Making Science News

How we achieved a 50% media hit rate for science awards

38 media stories published. 13 more in progress. Front-page of the Gisborne Herald. Reaching a business audience through NBR, BusinessDesk, and Kia Ora magazine. That’s about a 50% hit rate from 100+ science story pitches – during a time when newsrooms are desperately under-resourced and science journalists are stretched paper-thin.

Shared Science led media engagement for the Science New Zealand Awards 2025, a national celebration of publicly funded science and its impact. The brief: highlight the work of 40 finalists and build awareness of the critical role research plays in New Zealand’s future.

Being nominated or even winning an award is no longer enough to get media attention. We had to pitch sharp angles, show relevance to readers, and deliver a lot of well-timed nudges.

With a practical, collaborative approach, Shared Science developed a phased media strategy that aligned with the awards’ shifting focus: from recognising individual excellence to celebrating collaboration for impact. We took a helicopter view across all finalists to identify joined-up feature opportunities, then zoomed in on individual finalists. We prioritised business, regional and industry media where decision-makers get their science news.

Bringing a deep understanding of the media landscape and real empathy for the constraints facing researchers and journalists alike, we delivered scientist-pre-approved copy — in one case, a bullet-point pitch so clean it ended up as front-page copy.

“Now more than ever it is critically important to communicate the impact of research; not just to celebrate the amazing things we do in Aotearoa New Zealand, but also to connect different audiences to the value we generate from research as a nation. This is why we brought in Shared Science as a partner on our impact communications for the Science New Zealand Awards 2025.”

Dr Kate Muise, CE, Science New Zealand

We brought in Damian Christie of the Aotearoa Science Agency to deliver video content with a consistent, professional look and feel — part of our collaborative approach to assembling the right team for the work.

A companion social media campaign executed by CRI comms teams profiled all 40 finalists, generating around 300,000 impressions and nearly 900 interactions.

“Highly recommend working with Shared Science and we look forward to partnering again in the future,” says Dr Kate Muise, chief executive of Science New Zealand.

“Now more than ever it is critically important to communicate the impact of research; not just to celebrate the amazing things we do in Aotearoa New Zealand, but also to connect different audiences to the value we generate from research as a nation. This is why we brought in Shared Science as a partner on our impact communications for the Science New Zealand Awards 2025.”

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