Media Guide

Why do we seek Press coverage?
Raise Awareness
Put pressure on powerful people
Attract more people to the campaign
Improve the image of campaign

Summary: We've probably all got reservations about the media and the people that run most of it, but it is still an important tool we can use to our advantage.
Effective Media Strategy

Plan a strategy in advance

We are partly engaged in manipulating the media: YOU can have some control over:
the type of coverage you receive
the audience it reaches

Key Considerations:
What's the purpose of our media coverage? (WHY are we doing it)
Who are we trying to reach?
What type of coverage do we want to receive?
Which media are we targeting?
What do we need to do to get them interested? (HOW do we get coverage?)
What's our key message
i.e. WHY WHO WHAT WHERE WHEN HOW? again!

Summary: It isn't a science, but it is really important to THINK about coverage in advance and to have a definite purpose beyond just getting your ugly mugs in print!
Writing Press Releases

How do we give the news to them?

Media organisations get their news from many sources; including news agencies, forward news planners, and the courts. But a key source is press releases.

To a campaigning group, these are a literary form as vital as the novel. You must know how to write them. Media outlets get hundreds or even thousands of press releases. They are sifted at the rate of one every few seconds. Most go onto the dreaded "spike" and are never seen by a living soul again. Our press releases must avoid this terrible fate at all costs.

Example Press Release

Windy Weston Residents for Wind Power

PRESS RELEASE

[[1]]Embargo: 00:001 Wednesday 03 December 2003
Windy Weston MP accepts 'Wind-o-Meter' poll results on Tuesday 24 June
[[2]]PHOTO CALL Time: 11 am Saturday 18 May 2003 Where: Outside Office of Sophie Passmore MP, Market Place, Windy Weston. What: Families from Windy Weston Residents for Wind Power and Sophie Passmore MP holding aloft a giant cardboard 'Wind-o-Meter' indicating the poll result with a pointer on a scale and a banner 'Windy Weston says YES to Headland Wind Farm'. Residents children will have colourful windmills.

[[3]]At 11 am on Saturday 18 May at the Office of Sophie Passmore MP, the Market Place, Windy Weston, families from Windy Weston Residents for Wind Power will present polling cards from a poll for or against the proposed wind farm at Windy Weston Headland[1]. When asked 'Do you want a wind farm at Windy Weston Headland' then 88 percent indicated 'YES'.

Sophie Passmore MP is being asked to support the development of the wind farm at Windy Weston Headland. The results of the poll will be sent to Councillors at Windy Weston District Council who will be considering the planning application in July.

[[4]]Pat Wilson from Windy Weston Residents for Wind Power said, "Our 'Wind-o-Meter' shows the overwhelming majority of people in Windy Weston support the development of a wind farm on the Headland. The wind farm means jobs for us and clean energy for 50,000 homes throughout the Country. Unlike burning coal, oil or gas for power there's no greenhouse gases so the wind farm helps limit global warming for us and our kids"

ENDS

Contact Pat Wilson: (mobile) 07999 999 9999

[[5]]Editors Notes

The Proposed Windy Weston Wind Farm consists of 30 wind turbines with a maximum capacity of 60MW which will provide electricity for a minimum of 50,000 homes offsetting the release of some 180,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas. The wind turbines are manufactured in Europe with substantial parts being manufactured in Britain. The proposed wind farm would occupy 10 hectares of land.
Photographs of the picture opportunity are available for publication without charge.
[[6]]Windy Weston Residents for Wind Power
C/o 34 Beech Wood Crescent,
Windy Weston,
Weston Peninsular
Fax: 01111 234 5678
Email: office@windywestonresidents.org.uk
Web: www.windywestonresidents.org.uk

Annotations

[1] Give Key Details. Put the date and time of publication of your release at the top. Either mark a press release: "For Immediate Use", followed by that day's date - which means it can be used at once, OR "Embargo" for a specific time and date - which means that it cannot be used until then. Do not use embargoes unless you have a good reason for so doing - it will simply irritate.

[2] Photo Opportunity. If appropriate, include a separate box paragraph near the top of the release offering a 'photo opportunity' or 'photo call', to encourage local papers and TV to send cameras.

[3] First paragraph. Put ALL the key facts, or your "hook" in the first paragraph, or even better the first sentence. If you want to know how to do this, read the news stories in any reasonable newspaper. You will find that the first paragraph is a concise summary of the whole story, and sets out WHO, WHAT, WHY, WHEN and WHERE (the so-called "5 Ws" of journalism). Note, get your facts right. You want to develop a reputation for accuracy. Don't risk damaging it.

