California Arts Advocates -Media Tools You Can Use

Media Tools You Can Use

Media Links

Working With Local Media

Working through your local media outlets is an effective advocacy tool to create action among your constituents and begin a public dialogue on the issues.

Here are some general tips about working with your local media, as well as ways to work strategically and creatively to get results.

The steps are simple:

1) Make sure your media contact list is current and accurate. A fax, email or phone call to the wrong name, or worse, without a name, will wind up in the trash.

2) Designate one spokesperson from your organization and provide the media with that name and contact number (including after hours contact info!)

3) Prepare pre-approved talking points for your spokesperson and Q & A's.

4) Provide accurate contact names and numbers for spokespeople at other organizations who might also have a message to share and alert/train them in advance. All spokespeople should present a consistent message.

5) Include a Call to Action! What do you want the general public to do when they learn about this through the media coverage you worked so hard to get?

6) And, lastly, while we all feel passionately about the arts, when speaking with politicians, journalists or the public, it is important to remember that our talking points need to be concise, accurate, filled with factual information rather than overloaded with emotions and/or anecdotes, and delivered with business-like efficiency. It's important that we speak to these individuals using their language in a manner that speaks to them personally and one that they can understand. (i.e. don't write CAC when you mean California Arts Council.)

Media Tools You Can Use

The Press Release:
This is the standard tool for getting information to the media. The classic who, what, when and why of the story. Why should the story matter to their readers and why is it important for them to cover it.

The best thing to do with your release is to keep it simple. If your local newspaper is small, there is a good chance it may be printed word for word. More often, however, it is used as a starting point for a broader story.

Keep it short and to the point. Limit it to one page, front and back.
Include local examples of how these cuts affect your community.
Assume the reporter knows little, if anything at all, about your organization and this issue.
Provide a timeframe. Why is this important now?
Include a boilerplate at the end to identify your organization, a brief sentence or two explaining who you are and what you do.
Include a contact name and number!!

Editorials
Another way to get your message out is to get editorial support from the local media. The publisher or managing editor decides the positions that a small newspaper takes. A group from the editorial staff decides editorial positions in larger newspapers. Get a meeting with your local editor or editorial board to let them know about this pressing issue. Bring your spokesperson! Be prepared to stress from a local perspective why public funding for the arts is important and deserves their support using facts, anecdotes, and other details.

If the paper runs a favorable editorial, make copies and distribute to your local elected and appointed officials, and others who may have a vested interest in the arts.

Op-Eds/Letters to the Editor:
Another option is to submit your own commentary. This allows you to make your points exactly as you want to. When writing an op-ed, it is important to decide who would be the most influential, credible and noteworthy "author." Often these are ghostwritten by staff, but signed by decision makers. Again include information, anecdotes and statistics of local significance.

The Media Event (for TV):
Television is a visual medium and stories must be pitched with the visual imagery in mind. Television stations want more than talking heads. Invite them visit an actual arts organization that is in danger of having their funding cut. Show the faces of the children who are benefiting. If no such programs are scheduled, create one! Pitches should be directed to the Assignment Editor with a follow-up phone call.

Radio News:
Getting coverage on the radio is sometimes easier than television because many stations are capable of doing the interviews over the phone. The time allotted for telling the story is much shorter here and your spokesperson should be prepared with short 30-second "sound bites" that present your message and call to action. Your local public radio station will probably be the most likely to be sympathetic to your message and their listeners are the most likely to be driven to action.

Radio Talk Shows:
Each community has numerous radio programs with opportunities for guests. This requires a well-trained spokesperson, however, who is capable of speaking off the cuff and can handle unfriendly callers or hosts.