Media Relations Checklist
Bob DeWitt
Director of Marketing & Communications
Greater Pittsburgh Council
- Newspapers, magazines, radio and TV stations, and Web sites constantly need good stories. Make sure yours is compelling.
- Position your story; find the most interesting angle.
- Ask yourself, "What does this story mean beyond my organization? What's the impact in the community?" In other words, who cares, and why?
- Understand the customer's (the media's) needs. They want interesting stories that impact and/or interest a majority of their readers/viewers/listeners. They also need interviews and information quickly to meet deadlines. Help meet their needs and you'll both win.
- Find out which reporters cover your beat (issue) and get your story idea to them personally. Editors get many news releases; yours may get lost.
- The best way to tell a story is to put a face on it. Don't just outline the issue; share a success story of a real person affected by your story.
- Consider the timing of your ideas. Mondays are usually slow. But breaking news could bump your story from that day's news. Remember, holidays are usually slow times for reporters and they're often looking for stories.
- Know the best time to hold a news conference. For print and radio it's midmorning to early afternoon. For TV it's usually late morning.
- Prepare a fact sheet on your organization listing your key people, programs, and accomplishments, and get them to the right media sources.
- Don't bury the media in unimportant news releases and news conferences. After a while, they'll start to tune them out.
- Consider the best medium to tell your story. If it requires detail, think print. If it's simple (or breaking news), go with radio. If it has good visuals, use TV. If it's really big, use all three. And don't forget about the Internet.
- Decide who is the best person in your organization to be the contact person with the media, and make sure they're always accessible.
- Reporters need a variety of credible sources. Position the key people in your organization as resources in their fields and get their names and numbers to the right reporters. That way they'll be quoted, even when you're not issuing a news release or calling a news conference.
- Be proactive. If you see a national story on a key issue, localize it by showing the media how your agency is having an impact on that issue.
- It's not always a good idea to hold stories for one particular news organization. Some editors believe if it's a good story, every media outlet should have a crack at it. Besides, holding the story just for them doesn't guarantee they'll use it, and you may be viewed as pressuring them.
- If your story is reported inaccurately or your message gets lost by the media, don't lose your cool. First find out why it happened; where did communication break down? Then make sure it doesn't happen again.
- Three top fears of newsmakers: losing control of the message, being taken advantage of by the media, and getting it wrong. Solution: keep the interview or news release/event simple and make sure the reporter understands what you're trying to say. Contrary to perceptions, most reporters are fair and strive to be accurate.
- Don't assume a reporter knows nothing about your issue or agency, and don't assume the reporter knows a lot. Ask: "Are you clear? Do you have enough information?"
- When the interview is over, it's over. Don't keep talking to the reporter and reveal either too much information or the wrong information.
- Make sure your organization "gets credit" in the media, but just as important, make sure YOU get credit with your bosses by logging and routing all stories you get on the air and in print. Use a video-monitoring and/or news-clipping service.