CASE STUDY
MEDIA RELATIONS & THOUGHT LEADERSHIP: COLUMBIA JOURNALISM SCHOOL
The Challenge
After George Floyd’s murder and subsequent national protests, Dean Jelani Cobb and Columbia Journalism School’s Ira A. Lipman Center for Journalism and Civil and Human Rights convened a group of top social scientists from Yale, Duke, Johns Hopkins and the University of Chicago to author comprehensive reports on the history of systemic inequality in the United States related to housing, health, policing, economics and education. The project, called Uncovering Inequality, was intended to equip journalists with resources to cover inequity within their beats. Columbia University recruited The TASC Group to amplify the project and deliver its findings to national reporters and editorial boards as a source for future reporting. TASC also worked to establish Dean Cobb and the Lipman Center as a thought leader on a range of race and inequality issues across the country.
The Challenge
After George Floyd’s murder and subsequent national protests, Dean Jelani Cobb and Columbia Journalism School’s Ira A. Lipman Center for Journalism and Civil and Human Rights convened a group of top social scientists from Yale, Duke, Johns Hopkins and the University of Chicago to author comprehensive reports on the history of systemic inequality in the United States related to housing, health, policing, economics and education. The project, called Uncovering Inequality, was intended to equip journalists with resources to cover inequity within their beats. Columbia University recruited The TASC Group to amplify the project and deliver its findings to national reporters and editorial boards as a source for future reporting. TASC also worked to establish Dean Cobb and the Lipman Center as a thought leader on a range of race and inequality issues across the country.
The Strategy
TASC concentrated on connecting the reports’ broader findings to current racial inequality issues and identifying reporters focused on the major areas studied by each report, ensuring that they could incorporate elements of the reports in their coverage. With a schedule of proactive pitching and a keen eye on breaking news, TASC identified and pitched issues-based reporters covering beats that aligned with the project’s five reports. The team also introduced Cobb and project researchers to local, regional and national reporters through brown bag meetings and strategic outreach. Lastly, TASC provided the embargoed reports to reporters across various sectors at top national outlets.
The Results
TASC placed Uncovering Inequality’s embargoed reports in over 40 outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Bloomberg, The 74 and Chalkbeat. TASC’s media outreach helped further establish Jelani Cobb as a national thought leader on racial equity and promoted the Lipman Center ahead of the announcement. TASC introduced project researchers to editorial boards at The Washington Post, The New York Times and Boston Globe. When Uncovering Inequality was published, the project received positive feature stories in such outlets as The New York Times, USA TODAY, Forbes, Education Week, Yahoo! News and The 74. The reports continue to inform reporters at national, state and regional outlets across the country.
MEDIA COVERAGE
