Dear Editor,
There is no louder message in communications than silence. Saying (or doing) nothing when pressed for answers can lead to issues greater than simply answering the original inquiry.
For years the Eastern Michigan University Center For Entrepreneurship has struggled with getting coverage (or even news mentions) of our major events in The Eastern Echo. I try not to blame The Echo overall, understanding each year has new editors and new challenges. The best we usually get from The Echo is a pre-event story (created by the center) that runs in advance. I can recall only one time in my six years that The Echo covered our premier event.
But this year there was no pre-event story either, which was confusing, even though a thorough press release was supplied to The Echo in advance and other media in the region published the info. So I had crossed my fingers for actual coverage of the event. One would think that The Echo would find news value in covering an event that more than 200 people attend and features successful EMU alumni in speaking roles and paints the university in such a positive light. The keynote speaker was Debi Scroggins, owner of Bear Claw Coffee Co. and proud alumna of EMU. EMU Provost Kim Schatzel was also a speaker and in attendance were EMU President Susan Martin and other EMU VIPs.
And again, The Echo could not find time to cover the event. I understand the challenges of covering all campus events but at some point that becomes a tired excuse.
And finally, The Echo could not find space to run a post-event story that was basically written for them; a story that recapped our event and identified EMU students that placed in the Skandalaris Business Plan Competition (also news worthy, one would think).
After a post-event press release was not published, I inquired with the editor, asking if the story would run or if it has run and I missed it. I confess to not reading every print edition but I often visit the web site and do a search for center related stories.
I received no response.
-Paul A. Nucci, program communications coordinator for the Center for Entrepreneurship at EMU’s College of Business
Editor’s note: A response was sent to Nucci in regards to his initial inquiry after the event.
