Correction (Nov. 5, 2009 12:11 a.m.): Due to a reporting error, an earlier version of this story misstated the role of Capstrat. The business assists with UNC’s marketing, while staff on campus handle the University’s public relations. The story has been changed to reflect the correction. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for the error.
UNC and other public universities are becoming as prominent in the media as some Ivy League universities.
A survey conducted by Global Language Monitor, an organization that analyzes national language trends, ranked some public schools higher than their prestigious private counterparts for frequency of media coverage.
“Public Ivies” such as UNC and University of Michigan-Ann Arbor have especially benefited.
Paul Payack, president and chief word analyst for the organization, said the recession is the primary reason for the shuffle in rankings. It also has hurt many private universities’ donations, or endowments.
“What usually happens when things are tough economically is that people flee to quality,” he said. “The public has decided that what’s quality is a solid education from a ‘Public Ivy.’”
UNC now ranks ninth out of 100 top U.S. universities in amount of media coverage, up from 17th in the previous survey.
Ivy League schools — including Harvard University, which has the nation’s largest endowment — are slipping in the rankings. Harvard lost its No. 1 spot to University of Michigan and is now ranked third. Yale University, with the second largest endowment, fell behind UNC to the No. 11 spot.
Ken Eudy, CEO of Capstrat, the company that assists with UNC’s marketing, said the University’s contributions in medicine and environmental sustainability account for much of the positive media coverage.
“There’s a relevance about what’s going on at Carolina that just attracts journalists far and wide,” Eudy said.
The news studio in Carroll Hall, which allows faculty members to do TV interviews on campus, also encourages news coverage, Eudy said. UNC’s use of social media outlets has also boosted its public perception.
“Any organization that doesn’t take the blogosphere seriously is going to be left behind,” Eudy said. “The University, as do other universities, has to be more nimble than ever at responding to online and cable news.”
N.C. State University jumped in the rankings. It ranked 12th in velocity — a measure of how fast the university changed in media coverage in a 60- to 90-day period.
Mick Kulikowski, assistant director for news at NCSU News Services, attributes the media coverage to some recent research stories and their social networking.
“We’re taking basically every story we write, and we tweet it or put it on Facebook,” he said.
The survey reflects both negative and positive media. But the vast majority of coverage is positive, Payack said. Athletic news does not have much effect on the standings either.
Media focus on the financial struggles of private, endowment-funded universities has caused their decline in public perception. However, the changes are likely to last longer than the economic slump, Payack said.
“It’s not just the recession. It’s more of everything being restructured,” he said. “These are changes that aren’t going to go away. These are changes that could last a decade or a generation even.”
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