[4] Quote. Include a quote from a key campaigner. This should be clearly indented or written in italics or both. This is spoken English and the expression of your opinion. It is likely to appear word for word in the paper so make it interesting.

[5] Notes. If you need to give references for any facts, you can include notes at the end of the release. Number them, and include the numbers at the relevant points in the main release.

[6] Contacts. Put contact details at the bottom AND top of each page of the release. Make sure they're accurate and that the contacts can in fact be contacted, especially during working hours when journalists will be working.
Using the press release

Stage 1. Write the release

Make up a template press release onto which details can be written (see in other article). Create a logo and put it along with the name of your group and contact details at the top. Use the words "Press Release" in large writing. Use headed paper. Put the page number on each page of your release, in bold and in the form Page N of X. Press releases should be one side of A4, two sides maximum.

Give your press release an exciting, headline-like title.
Keep the release non-rhetorical and concise--limited to one page if possible.

After writing it, look back at it and think about the items below:
Does it fit the accepted format?
Does it work for the chosen media?
What does it do well?
What could be better?

Stage 2. Send it out

The first time that you send out a press release, or organise a newsworthy event, you may not have media contacts. DON'T WORRY. Just ring up the switchboard of the local paper and ask to speak to the newsdesk. There you'll be able to speak to a journalist, and find out where to send a press release to

Send your press release by both fax and e-mail if possible, and even by post when appropriate. The more ways you send it, the more chance there is that someone appropriate will read it!

Find out the deadline for local papers and aim to post, fax or e-mail press releases a few days in advance
Address press releases by name to specific editors or reporters who cover your subject. But always send your releases to the newsdesk as well as to named contacts.
Don't forget to send press releases to local radio and TV stations, as they are usually very good for covering local events.

Stage 3. Follow up

Your brilliant press release has gone to all your contacts. Now you need to follow it up. You must ring all your contacts to make sure they have received the release, and to ask if there is anything else they wish to know.
Ringing up media folk in this way may make you feel like a door to door toothbrush salesman, but there is no alternative. Media organisations are chaotic, and things get lost. When the newsdesk says "Never seen it before", they may even be telling the truth. So send it again.
Find out in advance if a reporter will be covering the event. If so, plan whom you want them to interview
If a journalist is unable to attend, provide a press release immediately after the event (you can draft this in advance) and if possible provide photographs.

Stage 4. Record media contacts

You're phoned by media outlets using the contact details on the press release. What do you do?

Record all media contact in a 'media log book' or 'press sheet' (see other article) to log journalist calls. Divide each page into three columns: date of contact, media outlet name and details - name caller, their contact details, what they said, etc.

Periodically the media organisation's contact details can be transferred into the 'media contact book' (see other article). The media contact book is an address book with A-Z tabs that you use solely for campaign media contacts. Given the importance of individual personal contacts, your media contact and log books are essential tools for future media work.

Stage 5. More things to think about

You may also be able to find out who the key people are on the paper. Ring them/read their articles and find out what interests them most. For example, it is very useful to know if there is a local journalist with a strong green interest

Learn what interests particular editors and slant your press releases accordingly.

Take advantage of ‘quiet' times in the media, including Christmas, Easter, July and August, and Bank Holidays, when journalists are looking for stories to fill their pages.

NOW JUST GO OUT AND GET PRESS COVERAGE!!!
Interviews

Ask before interview (ALWAYS REMEMBER)

Who is this for?
Is it live or recorded?
What is your first question?

Interviews For Radio - Remember these key points
Do not be boring
You have been asked to be interviewed because you have something to say
Obviously you will have an agenda (something that you want to say), but you are not there to deliver a speech
Interesting informal conversation
Plan interview in outline - you will normally get 3 minutes or less. Try to get just 1 message across in that time
Prepare in detail how to present it - make sure that you have several killer facts at hand to quote, which will give you more credibility
Keep it simple - make sure you explain any jargon you use
Don't assume too much on the part of the audience
Honest and accuracy - say "I don't know" rather than lie
Use "For example," to make it more real.
Don't humiliate/make the interviewer sound stupid - keep it friendly - the interviewer is seen as the voice of the people, and if he is seen as stupid, then so the public will think themselves stupid.
Never say "that's ridiculous/that's crap" - comes over as speaking to the audience
Try not to say "that's a good point" - it sounds like you are stalling, unless of course that's what you want to do!
If the interview is on for example "Top-up fees," make sure you prepare a sentence which answers "what are top-up fees?"

Interviews For TV
Look as boring and uninteresting as possible - this way it is more likely that you will be listened to, rather than looked at
Never look at the camera unless told to, but at the interviewer
Keep Still

In General and with all of the above
Practice with a friend beforehand
Pick your key points and stick to them