Academics engaging through the media—Insights from creating a monthly column on crisis management

Universities increasingly expect academics to engage with external stakeholders. This includes providing media commentary. In this article I describe my experience writing a monthly column on Crisis Management in the New Zealand Herald, the most widely read newspaper in New Zealand with an average daily readership of over 460,000 people (New Zealand Herald, 2019). The article also describes the benefits of writing a newspaper column including educating the public about issues relating to Crisis Management such as managing Covid-19, creating a platform for enhancing collaboration between academics and Public Relations firms, and enhancing the reputation of both the academic and university. This article will benefit academics in the field of Public Relations who are interested in writing a newspaper column to engage through the media.