Contact with the media
As a government-funded university, Karolinska Institutet has both a responsibility and a desire to provide information about its activities and to interact with society around us. Contact with the media is an important part of this work. Here we present brief information about important issues that everyone active at KI should know concerning media contacts.
About the Press Office
Karolinska Institutet has press officers and research editors who provide both Swedish and international media with information about our activities. The Press Office (or Media Relations Office) provides services both for personnel and for journalists who contact us.
Phone: +46 (0)8 524 860 77 | E-mail: pressinfo@ki.se
Opening hours: The Press Office is staffed at 9:00–17:00 CET on weekdays, and closed during the Christmas and New Year Holidays, Easter, and Midsummer.
Please note that staffing and service may be limited also during office hours in connection to national holidays and the Swedish summer vacation period.
Contact the Press Office:
- when one of your articles has been accepted by a scientific journal and you believe that the work is of interest to the media
- when you decide to hold a major scientific conference of which Karolinska Institutet will be the organiser
- when you believe that any reporting in the media may harm your own credibility or that of KI
- when you publish an opinion piece or participate in the media in some other way as part of your work at KI, and you believe that other journalists will attempt to contact you as a result of this
- if you feel uncertain about how to deal with a request from a journalist
- when you are to communicate with the media in connection to a collaboration between KI and, for example, a medical company, EU network, or other university, either in Sweden or abroad.
Debate articles
Many researchers and employees at Karolinska Institutet participate in the public debate, not infrequently by signing debate posts. Please inform the Press Office in advance if you are going to participate so that we can ensure that any follow-up questions from journalists actually get through.
Who can publish press releases?
Press releases that contain the Karolinska Institutet logo or in which it is made clear that our university as an organisation in some way is responsible may be published only by the Press Office. The Press Office will consult the Director of Communication, the university management and parties involved to decide what is to be communicated to the media, and how this is to be done. The same applies for press conferences held on the KI campuses or in the name of the university.
Who is appointed spokesperson?
The press officers will not comment in the media about research or official decisions. Normally, questions from journalists are answered by personnel with expert knowledge or management responsibility in a filed. The identity of the spokesperson most suitable to make statements is determined in each individual case, in dialogue with the Press Office and the journalists involved. The university management is responsible for contact with the media in issues relating to the organisation as a whole.
Please also view advice when you are to be interviewed
Please note that the Press Office often saves contact details of spokespersons in our internal phonebook, for possible use in the future. If you believe that the Press Office may have saved your contact details at some point, and you are interested in checking, correcting or removing your details, contact us on pressinfo@ki.se.
Freedom to pass on information
Any employee of this university may, of course, use their legal right to pass on information (whistleblowing) when communicating with journalists about activities at KI, his or her work or work environment. In Sweden, public authorities are not allowed to investigate if any employee has passed on information to a journalist, and employees of public authorities cannot be punished in any way for doing so. It is important, however, both for the employee and for others, to make clear the role in which the statement is being made or information has been passed on.
Crisis and disaster management
When journalists starts calling in a severe crisis situation, it is easy to forget about everything else that needs to be taken care of. Here you will find more information about crisis and disaster management at KI.