Difference between revisions of "Building Personal Relations with the Media"
From NGO Handbook
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==Competing trends== | ==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 | + | 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. 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. | 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== | + | ==Reaching out: The example of the Heritage Foundation== |
| − | At the Heritage Foundation, which is a public policy research organization, | + | At the Heritage Foundation, which is a public policy research organization, there is a media relations staff of about ten people, of which three work full-time only meeting and getting to know reporters and pitching their story. There are another three people who are writers, but are also responsible for getting to know reporters. The Heritage Foundation does 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 at the Heritage Foundation 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, | + | Since it is important to go to where the media are, members of the Heritage foundation 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. | 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 | + | 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 the cold winter. He would go to Miami or Houston in the midst of their hot 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== | ==The information gatekeepers== | ||
Revision as of 08:40, 1 October 2008
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, and 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. This article provides an overview of how to market your ideas to the media.
To read the rest of the article, please log in using your WANGO membership username and password (using the log in at the top, right-hand corner of the page). Not a WANGO member, but would like full access to the articles in the NGO Handbook? Join WANGO (http://www.wango.org/join.aspx) as an organization or individual member or purchase a year subscription for $30.
