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| Prepared by The Montreal Raging Grannies |
How to get your story across to the media Essential Background and Cautions: 1. Success in getting your story across in most mainline media today depends mostly on how well your story fits with the media's pre-judgements about what is, and what matters. These pre-judgements mainly serve to reinforce the status quo. They do not necessarily, or even usually, square with historical accuracy or relevance, social responsibility, justice, scholarly analysis or logic. 2. Therefore, anyone or any organization with "idealistic" or "oddball" ideas that threaten the status quo faces a series of filters and outright blockages. 3. Appreciate that the subject of media access is a road without end. It involves knowing ourselves and knowing the media. You: 1. Focus first on yourself and your organization. Is your cause honest and just? Does the general public (or particular sub-publics) need to hear what you have to say? If you´re grinding an axe, no matter how worthy, have you paid fair and sufficient attention to the other side, or sides? Are you as thoroughly familiar as you should be with the background of your cause and the nuts and bolts of your organization? 2. Make a plan. Whom do you wish to reach? Be as specific as possible. Members of Parliament? Educators? Those who disagree with you? Those who would agree with you if they knew about you, or understood the issue? Ask yourself the most effective style, language and technique for effective communication. Direct mail? Door-to-door visiting? Making appointments with opinion leaders? Staging a demonstration? The Media: 1. Draw up a list of media outlets. List addresses and phone numbers, and particular reporters, editors, writers and commentators along with their specialties and biases. Be sure to include: magazines, newspapers, cable TV, campus press and campus radio. Also, don´t forget newsletters or bulletins of local organizations including churches, trade unions and political parties. Think of every channel and means of communication you can. 2. Get to know the gatekeepers in all media. Just call the media outlet and ask who the person is that you should send news releases or background information to. Also ask about deadlines. (Radio and cable TV stations, for example, require the text of public service announcements two weeks in advance). 3. When drawing up a news release, remember that gatekeepers often have to read piles of them a day. Make sure your news release is important enough to stand out. Make sure your news release is brief - one page, if possible. Include the Five W´s: Who, What, Where, When, Why. Use clear, ordinary language. If you have useful background material, send it as an attachment, not part of the body of the news release. Be sure to include the name(s) of people in your organization who can be reached in case of questions and list their business and home numbers. *Consider how and when to release your information. Keep deadlines in mind. You could release your information on a riverbank (pollution story), courthouse steps (legal case), or at the home of your president. 4. In an interview: -do your homework -try to anticipate questions and think about articulate, informative answers -you may ask what topics will be covered, but not what questions will be asked, although TV or radio interviewers will often go over these with you -you can suggest time and location, but the media will probably decide -give yourself time to think -you can challenge questionable facts and assumptions -be sure to try to make the points you want to make before too much time has passed -above all, tell the truth 5. Evaluate your efforts at gaining access to media 6. Revise your efforts in light of your evaluation 7. Keep learning, be honest, persevere. |
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