assist colleagues on media relations, our protocols, and the support and training which is available.

Media training

We manage a programme of media training for academics, senior managers and other colleagues who are likely to be asked to speak to the media. Places are limited, so we select attendees based on the likelihood of them using the skills for media interviews.

If you think media training would be useful and appropriate to you, please get in touch: pressoffice@exeter.ac.uk

Contact us

View a list of the Press and PR team contacts »

Out of Hours contact

For urgent enquiries outside of normal office hours please ring 07827 309332 or email pressoffice@exeter.ac.uk.