How to write a press release,
and what to do with it
MOTOKO KAKUBAYASHIKAVLI INSTITUTE FOR THE PHYSICS AND MATHEMATICS OF
THE UNIVERSE (KAVLI IPMU, WPI)THE UNIVERSITY OF TOKYOXX May 2024
An international team ofresearchers has discovered away to use observations at
ultraviolet wavelengths

studying stellar explosions
called Superluminous
Supernovae…

an extra bright type ofsupernova discovered in thelast decade that is 10 to 100
times brighter than ordinary
supernovae…

I’m going toto become ascientist

Maybe I should apply

Our next
exhibition shouldinclude more space

I’m going toto become ascientist

Maybe I should apply
for a postdoc position
at Kavli IPMU

Our nextexhibition should
include more spaceresearch!

Today’s characters

MOTOKOKAKUBAYASHI

From: New Zealand
Job: Press Officer, Kavli IPMU (WPI)
Photo 2023-07-02 9 10 48.jpg
University majors: Physics, Journalism
Favourite TV shows: ゆるキャン , ドキュメント 72時間
Favourite Ghibli movie: 紅の豚Today’s characters

Photo 2023-07-02 9 10 48.jpg

KAVLI IPMURESEARCHERS

Countries
Fields: Experimental physics, Theoretical physics, Astronomy, Mathematics

Today’s characters
SCIENCEJOURNALIST

Employed by: Science media magazine or website
ORFreelance
Education: Can have a science degree, but most areinterested in science

GENERAL NEWSJOURNALIST

Employed by: All news TV, newspaper,magazine, websites, radio
Education: Usually NOT science
Why cover science: Interested in the wider
application of science
to every day life

XX June 2024

Good morning!

Kakubayashi-san,you’re in theoffice todayKavli IPMU Press officeMy day at the office
角林(workingmother)
Internationalaffairs

I come intothe office
twice a weekThe team takes turns working from home
小森さん
(workingmother)
Japan affairs
坪井さん
Events,artwork

Kavli IPMU press team output (2023)

15
press
releases

8events

2
sciencenewspapers

experimenting
withsocial media
activities

KCI
CL
Taro Yamada <taro.yamada@ipmu.jp>

以下の論文がNature Astronomyにアクセプトされたので、プレスリリースをしたいのですがどのように進めれば良いでしょうか。
常識を覆すような結果なので、非常に多くの関連研究および批判論文が出て、刊行前に80回引用されています。
よろしくお願いいたします。
山田

SHOULD WE MAKE APRESS RELEASE?
プレスリリース作るか？
作らないか？
ポイント

YES

ü Famous scientist, highlevel researcher
ü High impact factor
journalü Part of a largescale
project
ü Important scientificdiscovery

Credit: The HSCSSP
Team/National
Astronomical
Observatory ofJapan

Credit: T2K
Collaboration

Credit: NASAI DON’T KNOW
Ask anotherresearcher orstaff member
about thesignificance ofthe study

How important is thisdevelopment?

This is an astronomy
paper, but it has a huge
impact in physics
because…

NO → SUGGEST
ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION
This might not work
as a press release, butit might be a good
topic for a:- public lecture- social media post- video

Let’s begin!

Writes theJapanesepress release

Works on otherprojects while
waiting for theJapanese text

Works on thevisual images** If requested

I’ll prepare the first draft of thepress release, I’m so excited!

OK, I look forward to getting
your emailWe calculated the one-loop correction
generated by cubic self-interaction. The vertex
factor of the one-loop correction corresponds
to the bispectrum. Such a bispectrum evolves
in time with the dominant contribution at 𝜏=𝜏𝑒.
The one-loop correction at the end of inflation
is obtained by integrating the bispectrum overtime to the end of inflation, which captures themain contribution at 𝜏=𝜏𝑒.
In this source method, the one-loop correction
to the large-scale power spectrum isproportional to the squeezed limit of the threepoint functions. The first term is nothing but thesqueezed limit of the bispectrum that is givenby (59). The second term are three-point
correlations involving the time derivative of 𝜻,which can be calculated from in-in perturbation
theory (39). The squeezed limit of suchcorrelations, when one 𝜻 is a long-wavelength
perturbation, is given byWhat?

