Making Friends with the Media: How

How to Make Friends with the Media

Make Personal Contact

The first step is to make direct contact with each of the media channels you intend to use. That obligation should belong to your media coordinator, the individual or group in your organization in charge of interacting with the media. The ideal situation is to be introduced or referred to a certain individual by a common friend or acquaintance. If that is not possible, you can begin by requesting (by name) a reporter who writes or broadcasts about subjects relevant to your work. Your contact does not have to be a journalist. She could be an editor, producer, or director, or she could be a researcher or clerical worker at the media organization. That person will most likely be able to put you in touch with the people you wish to collaborate with.

Establishing Trust

Media representatives must trust that what you tell them is true, or at least true to the best of your knowledge. They can't risk their reputations on inaccurate articles or facts that haven't been thoroughly vetted. By the same token, you must be certain that what you say will be appropriately interpreted and that you will be cited correctly and in the relevant context.

Some basic rules for establishing this type of trust are as follows:

• Make yourself available when needed. Respond when your media contacts call. If you are unable to react quickly, please respond as soon as possible.

• Keep an open mind. Be as open and generous with information as you can without jeopardizing yourself or your organization.

• Be dependable. Always tell the truth in front of the media. If you can't tell the truth because it would cause a major problem or because the timing is off, simply refuse to remark, but don't lie. If you lie, you will most likely face two problems: first, the truth will eventually come out, and you will look much worse than if you had been honest in the first place; and second, you will have violated your relationship with your media contact, who will feel she can no longer trust you...and she will be right.

• Be precise. Before making a statement, make sure you have all of the facts. If you don't know the answer to a question, vow to find out and get back to the reporter - and then do so. If you use statistics, be sure they are reliable and irrefutable. If your information is regularly correct, the media will look to you as a source of information on your topic. You won't have to contact them; they will contact you. If you make a mistake, fix it as soon as possible. Otherwise, the media, your opponents (if you have any), or both will latch onto it and make you appear awful.

• Inform the media about articles about your subject that they might be interested in. These could be human interest stories, accolades or funds given to your group, information about the issue itself (such as a national program or new statistics), or local or national events (an open house or fundraising concert, a national day devoted to the issue.)

Give the Media What They Need

A effective media advocacy campaign requires solid contacts with news people. If reporters and editors recognize you as a dependable source of information (i.e., someone who makes their jobs simpler), your chances of obtaining favorable, well-placed coverage will grow. Here are some pointers to help you become a trustworthy source:

• Be well-informed. Read newspapers, watch television news, and listen to radio broadcasts. Keep up with current happenings that affect your company. Make sure your sources are trustworthy, and have as many information and numbers as possible at your disposal. If the media asks you a question that you can't answer, offer to find out the answer...and then do it. Don't exaggerate or make things up; in order to be a trustworthy source, you must always be accurate.

• Make the most of your knowledge. Use the information you've gathered about local media to tailor your story to the style and needs of each channel.

• Prepare press kits. A press kit includes background information about your company, its accomplishments, and current projects. This information can be distributed quickly in order to keep up with today's fast-paced media coverage.

• Send information packages to local media outlets. Send press kits to local journalists when you have a story you want covered. Make sure to include footnotes for all of the facts in such a package.

• Follow up with a phone call. Following the distribution of press kits, contact your chosen media contacts to underscore the importance of your story, such as by emphasizing how many people are touched by this issue or displaying the future ramifications of the scenario. Offer to answer any questions that may arise.

Understanding Who You are Working With

It's critical to consider which media outlets you want to approach, when you should contact them, and what you can both do for each other. You must understand what each source does and who their target audience is.

• Investigate and evaluate the media's content. Which reporters and media outlets are interested in your area of expertise? Maintain a chart or record of who provides the finest coverage. Take note of the kind of items published by local media. Who provides comprehensive coverage of the issues that are important to you? Which journalists should you concentrate your efforts on? What are the biases of each source, if any?  Though the media is ostensibly unbiased in its reporting (that is, it does not "take sides"), reporters, publishers, editors, and program directors all have political viewpoints. These viewpoints may influence what is covered, how much attention is paid to the topic, and how it is portrayed.

• Pay attention to the advertisements. Discover which businesses advertise with a specific media channel. When you know who advertises in a media outlet, you may determine how broad or narrow its audience is.

Understand What Makes a Story Important to The Audiences

To gain media support, you must first persuade them that their customers want to hear what you have to say. This is not a simple task! Readers will evaluate a piece of news based on its accuracy, interest, and overall significance, using the following criteria:

• The credibility or social or professional standing of a reporter's source of information How effectively readers can personally relate to a specific story

• How closely a story's information agrees with other sources reporting on the same topic.

• How important readers believe a specific issue is to them

• The strength of each of these characteristics influences how long an issue remains in the news and how much media coverage it receives. Of course, some news stories die naturally because no one is interested in them.

Be Pleasant and Respectful at all Times

Keep in mind that you're dealing with people. They respond to the same things you do: being well-treated, kind words, 'thank-you's, and recognition for good work. They, like you, have good and bad days based on what's going on in their lives. If you're consistently kind, they'll be delighted to see you and will go out of their way to assist you. Furthermore, they will be kind to you, and you will be pleased to see and work with them. If you handle your media contacts the way you'd like to be treated if you were in their situation, you could be surprised at the results. 

Work to Maintain Relationships

Relationships, like plants, need to be cultivated on a regular basis or they will die. You may want to build a relationship with a reporter for a specific reason, such as a one-time effort or a financial request. Don't let that relationship wither when it's over. You never know when you'll need each other again. You can continue to be an information source, and the writer can stay up to date on your organization's operations so that he knows when something newsworthy happens.

Furthermore, life is considerably richer and more enjoyable when it contains a diverse range of people. People in the media have interesting occupations and fantastic stories. Maintaining interactions with them can only benefit not only your professional but also your personal life.