We help members of the Oberlin College community share their stories and expertise with all kinds of media outlets, from The Oberlin Review and other student media, to blogs and podcasts, and including local, regional, and national newspapers, magazines, and television.
We partner with members of the Oberlin community to pitch stories about Oberlin and its faculty, students, and staff to a wide range of media outlets, respond to queries and requests from local, regional, and national media, and work with reporters to position Oberlin sources for expert commentary.
We encourage all members of the Oberlin community to work with the Office of Communications when you receive outreach from a reporter. We work with you to identify what you want and need to best convey your message. We can coach you through an interview, help you decide how you wish to engage with the reporter, and ensure you understand your options, the risks, and possible rewards of your actions.
If a reporter contacts you for comment regarding an institutional matter, please ask for their name and contact information. Share those details with the Office of Communications or ask the reporter to contact Andrea Simakis, director of media relations, at 440-775-8485 or [email protected].
If the inquiry was made via email, please forward the request to the Office of Communications.
We will vet the reporter and the publication they represent. We will also get a sense of their perspective for the story and the questions they have to either help you best respond to the inquiry or to identify the person best situated to respond. We want to ensure that the college’s position is communicated in a clear and consistent voice and to avoid inaccurate reporting.
You are under no obligation to respond to media inquiries not within your professional purview. If you choose to respond, please make clear to the reporter that you are speaking as an individual, not on behalf of the institution.
We ask that you notify the Office of Communications regarding any media inquiries or interviews in which you participate.
Members of the campus community are encouraged to submit ideas for pitches to media. These stories may also be published on the Oberlin College website or shared on the college’s social media platforms. While we can’t guarantee every story will turn into a pitch or feature article, we welcome all queries—there are no bad ideas!