“Your Attention Please” Garnering Media Coverage for Your … · Mastering the Media Interview Print /Online –Interview Possibilities •Running of entire press release •Running

“Your Attention Please”Garnering Media Coverage for Your

Activities and Initiatives

Speaker:

Leza Raffel, President

www.comsolutions.com

Who is Really in Control When it Comes

to Media Interviews?

You Are!

Media Interview Possibilities

• TV

• Radio

• Print publication

• Electronic news site

• Taped vs. live

• Full interview vs. sound bite

• Prepared statement –no interview

Why the Media Seeks Interviews

• To educate the public

• To validate or dispute information

• To make their coverage more interesting

Why Agree to do Media Interviews?

• Educate the public, developers and lawmakers

• Demonstrate how personal actions can make a difference

• Support your fundraising goals

• Enhance the reputation of your organization

• Provide positive P.R. for your programs and initiatives

• Build attendance at special events

• Recruit more volunteers

• Clear up inaccuracies

• Respond to positive or negative current events

Picking a Topic• New program initiatives

• Unique special events or conferences

• Milestones or success stories

• Tie-ins with existing awareness campaigns

• Recent studies or reported trends

• Legislation in the news

A Media Interview is Not an Ad

You cannot control:

• If the story will run

• When the story will run

• Who else might be interviewed

• How little or how much of your interview is used

Picking the BEST Spokesperson

• Someone in a leadership role in your

organization, expert or a seasoned

volunteer

• He or she needs to be:

• Articulate

• Empathetic

• Engaging

• Not possessing obvious annoying habits

while speaking

• Willing and able to control the interview

Avoid the peril of having too many spokespeople!

Get to Know Your Media Market

•Publicity guides

•Special audience publications (homeowner association)

•Mainstream print media

•TV and radio stations

•Websites or blogs

•Editorial calendars

•Ethnic press

A Day in the Life of the Newsroom

•Today’s print reporters: overworked and underpaid

•Most are not trying to zing you

•What they need from you

And Now the Pitch!

The Press Release

Headline

5 W & How

Why Bother

Quotes

Background

Mastering the Media Interview

Print /Online – Interview Possibilities

• Running of entire press release

• Running a part of your press release

• Using your press release as a background for a bigger story

• Quotes from you within a reporter-written story

• Writing an article based on a new tip or another media outlet

Newspapers vs. Magazines

Mastering the Media Interview

•Educate the writer

•Understandable explanations

•On the record vs. off the record

•Offer photo-ops

•Be sensitive to deadlines

•Get your facts in order, than call back

Mastering the Media Interview

Print /Online – What Flops

• Inaccurate information…. with you as the source!

• Confusing explanations

• Dishonesty

• Comments which insult & offend others

• Not calling back

• Asking for a list of confirmed questions in order to agree to interview (It’s ok to ask about general nature of interview.)

Mastering the Media Interview

Radio – Interview Opportunities

•Public affairs interview

•News interview

•Public service announcement

•Podcast (web-based)

Mastering the Media Interview

Radio – What Works

• Breadth of information

• Engaging dialogue

• Clear, articulate voice

• Understandable explanations

• Strong sound bites

• Tips or pointers that stick

Mastering the Media Interview

•Long, awkward pauses

•One word responses

•Reading a script

•Saying “umm”

•Coughing & sneezing

• Confusing, technical answers

• Wrong information

• Jingling jewelry

• Gum chewing

• Insulting or offending your audience

Radio-What Flops

Mastering the Media Interview

Television – Interview Possibilities

• Public affairs interview

• Event coverage on news

• News interview

• Profile story

Mastering the Media Interview

Television – What Works

•Appropriate attire

•Eye contact with interviewer

•Understandable explanations

•Strong visuals in ideal setting

•Related footage

•Pauses for editing

•Confident delivery of information

Mastering the Media Interview

Television – What Flops

• Shifty eyes, not looking at reporter

• Awkward body movements

• Tapping, shifting, swinging arms, crossing arms

• Short, choppy sentences

• Reading a script

• Technical answers

• Bold patterns

• Big hair & jewelry

• Dirty or disturbing surroundings

• Background noise

Before the Interview

•Practice best outcomes

•Practice worst outcomes

•Get psyched! This is your chance to share your message!

Tips that Work for ALL Types of Interviews

• Be repetitive, but not robotic

• Say only what you want to say, then STOP!

• Don’t volunteer information unnecessarily

• You can call a “time-out” – it’s OK to pause

• If you don’t know, don’t speculate

• Be comfortable with silence

Handling the Difficult/Unrelated Question:Blocking and Bridging Techniques

• “I’m probably not the best person to answer that question, but what I can tell you is…”

• “It’s our policy not discuss those types of things, but I can tell you this…”

• “You’d have to ask them. But for us, what I can tell you is…”

• “Let me clarify. What we’re really talking about here is…”

• “I think what you’re really asking is…”

• “I would need to look into that in order to provide an accurate answer.”

Use blocking and bridging to get the question to your message

After the Interview When the Reporter Gets it Wrong

• Contact reporter directly

• Go to his/her editor

• Ask for clarification or correction

• Issue a statement or letter to

Editor

• Give stakeholders a heads-up

about the inaccuracy

Social Media – What Works

• Ideal for sharing photos, videos, updates

•Promote events

•Like and borrow from relevant newsfeeds

•Address the negative posts, don’t delete

Facebook

Social Media – What Works

•280 character limit

•At an event, tweet about it!

•Have something time-sensitive? Tweet about it!

•Use www.tinyurl.com to get your links shorter

Twitter

• Post photos and short videos regularly.

• Link posts to other social media accounts to save

time.

Social Media – What Works

Instagram

• Create a "story" to promote

live events, updates.

Bad News

Happens

Why You MUST Communicate Bad News

•The media will do the story with or without you

•To retain public trust

•To prevent rumors from flying

•To display empathy

•To clear up inaccuracies

•Bad news does not just go away

Bad News – 3 Forms

•Unforeseen/respond NOW bad news

•Strategically communicated bad news

•Good news turned bad

A Safe Approach

•Think before you speak

•A prepared statement is best

•Consider legal input

•Call the shots with the media

•Use your website wisely

Creating Long-term Relationships with the Media

The Advantages for Your Organization