GCN Circular 1828

Publicizing GRB Discoveries - A Message from NASA HQ

We would like to remind the gamma ray burst community that NASA HQ 
has an effective mechanism for disseminating science stories to the 
press via Space Science Updates and press releases.  The Space Science 
Updates are press conferences held at NASA HQ reserved for the most 
exciting and high impact new results related to NASA Space Science 
Missions.  These invariably result in broad coverage for the science 
result in the press and on TV.

To effectively use this mechanism and maximize the coverage of new 
Gamma Ray burst discoveries NASA HQ needs to be aware of any 
"breaking news". Here are a few guidelines to keep in mind, to help 
us, help you maximize the impact of the exciting new science from 
Gamma ray bursts:

- If you believe you have an exciting result, please contact us at 
NASA HQ as soon as possible (see the contact names given below).

- Continue to use the GCN as you do today, but please also contact HQ 
if you believe your GCN posting is newsworthy.  While we do monitor 
the GCN, it is easy to miss the key notice when many are generated by 
an exciting new burst.

- When you submit what may be a newsworthy paper, please also send a 
copy to us at NASA HQ. We will evaluate whether it can be used for a 
press release, or a Space Science Update.  We will respect the 
confidentiality of the results and quickly comment on whether the 
paper is newsworthy.

- Do NOT post the paper onto the preprint servers until we have had 
time to comment on the news potential of the result.  Once a paper is 
posted, it becomes old news and it is difficult to use that result 
for a Space Science Update.

If your result has news potential we will rapidly arrange a Space 
Science Update or press release to help publicize the results, and 
give you further information on what needs to be done.

Please do not hesitate to contact one or all of us if you have a 
potential story or any questions.  We also welcome suggestions as to 
how to maximize the coverage of these events.

The contact information is:

Nicholas White, nicholas.e.white@nasa.gov, 202-358-0357
Don Kniffen, dkniffen@hq.nasa.gov, 202-358-0351
Paul Hertz, paul.hertz@hq.nasa.gov, 202-358-0986