Wed, 9 Jul 2003 -- Media Matters No. 31
Dissemination and utilization: reaching the media effectively through your website

Today we begin a multi-part series on using websites and other online communication tools to bring your research work to the attention of reporters and editors.

In Media Matters No. 25 (online at http://www.accessiblesociety.org/mediamatters/mm25.html) we noted that one of the best ways to provide reporters with your reports is via your website. This series will show you how to make your site work effectively for journalists.

One of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to effectively accomplish the "dissemination" aspect of your grant project(s) is by putting your information online. In recent years, a mystique has grown up around web design and content. But the tool that the early originators of the Internet developed in order to communicate over it -- the html interface -- was envisioned as being something ANYONE could use. A lot of "add-ons" in the form of graphics, database servers and applets does not make this less so. A simple, html-constructed website can still communicate information very well -- and sometimes does it far more effectively than "gussied up" versions with lots of graphics, colors, sidebars and extraneous matter.

The trick to making online dissemination work for your project is to have a clear image in your mind of your goal: * what it is you want -- and need -- to communicate? * who is the audience you are mainly trying to reach?

As always, you should recognize that reporters and editors need to be one of your main audiences.

"Journalists often work under tight deadlines," says Web usability guru Jakob Nielsen. "They need answers fast and don't want to wait for irrelevant downloads, such as the photograph of a piece of toast that was forced on our users by a major federal agency."

Nielsen's group conducted a study to determine how journalists use the web. "In our study, we visited journalists where they work. Many journalists are freelancers or work from home, typically using slow dial-up connections. Many also have old computer equipment and do not feel an obsessive need to download all the latest software. Thus, non-standard data formats like PDF, Flash, and QuickTime tend to clog their limited Internet connections. In several test sessions," he writes, "information actually crashed the journalists' computers. Not a good thing if you're looking for positive coverage of your company. "

If you want journalists to actually use your site, he adds, avoid what he calls "informational black holes." Reporters, he says, "don't want to register to read a press release; they just want to see if it contains anything worth using in a story. And they don't want to send questions to generic email addresses. What do you think the odds are of getting a useful quote from something called 'corporate.communications@nokia.com' when you're on deadline?"

Read Jakob Nielsen's article online at http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20010401.html

The Center for An Accessible Society will be happy to provide your project with a one-hour consultation regarding your online dissemination program; for more information, email us at

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