Building Personal Relations with the Media

Many of my colleagues at the Heritage Foundation and other conservative organizations spend a lot of time complaining about the media, because it is hard to sell conservative ideas to an overwhelmingly liberal media. They will complain at conferences, or on the phone, or at barstools late at night that the journalists are biased and will not give them a fair shake. They will even try to hound editors into covering stories, which may be important to them, but are not news.

Ideas and stories cannot be brow beat, whined, or nagged into the newspapers or onto the airways. The only way is by working with the media and marketing stories and ideas to them. The key word here is “with.” There is not much point wasting time bemoaning how bad the media are and the fact that they will not reshape their world to accommodate yours. Your job is to figure out how you can fit your ideas into their world, into their stories, and into their minds.

How do you go about marketing your ideas? To do it effectively, the most important thing is to get to know the reporters that you are dealing with, the editors that will be writing the opinion pages or that edit the op-ed pages. Get to know the bookers and the producers at the radio and television shows that you want to have your people on. Though it is simple enough, it takes time.

Planning strategically

Since it is not necessary to meet everyone--every reporter, producer and booker -- you first need to have a strategic plan as to what you are going to accomplish. Figure out who you need to reach, which outlets will carry your message; and then look within those organizations and find the right people who can help get your message out.

In the United States, typically everyone wants to get their story into The New York Times and The Washington Post. One must first consider if that is really necessary. It does not mean you would ignore these prominent newspapers, but it is important to point out that Members of Congress read just as closely the hometown papers in the districts that elected them and that they report back to.

If you are working legislatively, and there is particular legislation you are interested in, then research who chairs that committee, who are the movers and shakers, and who are the swing votes which you need to bring to your side. Figure out which back home media are important to them and work on those media people. Get to know them. Who are the top talk shows back in Des Moines, Idaho for example? Get to know the producers there; tell them what is important. Cultivate the weekly community newspapers and do not think that they are second class. Some of the world’s best reporters have come from there. They are very good allies for you to have.

Consider who on a newspaper staff you need to get to know. Do you need to know the editorial page editors, or at least the editorial writers that cover the topic in which you are interested? Do you need to know the political writers or the bureau reporters? Or, do you need to know the beat reporters? You probably do not need to know them all, but you are going to need to know a couple of them, at least.

Figure out who you need to communicate your story to, and then do that. You cannot expect them to listen to you unless you make a conscious effort to get their attention and make a sincere effort to gain their confidence and respect. If you do not make a special effort to introduce yourself to the media--to those people who logically should be interested in your story -- then they are unlikely to come to you on their own. There are hundreds of other people out there to whom they can go, and some of them are making an effort to get to know them. And that is where they will go.

It is highly important to look at the culture of the newspaper that you are dealing with too. What is their editorial voice? Is it youth-oriented, is it trendy, is it very cerebral? The more you can remold the language in your press releases and your editorial pages to match what they are putting out, the more you have helped them accept what you are presenting. If it is fact-based, give them lots of facts in your editorials.

Competing trends

There are two competing trends going on in the media world now. On the one hand, there are consolidations occurring in the United States and as a result there are hardly any two-newspaper towns left anymore, whereas it used to be common. Even the weeklies increasingly are large chains and those chains are being bought up by the dailies--even the large dailies. At the same time, there is an information revolution out there. There are satellite channels, cable channels, and other sources offering more outlets for you to work. Not all outlets will access the audience you need; therefore, be aware of alternative routes to get your message out.

You can use leverage to your advantage. If you are printed up in what is a relatively small paper or a regional paper, you can use it as your third party credibility and endorsement of what you are saying. It contains the facts on your side and it is been printed up. If you bring that to Washington or New York, it can have a big effect, because the media tend to feed off of each other. And if you get a story covered in one outlet, whether it is radio, TV, or other media, you can take that, duplicate it, and send it out. Spread the word out. News sources will cover it, if you get it to them quickly enough, so that it is not just a one-day story. Therefore, where you have success in one place, turn it around, because the media does not want to be too far behind on a legitimate story.

Reaching out

At the Heritage Foundation, which is a public policy research organization, we have a media relations staff of ten people, of which three work full-time only meeting and getting to know reporters and pitching their story. We have another three people who are writers, but are also responsible for getting to know reporters. We do a lot of opinion writing for the op-ed pages of newspapers and are expected to get to know the editors, because it is easier to pick up a phone and give a push to a piece with someone you know, rather than a total stranger. However, everyone in media relations is expected to be reaching out to the media constantly through phone calls, emails, letters, personal notes, and most important of all--face-to-face meetings. Everyday, everyone on the staff expects to have at least one meal with a reporter.

Since it is important to go to where the media are, we often go on the road to keep in touch with the media outside of Washington, D.C.. An example of this is Mr. Hugh Newton, who retired last year, but who worked for 25 years in public relations for Heritage, specializing in working with the opinion media: editorial page editors, editorial writers, op-ed page editors and syndicated columnists. Opinion media is important, especially if you have a hostile newspaper that you need to be published in. You can pitch their op-ed page editors, or go the circuitous route through the syndicated columnists who may be favorable to your position.

