Difference between revisions of "Getting Media Coverage for Your NGO"
From NGO Handbook
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Partly because the news cycle has 24-hour cable television, news in general has become a lot more competitive, and a lot of times reporters and editors are rushed to give a story, or give an account of the story, without a lot of time to process some the information, and a lot of times they are just not given the information. Whenever you see something that is not true, or not quite right, or just blatantly slanted politically, give the editor or reporter a call directly. Be brief, be concise, but make your argument. | Partly because the news cycle has 24-hour cable television, news in general has become a lot more competitive, and a lot of times reporters and editors are rushed to give a story, or give an account of the story, without a lot of time to process some the information, and a lot of times they are just not given the information. Whenever you see something that is not true, or not quite right, or just blatantly slanted politically, give the editor or reporter a call directly. Be brief, be concise, but make your argument. | ||
| − | When | + | When Melissa Hopkins was first began working at ''The Washington Times'', she noticed that many other media organizations were taking the ''Washington Times'' stories and giving themselves credit for breaking a story. Not because they were mean spirited, it was just that they were not aware of some of the things that the Times was doing, because the Times did not have a very proactive media relations campaign. For example, there was a story some years ago out of the Clinton Administration about a program they created called Citizenship USA, which was a kind of speeding up of the process for immigrants to become legal residents in this country. Many media organizations wrote their stories right out of the press release from the White House, reflecting that this was such a wonderful program. But one of the ''Washington Times'' reporters wrote a story that said that in fact many thought that it was a political ploy from the Clinton White House to speed up the immigration process because they were registering them to vote as they were becoming legal in hopes that they would vote for the Democratic Party candidates in the next election. |
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| + | ''National Review'' also wrote about this story, and was critical in the same way that the Times was. It had to be pointed out to them that the ''Washington Times'' actually broke this story first, and they were kind to acknowledge that. That story alone about the immigration process ended up getting attributions all over the place, just because of that clarification. Thus, if you see something specific that is not quite right, go right the source, and even ask for a correction or a clarification, but stick to the facts. | ||
==References== | ==References== | ||
The foundation for this article are excerpts from a presentation by Melissa Hopkins at the 2002 WANGO Conference in Washington, D.C. Melissa Hopkins is President of The Hopkins Group, Inc., a communications company based in northern Virginia. | The foundation for this article are excerpts from a presentation by Melissa Hopkins at the 2002 WANGO Conference in Washington, D.C. Melissa Hopkins is President of The Hopkins Group, Inc., a communications company based in northern Virginia. | ||
Latest revision as of 13:05, 8 September 2008
Gaining media coverage for any organization is important. If all the work that you are doing to make the world a better place is more widely known, then your organization assumedly will be able to accomplish more. Media not only gives your efforts exposure, but it also gives it credibility. By having a third party, the media, tell your story it adds credibility to what you are trying to do. And having a good media relations strategy is increasingly important in today's climate as getting media coverage is becoming increasingly competitive.
This article addresses how NGO leaders can set up their own media relations campaign, or, if they have already got one in progress, provide some advice and insight on how to have a better media relations campaign.
This article addresses two main categories of the media: paid media and earned media. Paid media is your TV advertising, your newspaper advertising, and radio commercials. It is buying time and space to get your message out. Earned media is press coverage that is earned, not bought. Earned media is the media covering your story because of your newsworthiness or your compelling message. You have earned a place in the information marketplace because someone else thought it was important to tell your story.
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