Here's the media relations 101 primer that will lead off the 2013 Media Relations Summer Camp at The Hamilton Spectator for 22 nonprofits & community groups from Hamilton, Ontario. PR pros will help campers polish, practice & then pitch story ideas to a panel of editors and reporters. The best pitches from past camps have wound up in print. Launched in 2008, the camp is offered free of charge as a thank you to dedicated community builders.
2. Why we’re here
To help you:
• Pitch better stories to the media
• Get more media coverage
• Move the yardsticks on your
organization’s goals
3. What we’ll do
• Media relations 101
• Polish, practice & then pitch a story idea
• Plus primers on:
– Writing letters to the editor & op-eds
– Getting in front of the camera
– Getting onto social media
4. The good news payoff
• Stand out from the crowd
• Thank your donors, funders, volunteers & staff
• Raise your profile & enhance your reputation
• Build your trust & forgiveness account
10. Yes, these are worthwhile events
for fundraising, friendraising and recognition.
Just don’t hold your breathe for media coverage.
11. Hail Mary panic pitches
No one’s buying tickets to
our FILL IN THE BLANK!!!
We need free publicity ASAP!!!
If we don’t get new funding
and more donations, our doors
will close forever!!!
12. Do you really want to be known for
big scissors, big cheques, big holes in
the ground, rubber chickens and
precarious finances?
12
17. "People are not very interested in talks
about organizations.
Ideas & stories fascinate us;
organizations bore us.”
"Don't boast about your company; rather,
tell us about the problem you're solving."
-- Chris Anderson
22. Make it newsworthy
• Are you doing something new? Innovative?
• First in our community? First anywhere?
• Are you the best at what you’re doing?
• Solving a problem? Creating an opportunity?
• Informative / interesting / entertaining?
• Story hasn’t been told yet?
26. The best stories - the one’s we read,
watch & listen to, talk about, share
and remember - are all about people.
Ordinary people in
extraordinary situations.
27. It’s not about the ribbons you cut.
The ground you break.
The cheques you get.
Or the events you run.
It’s all about the people you serve
and whose lives you transform.
28. Find your poster child
• Who can be the face & heart of your
organization for this story?
• One person with a compelling story –
a life transformed because of you
• Someone we can relate to and root for
• Enlist, don’t conscript
• Authentic, not rehearsed
30. Pitch your poster child
• Tell your poster child’s story in
2-3 sentences
• Link to the program, project, event or
announcement you want to profile
• Spokesperson for your organization
• 1 sentence boilerplate about your
organization (with a focus on the problem
you solve)
• Contact info
34. 34
The subject
line is your
headline.
Make it clear,
concise and
compelling.Max. of 4-5 sentences in the
body of your email.
Get to the point.
End with contact info
(work & cell #s, weekend #)
Should take 30 seconds or less to read.
36. • Poster child + spokesperson lined up
for interviews
• Available for interviews any time
• Complete contact info
• 2-3 supporting facts & stats
• Highlight potential places for interviews,
photos and video
Make it as easy as possible for the
reporter to tell your story
38. Reporters are always looking experts to help:
• Localize stories
• Provide comment, analysis and background
• Simplify complexity
• Add colour with great quotes
Be a resident expert
39. Credible, reliable & trustworthy…passionate…
knowledgeable…enjoy working with the
media…speak in soundbites…24/7 availability
Qualifications
41. More ways to raise your profile
• Stand and deliver: give
speeches & talk on panels
• Submit letters to the editor
and op-eds
• Win awards
• Follow up with reporters when
they file stories that are in your
wheelhouse
42. Newsjacking
Inject your idea and parachute your
organization into breaking news
Add to the narrative with a
new dimension / perspective
43. • Monitor the media
• Need to be fast – respond in real time
• Post on social media (reporters will be there
doing keyword searches)
• Contact reporter directly
• Use your judgment – always in good taste
and never opportunistic
Newsjacking
44. Pester the reporter.
Pitch & vanish.
Promise what you can’t deliver.
Ask to review & approve the story.
Ask the reporter to send you a copy of the
story.
5 cardinal sins of media relations
46. Jane Allison
Manager of Community
Partnerships
The Hamilton Spectator
jallison@thespec.com
Jay Robb
Director of
Communications
Mohawk College
jay.robb@mohawkcollege.ca