That was Hugh’s world for 25 years. He read the same trade journals that they read. He went to the same conferences that those people attend, and at every opportunity he would add a personal touch that let them know that he valued them as individuals. He would send to an editor material that he came across that would be helpful for an editorial even if it had nothing to do with an issue that our organization was involved in. He knew what interested this guy, and if something came across his desk that he thought would be helpful, he sent it on.

For 25 years. he was on the road for three to five days every month meeting with opinion journalists, getting to know them, getting to know their spouses, finding out what truly interested them. He would visit Minneapolis and Chicago in the dead of winter--and winters are unbearable there. He would go to Miami or Houston in the midst of their unbearable summers, so that the people understood he was there to meet them. He was not there on a junket. It was not just an excuse for him to get in some skiing, or something like that. He wanted to meet these people and to really care about them.

The information gatekeepers

Media relations is mostly an exercise in building personal relationships with the media, with the reporters, the editors, and the producers, who are “the information gate-keepers” to our ultimate audiences--whether they are law-makers, diplomats, financial supporters, or the general public. This personal approach, which is embodied by two men who have been with the Heritage Foundation for 25 years, Hugh Newton and Herb Berkowitz, has paid huge dividends. Over the course of these years, it has also paid huge dividends for the media world in general. It is largely through their efforts that this country now has an op-ed page in most daily newspapers. This page opposite the editorial page that makes room for opposing views did not exist 25 years ago. It now does, largely because Hugh and Herb made the rounds arguing that many readers do not share all the same viewpoints of the editors--who risk turning off readers by their singular approach. They encouraged the newspapers to make room for differing views, and ultimately the op-ed page was born. Now, all organizations can take advantage of these pages.

It pays dividends on your personal life, as well. You will find that some of your very best friends become the people you have met as reporters. You may not agree with them on one single topic of interest to your organization, but you realize they are wonderful people and they start to realize that you are too, and it makes them more receptive to your message. Media relations is a wonderful job to be in if you want to lead a full and rewarding life, because it is all about meeting people and selling ideas that you think make a difference.

If you have a personality conflict with a media person, find someone else--hopefully within your organization--to bring your message. Sometimes you might find someone in another organization that can be better at bringing that message around. If you go back to my central thesis, which is effective media relations is all about personal relationships, when you have a bad personal relationship then the whole construction falls apart for that particular media. If you know that, find someone who can work with you, or else write it off and move on. Moving on to ‘Plan B’ may not be nearly as desirable, but a poor ‘Plan B’ is much better than a totally unworkable 'Plan A.'

Eliminate 'NGO' speak

Depending on your audience, you have to be able to converse in the language of the people with whom you are dealing. Typically, that is more than one audience. If you are active legislatively, you need to know the legislative process. You need to know the language that they use. But when you are dealing with the media, you need to know who their audience is too.

It is so easy to get wrapped up in the world of NGOs, and affiliated like-minded groups you are working with on a daily basis back home, that you think you do not have time to deal with the language of popular culture. The pop culture is the coin of communication wherever you are. What are the kids that you are dealing with watching on TV? What music and lyrics do they listen to? You need to know this so you can relate to them and speak to them on them on their own terms.

The absolute best way to get the attention, the confidence, and respect of news people--and that is what you have to do--is through a combination of this kind of personal contact and to become a source of interesting material for them -- material which is timely, fact-based, intelligently prepared, accurate, and essentially useful. Some NGOs do this extremely well; others do not.

I am a stranger to the world of NGOs, by and large, but recognizing my ignorance I asked a friend, who is an editor at a news service, what were the major problems he encountered in dealing with NGOs. The first thing my friend recommended was that when it came to news releases and to telephone pitches, eliminate what he called the “NGO speak,” which is also the “UN speak.” By that, he meant do not use acronyms or jargon when you are talking with a reporter. This is totally annoying to reporters and to others who are not part of the NGO world. Most reporters do not know what NGO stands for even if you say, "It is a non-governmental organization."

Imagine how reporters feel when they get a news release, or they get a phone call, and it is dedicated to the topic of UNFPRQ21. Mentally, they have hung up as soon as that is out of your mouth. They do not know what it is, and when it is presented like that, they do not want to know. It is alien to their life. Speaking in acronyms and jargons is not just an NGO problem, it is the same problem doctors have, engineers have, and so do economists. It is an insular world where you meet with others who speak that same language. It is all part of the mystification process that makes you part of an elite mystery, but also keeps you a secret from the rest of the world. You need to remember that a reporter’s job is to communicate news or opinion to regular people, to someone sitting on a barstool. Therefore, your job in media relations is to figure out why UNFPRQ21 matters to someone on a barstool, and then you communicate that without ever mentioning the acronym. If you communicate in simple everyday language to the reporter, you will get that, "Ah ha, I know what you are talking about, and I see why it is important."

What interests the media?

