The University of Portsmouth’s new, interactive news website, UoP News, has been shortlisted in the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) Wessex region Pride Awards.
More than 1,000 entries were received from freelancers, consultancies and in-house teams across twelve UK regions.
Short-listed by the Chartered Institute of Public Relations
CIPR CEO Jane Wilson said: “The CIPR PRide Awards celebrate the best PR and communications campaigns and teams from the profession across the UK. To be shortlisted for a CIPR PRide Award demonstrates exemplary achievement, impact and value – immediately putting your work in the spotlight. The sheer number of high quality entries received this year, especially when things are still pretty tough out there economically, is testament to a thriving nationwide industry.”
UoP News is managed by the University’s Press and PR and Internal Communications teams, supported by the University’s webteam, who designed the site.
It launched in April this year and traffic to the University’s news pages has since gone up from 12,000 to more than 50,000 unique page views per month.
The aim of the site was to promote the University’s national and international reputation and profile among staff, students, prospective staff and students, journalists, research collaborators and those in the city and region.
The website was shortlisted in the category of a campaign designed to promote the policies, achievements and services of a public sector organisation to its stakeholders.
Director of Marketing and Communications, Peter Reader, said: “I am delighted the site has been shortlisted by the Chartered Institute of Public Relations and the efforts of so many staff in the department have been recognised.
“This is the first time we have combined internal and external communications in a major project to provide a single interactive resource which showcases the University as vibrant, modern and engaged.”
The website allows the Press and PR and Internal Communications teams to upload new content instantly and to react to readers’ comments and questions within minutes. The platform also allows content to be closely targeted to different audiences, including researchers, international audiences, staff and students. The site has links to media advice, resources for journalists, and is easy to navigate.
The award winners will be announced in late September.
