How to Win Media Friends and Influence People Or Working Through the Media to Achieve World Domination
By Kathryn Scharf

When it comes time to publicize their events and programs, community organizers often feel out of their depth. We feel kind of sleazy selling ourselves and our stories to the press. "Media strategy" sounds like a catch phrase from a high-priced communications consultant's sales pitch– a PR effort that will take a lot of time, self-abasement and snake oil. But getting attention for our worthy work doesn't have to be painful. Keep in mind that the media's relationship with its subjects is a two-way street: reporters need interesting stories, and you have some to tell. Given the huge numbers of people you can reach through just one story in the media, the time you take to figure out how to navigate the media will be well repaid through the program promotion and public education you achieve when you're successful.

We spoke Laurie Monsebraaten at the Toronto Star, City Hall Bureau Chief and former Social Affairs reporter, who gave us some tips for community groups who are seeking media attention.

Know your media

Who's already writing about or reporting on your issues? When you pitch your story, you must either select a person or show that has a mandate to cover it, or find an angle that's appropriate for their focus. This means you will have to do some research, and keep your eyes open. Big companies or organizations with money will hire someone to do this for them, but you can do the same by simply reading the papers, watching TV news, listening to the radio and making a note of the types of stories that each tend to run, and who are the people who cover them.

Send your press release all over the place: to individual journalists, producers, editorial page and the assignment desks (the latter are a bit of a long shot, because resources are always tight and journalists scarce - still, try anyway, because it may be a slow news day, or you may hit on an individual with an interest in your issue). Before you bother sending to the news desk, check and make sure that this is their area - sometimes they deal only with existing copy rather than assigning stories.

How to deliver your press release or message

If you can find the journalist's email, this can be an effective route, since they may not get as many emails as messages via other means. Faxes are the most common way of sending out releases. They are fine, but just remember how many are received every day, and your journalist may be swamped with them.

Follow up with a telephone call. Don't be dejected if they don't call you back. Journalists work under incredible pressure and tight deadlines, so they may simply not be able to return all their calls. Stop short of harassing them, but call once again anyway. When you are contacting someone, always ask if this is a good time, and if not, arrange a better time to call back.

If you are targeting a particular type of journalist, try and be aware of what else is going on for them that might conflict with the timing of your story or press conference: e.g. a reporter covering the legislature or city hall will need to be available when they are sitting or meeting. What other news or crisis might be occupying their attention at given moment? If your story has a topical angle, highlight it, or wait until a quieter time to pitch it.

Try and figure out the rhythms of the medium you are pursuing: e.g. at the Star, if your event is on a Sunday, you may be able to get coverage, since it is a slow news day, but stories are still required for Monday's Greater Toronto section. Holidays and long weekends are also often slow news times.

Organizing a press conference for 10:00 or 11:00 a.m. is generally good timing: many reporters start work at around 10:00. Late in the afternoon is not such a great idea, since they tend to be working on their stories at this time– unless, of course, the event that you are responding to happened later in the day, and you can provide them with a timely perspective to get into to immediate news coverage.

Don't beg for favours

Don't expect journalists to cover your story out of the sheer goodness of their heart. No matter how tenderly they may regard your cause personally, they are responsible first and foremost to their editors and their readers, both of whom want to know "Why should we care?" Try not to sound as though your foremost goal is to get publicity for its own sake, rather think about how you can help the journalist to tell an interesting story. However, by building a relationship with a journalists over time, you may receive a more receptive or forgiving ear than if you are contacting someone for the first time.

Find the human interest angle

If you want to get the word out on an issue don't rely only on statistics, find a human being to tell your story if you can. Though many groups are uncomfortable exposing their clients or participants, there is no denying that you will be more likely to get coverage if you have real people telling your story (with the subjects' informed consent, of course). If you are sending out a press release, provide some of the "big picture" context or stats, but also let recipients know how they can speak to people who can make these stats real (e.g. they will be available at press conference or event for interviews, or how they can be contacted). Conversely, you can draw attention with an anecdote (e.g. one particular community garden that is about to be paved), then make it known that you can provide background and context to the journalist upon request.

Pitch your stories and issues, not just your events-- or How to become a "source"

There is definitely a time and place for topical, but certain types of media may also cover issues or programs that are not necessarily newsy (e.g. beat reporters and feature shows). So if you have an innovative program with good spokespeople, or a neat angle on an issue, pitch it to the appropriate people as a story. Get to know some producers at various broadcast shows (they are often listed in the credits or on the air at the end of the week). Invite them out for coffee. Give them a bunch of different ideas to choose from.

This strategy can also help you to become a regular source for stories in which you have expertise. Once you are familiar with the reporters who write on your topics, find ways to be useful to them. Let them know that you can offer them a perspective on x and y issue. Remind them of it by calling or sending out a press release when a news story comes up that relates to your issue. You can also send out a blanket message to a wide variety of types of journalists letting them know the general range of topics on which you are available to comment. Making yourself useful to journalists, those harried and time-pressed creatures, by providing them with background, contacts and ideas, is a great way to begin to building the relationships that will assist you in your quest for total world domination.