A second and related complaint was that communications from NGOs tend to be far too self-referential in an almost circular logic. A phone call from an organization announcing a new initiative by NGOs forming ‘some special coalition to complete a certain task to bring certain results’ is not of interest to most news media since it is insular, self-promoting, and self-aggrandizing. What the media wants is the facts: to know what the problem is, and what specifically you want to do about it. Before you get to that point, you should consider why this problem matters to the general public, or to the guy on the barstool for whom they are writing.

Generally speaking, what interests the media? Tension. Conflict. Blood. Tell them what an argument is about, what is at stake, and who the players are on both sides. Their job is to present both sides. If there is a meaningful fight going on, and if something important is at stake, reporters will be interested in it if you explain to them why it is interesting.

The media love numbers, and they love lists. Though technical research studies are fine--as long as they are translated into everyday English--the media will also go along with the ‘soft numbers’ of polls and surveys. Therefore, you may find the media being receptive if you do a survey on a topic that is of interest to you, at least tangentially, and you conduct it in a responsible fashion (credibility is everything here), and you are not asking loaded questions in the survey, or pre-selecting the respondents, and you get large enough numbers. Also it is helpful if you partner with someone who already brings credibility on that issue--either a professional polling organization or even with a newspaper or television station. That takes a little pitching, but sometimes you can do that. Thus, if you can provide the media with the authority of an issue, then they do not have to go looking for the facts. The benefit of this is that your organization is giving it to them and you are regarded as an authority on the issue.

To the extent that you find a poll that generates interest, you might want to consider doing it on a regular basis, so that you can track trends--which fascinates the media. For example, is opinion going in this direction or that direction? Once you have identified a trend, that becomes news; and then if you can provide a spokesman to analyze that trend describing what is driving it, what the dangers of that trend are, and what the promise of that trend is, you can get their attention.

When you are pitching a story you need to keep things concise until you hear the reporter engage and say, “Yea, you’ve got me. Tell me more.” So when you are calling up to pitch a story, know what you are going to say in advance and have it honed down to approximately ten seconds. That way if you have not reached the reporter directly, you can leave a very polished engaging pitch on the line and move on.

Refining your message is all part of how you communicate in your press releases, how you communicate verbally when you are pitching a story. It all needs to be thought out in advance. Do not just wing it or hope to carry the day by the passion or length of your presentation. Getting their attention and keeping it short is what does it.

Humanize your ideas

It is important when you are putting out press releases to tell a story. Humanize your ideas. Start with a real-world example of an individual, rather than with rhetoric and hyperbole. Use case histories and try to present people and events that embody the very point you are trying to make. It is the old journalism school thing: show, do not tell. If you start with that, it is much easier to engage the mind and imagination of the reader. And, of course, your first reader on a press release is the reporter.

Always tell the truth. Do not exaggerate. If you do not know the answer to a question, tell them you do not know but you will find out and you will get back to them. And then get back to them. Do not make a promise you are not going to keep with them.

The final word is feed the media. Literally feed them something that they are going to find tasty. You have got to read their newspaper to see how these people write and feed them the story that you know is going to appeal to them. Literally, you need to feed them as well. Take them out to lunch, take them to dinner, or buy them a drink. It is how you get to know people and how they get to know you. Who pays for meals? The protocol is if you invite a reporter out, you offer to pay. If the reporter insists on paying, you let the reporter pay. Many news outlets in the United States have a policy that you cannot buy meals for their staff.

Mutual learning process

When you are with a cause-oriented organization, it is important that reporters learn that you are a person and not just a strident voice--that you have a sense of humor, that you have kids, that there is life beyond your cause. Otherwise, they just have this caricature of you in their mind of how you are and of how your organization is. Learning that reporters are regular people--interesting and wonderful--is all part of the mutual learning process that helps lead to respect and trust, so important in media relations.

Incidentally, the best type of market research you can do for your organization is to call up or take a reporter to lunch and ask him or her, “What are we doing wrong? What are we doing right? How can I do a better job of helping you do your job?” It is important to remember it is up to you to fit your world into theirs, not complain that they are not changing to fit your world.

Government-controlled media

If you are doing media relations in a country where the media is owned and controlled by the government, you must remember that he who owns the print and the press owns that thing. Recognizing this point, you have to determine what your purpose is. For example, if your purpose is to train youth, you have to decide whether to work with government, or even to inform them. You may decide to forget about going with the government-owned press and deciding to go with alternative media. However, in a small organization, the alternative might mean fliers stuck on car windows and up on shop windows advertising your project. If you do not want to deal with government-controlled media in this situation, you have a harder path to go. If there are things you can do to work with them, if you can find common ground that is not going to violate your principles, then work towards that common ground.

One approach would be to have a joint press conference with a representative from the government, especially if they have money going into a project, or they are making a facility available. Also, remember that reporters in this controlled media are restricted by state controls, they know the stories they write have to meet certain requirements or they will never be printed. To the extent you can give them what they need--a package deal, not just what they need straight from your organization-- you have solved the problem for him and the information goes out.

Another resource well worth the time invested is having a good website which serves as a great reference for reporters or anyone else interested in one’s organization. These are invaluable tools for NGOs and a great way for really getting your message out.

References

This article James Weidman