MEDIA STRATEGY FOR ACTIVISTS

Looking to improve media coverage? Saul Chernos, a Toronto-based independent journalist, offers some tips to get you started:

Media Relations Strategy:

• Include media relations in your group's structure. Dedicate an individual or committee to this task.
• Be courteous to journalists. Find common ground and a bridge of understanding. Like many other workers, reporters are often overworked, underpaid, and harassed by management. And, like any profession, journalists have their own value and belief system. "Objectivity" is one example.
• To attract TV cameras, be loud, colourful, unique. Demonstrations are too commonplace and are not always considered newsworthy, especially on Saturday in a business district. Instead, demonstrate uniqueness. Be different and creative, yet maintain clarity and focus. Think visually, and use images that help the public relate to your cause.
• Write letters to the editor. Some newspapers pay for opinion pieces. Brevity and clarity are vital.
• Be a radio and TV call-in talk show regular. If the host isn't friendly to your ideas, appeal to the audience.
• Localize issues to your community. Provide a human or animal face whenever possible.
• Support trade publications and ethnic and community media, but don't neglect the mainstream. Those who reject or ignore mainstream media effectively cut themselves off from mainstream society and guarantee themselves obscurity.
• Meet with editorial boards and managers to discuss issues and coverage.
• Get to know reporters and editors. Communicate with sympathetic reporters. Thank reporters who do good stories. Meet for coffee. Maintain contact with journalists who show an interest, and ensure they receive regular mailings, newsletters and event notices.
• Know your facts and be able to back them up without delay. Avoid speculation.
• Don't tell reporters anything you don't want the world to know. Think before airing internal business or dirty laundry.
• Don't burn a journalist, especially one who's supportive.
• File all important news stories. Keep track of reporters who do a good job, but also remind the media when they get it wrong. Write letters to the editor, demand clarifications and corrections, and contact ombudspeople when appropriate. The Ontario Press Council and the Canadian Radio- Television and Telecommunications Commission handle certain complaints but approach them as a last resort.
• Survey new volunteers. Ask how they learned about your group.

News releases:

• Calling news releases "press releases" excludes broadcast journalists.
• One single-sided page is best. Add a "backgrounder" page or two for complex or under- reported issues. Brevity and focus are key.
• Make one main point, put it into the lead paragraph, and work the rest of the release from that main point.
• The lead paragraph should be one sentence, 25 words maximum. Assignment editors are busy and often read just a few words before either tossing the news release in the trash or assigning a reporter to cover the story.
• Keep news releases clean and neat. Paragraphs should be not exceed one or two sentences.
• Use letterhead with your group's name, postal address, fax number, e-mail address and Web site. Provide the name and contact information for two or three easily-reached representatives at the bottom of the page.
• Issue news releases several weeks before an event, then three or four days beforehand, the day beforehand, and within hours of the event concluding. When something happens, issue a news release IMMEDIATELY, with an opinion and/or factual statement. Don't wait for your group's next meeting - the timeliness of your reaction is critical. Establish a media committee to handle breaking news.
• In most cases, the best time to fax a news release is before 8 a.m. Monday to Friday. But check with each media outlet. Confirm receipt afterwards by telephone.
• Avoid jargon and cliches such as "corporate agenda" and "500 years of oppression" because the lay person won't necessarily appreciate what you mean. Use plain, everyday language.
• Place news releases in a separate domain on your Web site.

Fact Sheets and News Kits:

• Brevity is a virtue. Limit fact sheets to one page, double-sided. Make your point in the lead paragraph and work from that.
• News kits are an ideal way to present fact sheets, backgrounders, graphics, charts, diagrams, contact lists and maps.
• Avoid lengthy documents and reports, but include a list of available literature.
• NEVER charge the media for information.
• Put news kit materials in a folder with your group's name, postal address, phone number, e-mail address and Web site on the front.

Interviews:

• Say what you want to say in the least amount of time. A print reporter may interview you for 15 minutes and use only a sentence or two. With radio and TV, you may have only 15 seconds of actual air-time. Stick to your central point and stay focused. Don't babble. Practice what you plan to say ahead of time, say it, then shut your mouth.

New media:

• Two or more people in your group should be computer literate, able to send and receive electronic mail, access and design Web pages, and use internet news and discussion areas.
• Develop a critical understanding of how the mass media operate, and extend this to the "New Media".

Above all, have fun.

Saul Chernos is a Toronto-based independent journalist. He is available for public speaking and facilitation at workshops, seminars, forums and conferences.

Contact him at:
Saul Chernos 57 Berkeley Street Toronto, Ontario M5A 2W5
(416) 364-0725
schernos@torfree.net

Email us at: whisper@energy-net.org. Thanks!