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CLASS Grants: Working with The Media

Working with the media to get news coverage of your event can be tricky. Here are a few tips:

Reporters

• If a reporter calls you and you don't know the answer, say so. If you have the time, volunteer to check it out and get back to the reporter. Be sure to follow through promptly on your commitment.
  
  
• You don't need to answer every question posed. The idea is to tell your story. Try to answer questions that you feel are off-target by redirecting your reply. Watch successful people on television for redirection techniques.
  
  
• With electronic media, answer with the point you want the audience to remember. Make every answer count.

Newspapers

• Know the daily and weekly deadlines of the newspapers you work with. Give reporters with as much lead time as possible before deadlines. Do not call them when they're on deadline.
  
  
• After a story has appeared in print, remember to thank or congratulate the reporter for a job well done, if that's the case. Or, write a letter to the editor. Your compliments may be the only praise the reporter receives.
  
  
• If the story contains misinformation that you feel needs correcting, tactfully bring this to the attention of the reporter. Do not go directly to the editor.

Radio

• Radio is a medium that depends entirely on what is heard rather than what is seen and you must tailor your comments accordingly. While the information supplied to radio may be very similar to information you supply to newspapers and television, it should be packaged differently.
  
  
• Your message in radio interviews needs to be brief, to the point, and pleasing to the ear. In most cases, radio will give the average story only a 20-second or 30-second play. Your comments must be short enough to fit within a larger story.
  
  
• If you prepare a news item to give to a radio station, practice it before you call them and know how long it takes to read (30 seconds, 45 seconds, less than a minute).
  
  
• Ask to speak to the newsroom or the news department when you call. At most small stations the disk jockey fills this position.

Television

• Television is an excellent, immediate, and reliable means of communication. Television reporters want you to get to the point quickly. Remember, you'll probably only have 10 seconds on camera!
  
  
• Television is visual. If you know in advance that you will be on TV, dress in muted colors. Make sure your appearance doesn't detract from what you have to say.