2015
I got so much wrong

I’m not sure if
this is correct

2024

Because of COVID,
the project has been
delayed until 2026

A few years ago,
Professor Yamada
said heexpected his projectto get data by 2024,
I should ask for an
updateA week later

Works on otherprojects until
release date

Starts writing
English version
based onJapanese text

Receives
feedback fromresearcher,edits image(s)WHAT DOES A GOOD
PRESS RELEASE LOOK
LIKE?
プレスリリースのテンプレートはあるのか？
ポイント

A PRESS RELEASE ANSWERS
THESE QUESTIONS
WHO did the research? Their name, title, affiliated department, university
WHAT did the study find? What was the discovery or development?
WHEN was the paper published OR when was the announcement made?
WHERE was the paper published? What journal? OR what conference?
WHY is this such an important discovery?
HOW did the researchers make their discovery?

The University of Tokyo Kavli
Institute for the Physics andMathematics of the Universe(Kavli IPMU, WPI)
Project Researcher Xuheng Ding
andProfessor John Silverman

credit: Kavli IPMU

Observed the furthest
quasar in the universe

Credit: Ding, Onoue, Silverman et al.

June 28, 2023

Modern technology has made it possible to study even deeper into the universe, which will allow
us to study black holes and galaxies, and help us understand how the universe was madeUsing the new James Webb Space
Telescope and the Subaru Telescope

Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn

Credit: The HSC-SSP Team/National
Astronomical Observatory of JapanENGLISH PRESSRELEASES ARE SHORT
ちなみに日本語版は13ページ

2 pages of text

Big images

Paper information
Research contact
Media contact

A GOOD PRESS RELEASE PUTS THE
MOST IMPORTANT POINT(S) FIRST
WHO did WHAT, WHEN andWHERE was it published
WHY – background to topic
Quote from researcher
HOW– what methods wereusedAnotherdetailWhy do all this? Because….
JOURNALISTSRECEIVE 10 – 100+
PRESS RELEASEEMAILS EVERY DAY
LET’S WORK ON
MAKING A PRESSRELEASE THATSTANDS OUT

It’s fine to keep in bits the researcher wants in the story, but it’sbest to let the press officer write the title and opening
I want to keep this explanationin the press release

30% m yw r itin g

70%
er ’shcraesrew r i ti n g

THE GOAL IS THAT EVEN IF A BUSY JOURNALISTONLY HAS TIME TO READ THE TITLE, THEY KNOW
WHAT THE RESEARCH DID
Title is usually one line
(6 - 12 words)

ポイント

RESEARCHERS DEVELOP NEW METHOD THATPRECISELY TARGETS CANCER LEGIONS WHILEPROTECTING HEALTHY TISSUES

A team of researchers has developed a new method thatsuppresses the distribution of drugs to healthy tissues,
but also to rapidly removes the drugs once distributed inthe body, which could improve the accuracy of imaging
diagnosis of difficult cancers, reduce toxicity to healthytissues, and furthermore improve the effectiveness oftreatment, reports a recent study published in the Journalof Controlled Release.
Opening paragraphprovides moredetail about the title

The title is important because journalists don’t have time
to read every single press releasewritinginterviews
research

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WAIT!
What is this??

A few days later

FINISHED!

Day of uploading press release

Emails domesticpress list

Upload to Kavli
IPMU website

Social media
posts

Emails internationalpress list

Upload toFinishes image
for press
releaseThe next day to next few weeks is evaluating

I need to keep arecord of who used
ourpress releaseMonitoring services capture news stories

We usefor domestic news,

for internet news

Check through each story

Archive for future reference

THANK YOU FOR
LISTENING

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