Non Profit Organization Resource Center
Tips and Tactics for Working with the Media
1. Understanding the news business
- The single most important factor in working with reporters is your personal working
relationship.
- The news media is not your public relations department.
- Know the difference between "news" and "entertainment" coverage.
- The news business wants news!!
- Don't ask to see a story before it is printed.
- Plan around the news media's slow days-the best time to generate coverage is on a
Monday or a Tuesday. The most difficult day is Friday.
- Know news deadlines for publications.
- Think visually for television.
- Think sound bites for radio
2. Strategies and Tactics
- Anticipate stories. Come up with a local angle on State and National stories.
- Be sure to send a News Release or Media Advisory to the Assignment Editors. Reporters
do not make the decisions about what is printed or aired.
- Always have a mom with her kids and a story. For example: if you are holding a News
Conference about the child support agency holding checks; have a mom that is
experiencing this problem ready to talk to the media.
- If you are holding a news conference, prepare a written statement and use it!
- Have an ACES media packet to give to the reporters. The media packet should include
an ACES History, ACES Purpose, Child Support Facts and a copy of your statement.
3. Checklist for successful publicity
- Be timely. Old news is no news. Tell reporters when an event will happen before it
happens!! Nonpayment of child support is an "evergreen" story - the problem is always
there so you need to come up with a new angle or event to make it interesting.
- Be realistic. Understand what is news. Do not loose your credibility by trying to get
coverage for events that are not newsworthy.
- Be prepared.
- Be in control. The media naturally has final say in what is published or broadcast, but
you still can exercise control.
- Be memorable. Try to say something in your message that the reporter will use and that
people will remember.
- News is in the eye of the assignment editors!! Nothing guarantees media coverage. You
are always competing with other events and happenings in your community!!
- Offer perspective about how your subject fits into the scheme of things in addition to
providing the usual who, what, when, where, why and how.
- Check spelling, grammar and facts at least one more time on all releases.
- Remember what gets used depends on what else is available.
GETTING THE MOST OUT OF A NEWS RELEASE
OR MEDIA ADVISORY
A News Release is used to announce an actual event. A
Media Advisory is an announcement about something happening with your opinion about
what is happening included. For example: you would use a Media Advisory to let the media
know about the State Office of Children Services being penalized for failing to comply with federal laws.
ALL NEWS RELEASES MUST:
- Be called, "News Release"! Do not call it a "Press Release"! Television and Radio are
not the Press. The term "Press Release" is used for newspapers only!!
- Be newsworthy
- Be written on letterhead.
- Include your name, title and local phone number at the top.
- B marked for immediate release or marked for a future date
- Have a headline to get the media's attention.
- Answer the 5 W's: who, what, where, when and why, in the first paragraph. Make sure
you put in the date, time and address of your event. Additional paragraphs go into more
detail and explain more about the 5 W's.
- Be brief, to the point and clear. Do not use the passive voice.
- Be proofread.
- Be sent in a timely fashion. If you have access to a fax machine, this is the best way to
send the release and should be done a day before the event. Send the release one week
in advance if you use the mail.
ALL MEDIA ADVISORIES MUST:
- Be newsworthy
- Be written on letterhead.
- Include your name, title and local phone number at the top.
- Have a headline to get the media's attention.
- Answer the 5 W's: who, what, where, when and why, in the first paragraph. Additional
paragraphs go into more detail and explain more about the 5 W's.
- Be brief, to the point and clear. Do not use the passive voice.
SAMPLE
NEWS
RELEASE
For Immediate Release (date)
For Further Information
Contact: (name, phone number)
May 3 is National Teacher Day. Thank a teacher for making public schools great!
Teachers in (name of town or district) and in communities across the nation will be in the spotlight on Tuesday, May 3, as students, parents, school administrators and the general public learn how teachers are making Great Public Schools for every child.
"Few other professionals touch as many people as teachers do," notes (full name), president of the (name of local education association or other sponsoring group). "National Teacher Day is a good time to learn about the contributions educators make to our community everyday. We recognize we are role models. That brings satisfaction. It also brings responsibility. We want to take it to the next step.
“We believe we all have to work together to make our schools even better,” said ___. “That means everyone in the community. Parents, business owners, retirees, other workers, local government, and yes students. Public schools are at the heart of any community. When there are problems, we address them. When there are kudos, we share them.
“Community involvement brings learning to life,” __said. “This is an opportunity for all of us to reach out to each other. I ask the community to learn about how we advocate for high standards for students, fair and meaningful evaluations of their work, and resources that go directly to the classroom. Better than an apple or a thank you card, a community’s active support of the work we mutually do to teach and care for the community’s students would be ample reward for all of us.”
Visit www.nea.org and www.nea.org/teacherday to learn more about the issues educators are facing as they do their work and meet the requirements of many laws and regulations. Go to http://www.nea.org/goodnews/index.html to learn about some of the good things happening in our schools academically.
Among the local events planned for May 3: (list Teacher Day events, times, places here--in bulleted form)
Groups and individuals interested in helping develop these or other activities for National Teacher Day may contact (name) at (phone/address).
The [name of local NEA affiliate] is a professional employee organization and is committed to advancing the cause of public education. The [number] members work in the community at every level of education, from pre-school through high school.
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