"When you Think Foreign Affairs, Think Fletcher"
A Look at Fletcher's PR Operation

Whether it is Dean Stephen Bosworth weighing in on Korea on ABC's "Nightline," Academic Dean Lisa Lynch discussing the latest employment figures on The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Prof. Hurst Hannum commenting on U.S. foreign policy in The Boston Globe, or Prof. Richard Shultz being quoted about terrorism in The New York Times, Fletcher seems to be all over the media these days.

In fact, there is a good chance that Fletcher is mentioned in at least one media outlet each day and as many as seven or eight times on a heavy news day. Yet what is most remarkable about Fletcher’s current prominence in the media is that less than a decade ago the school hardly made a blip on the media’s radar screen .

Terry Ann Knopf, hired as Fletcher publicist nearly six years ago, is the driving force behind Fletcher’s ever-expanding media presence. Indeed, her office looks and feels like a miniature news room. Adorning her wall are framed photographs [from her former life as a TV critic] of her taken with such luminaries as Tom Brokaw, Dan Rather and Fred Friendly [Edward R. Murrow's partner and the former president of CBS News]. Newspapers are often spread out on the floor; stacks of glossy media guides for reporters are piled high on her bookshelves; while a small TV sits atop a file cabinet tuned to CNN for breaking news or crisis situations.

Her office is often a flurry of activity. On a typical day, Knopf initiates and fields anywhere from 10-20 calls from often-frantic reporters on deadline. Part of the day may be spent polishing up an op-ed for a faculty member or student; or coordinating Dean Bosworth's busy media schedule. Often, she is on the phone --"my secret weapon" -- where she tries to sell newspapers, wire services, radio and TV stations on the merits of covering important Fletcher events.

Knopf was hired by former Dean Jack Galvin in 1997 with the mandate "to raise the Fletcher profile" -- the first full-time publicist in Fletcher's history. Building from the ground up, she used what she calls a “brick-by-brick approach.” First, she focused on the local media, establishing contacts with radio and TV news directors, producers, reporters and editors.

Then she began expanding her contacts to the national and international level, one-by-one building relationships with journalists -- a New York Times contact here, an NPR contact there. "Media relations is a highly personal business. The more you know your contacts, the more they trust you and the better your relations," she says.

“Repetition,” she points out “is critical in the process.” Getting one feature story or one TV appearance for Fletcher's experts counts for little. The process must be repeated over and over again to build name recognition. And, if the daily “News Flashes” which Knopf e-mails out to the Fletcher community, listing Fletcher people in the news, are any indication, the Fletcher name is getting repeated very often.

While Knopf is quick to credit the enormous pool of expertise at Fletcher as the real source of the school's growing visibility, the numbers speak for themselves. In 1996, the year before Knopf came on board, there were two op-eds published by Fletcher faculty members.

Since her start in 1997, the number of op-eds published by Fletcher faculty and students –in major papers including The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Los Angeles Times and The Christian Science Monitor -- has soared to more than 80.

However, Knopf is nowhere near ready to rest on her laurels. “One of the most frustrating things about being a publicist,” she says, “is that your work is never done. "You have to keep nurturing and expanding your contacts -- or they just dry up.”

According to Knopf, one factor in her success is that she has both journalism and PR experience. As a former TV critic and reporter who has worked for The Miami Herald, The Boston Globe, The Patriot Ledger and Boston Magazine, she understands instinctively what a reporter's needs are, especially those on deadline.

Her savvy is reflected in the little “tricks” she uses to enhance Fletcher’s name recognition. For example, when Dean Bosworth, faculty members and students from Fletcher appear on TV, she insists that the nametag “The Fletcher School/Tufts" be spelled out under the speaker’s name. [In the TV business, this graphic is known as the Chyron].

“TV is like sky writing. Poof! And, its gone. If viewers just hear the 'Fletcher School,' they'll never remember it. If they see the words written out, the words will be more firmly implanted in their minds.”

Knopf's experience in PR during the Weld administration -- first, as a Deputy Press Secretary for the MBTA, later as Press Secretary for Executive Office of Education -- has given her the ability to see things from the other side. Currently, she is also an adjunct professor at Boston University’s College Communication where she teaches undergraduate and graduate students – “just to keep up to speed.”

When speaking to classes or working with students one-on-one, Knopf will patiently yet persistently explain the importance of tight, punchy thesis statements boldly proclaimed in the lead paragraph and the continual need for identification. “You may think everyone knows that ‘Sharon’ is the Prime Minister of Israel, but check The Times – they spell it out!” [She is right!]

Fletcher PhD candidate Toshi Yoshihara, who has published several op-eds with Knopf assistance, says: "She is a very effective editor with a real knack for identifying key points of interest that can engage the general reader."

Yoshihara recounts one time when The Boston Globe approved an op-ed on Taiwan at the last minute. But the editor said the piece was several sentences too long to fit the space available. So Knopf, Yoshihara and his co-author [over a long- distance conference call] worked together frantically to cut the piece down to size to make the deadline.

There is no question that exposure is good for the school. As Knopf says, Fletcher’s growing reputation with the media is a win-win for all -- the faculty, students and the university. Yet for Knopf, the job of publicizing Fletcher is a lot more than just PR.

"PR is an important piece of what I do," she says, adding, "but the work with the media is also an integral part of Fletcher’s mission to serve and increase people's understanding of world affairs." She thinks Fletcher’s experts –both faculty and students alike – have an obligation to weigh in on foreign affairs as part of the public dialogue.

Knopf believes The Fletcher School is uniquely positioned to comment on foreign affairs given its level of expertise in timely areas such as the two Koreas, China, Iraq, the Middle East, and other troublespots.

It is the job of the faculty to explain foreign policy to reporters and the public. Her job, as she likes to tell reporters, is to make sure, that: "When you think foreign affairs; you think Fletcher!”.