Learn general principles for working with different types of media, including skills for creating and distributing effective communications to achieve your goals. Show
Everyone has seen organizations and agencies make a case for their cause on the television, newspaper and radio. We have all heard stories about how a media consultant has helped improve a political candidate's image by cleverly manipulating the press. There are many ways you can use the media to the benefit of your cause. This section introduces you to working with the media. What are the media and media advocacy?Media, which is the plural form of 'medium', are the forms of communication – television and radio; newspapers, magazines, and written materials (or "print media"), and, more often now, the Internet – used to spread or transmit information from a source (which can be a person, an organization, a business, an institution, a government agency, a policy maker, or another media outlet) to the general public. Advocacy means openly supporting a certain viewpoint or group of people. If you are an advocate for a specific cause, you work to persuade local, state, or federal governments or other entities to grant specific rights, make policy changes, provide money, or create new laws for the good of your cause. For example, if you have a child with a disability, you might advocate for the increased availability of medical services for handicapped children in your city. Media advocacy is the use of any form of media to help promote an organization's or a company's objectives or goals, which come from the group's vision and mission. For example, suppose you’re a media advocate for a non-profit agency working to reduce gang violence in your neighborhood. You would try to present neighborhood issues related to gang violence and the changes you want to make in such a way that you:
Media advocates, or the people who work to attract publicity for organizations and causes, know that the media can get a public or social policy message across to the largest audience possible in the least amount of time. As a media advocate, you can use the media to:
Why should you engage in media advocacy?The media have been shown to be a primary source of health information, but be careful! The media can be the best friend or worst enemy of health promotion and community development workers. Reporters’ backgrounds vary, and, as much as journalists try to be objective, they have biases like everyone else. In addition, they have to be quick studies: you may have 20 years of experience working with street gangs, and they may have none, but they have to try to learn everything you know in a day or two. They have to depend on the information they find or are given, and they’re going to get some things wrong. Journalists also try – rightly – to get all sides of the story. If you have opponents, they’re likely to speak to them as well as to you, and your opponents may be very persuasive. If you get on the wrong side of media people – treat them with disrespect, don’t tell them the truth, don’t keep appointments or return phone calls – they’ll probably be less sympathetic to you and your issue than if they like and respect you. Their stories will reflect that...or simply not appear at all. Despite the pitfalls, getting involved with the media can yield great benefits. Newspapers, television, and radio have access to different kinds of people and audiences. Your voice, and the voices of those you’re concerned with, can be made many times louder and more convincing through media attention. Some specific reasons for media advocacy are:
When should you focus on the media?You should always focus on the media when you are ready. Media coverage can be a two-way street and while good coverage can help your organization, your group should be prepared if the coverage is not what you expected. Good times to focus extra energy on the media include:
What does media advocacy involve?There are two ways to answer this question: one is by considering how you work with the media; the other is by examining what you might aim to accomplish through media advocacy. Working with the mediaEstablish personal relationships As we’ve mentioned, the first step in working with the media (the first step in working with anyone, in fact) is to establish personal contact with at least one of the people at any media outlet you’ll need to deal with. Having a personal contact means that there’s a specific person to talk to whenever you call or e-mail, and that you can develop a relationship with that person. Developing a relationship doesn’t necessarily mean starting a friendship – although that can happen – but rather establishing a working relationship that’s friendly and comfortable. That implies mutual respect and a willingness to help the other person. It also implies both the comfort to say “no” when you’re asked to do something that you can’t or that wouldn’t be appropriate for your organization, and the comfort to accept a “no” to your request without it damaging the relationship on either side. Having good working relationships with people in the media will make working with them easier and more pleasant for both of you. Give and you shall receive An important part of establishing and maintaining a relationship, and of working with the media in general, is giving media people what they need to do their jobs. That includes:
Ask for what you want, within reasonIf you have a good working relationship with the media, they’ll cover your stories, give you good publicity, and highlight your issue. If there’s a particular story you want written or aired, suggest it to your contacts and discuss it. Most media coverage is a win-win proposition: you and the media both gain. They’re looking for stories to present to the public, and you’re trying to get information out to the public. Your collaboration meets both your goals, and is good for the public as well, since it gives them information about an important community issue. The media can help not only with stories. You might want to start a letter-to-the-editor campaign to draw attention to a particular aspect of your work, to pending legislation, or to the plight of your participants. You may be able to arrange with the local paper to publish a letter a day (written by participants, for the most part) for a certain period. That may be accompanied by a series of interviews on local TV, or by investigative reporting (“Families have to choose between staying warm and eating.”).
Always be pleasant and respectfulYou’re much more likely to be treated well and to get what you want if you treat everyone you deal with – not only media people--with respect and good humor. That doesn’t mean that you have to ignore abuse, but rather that you’re far less likely to experience any if you don’t offer any reason for it. It also means that people are much happier to hear from you and return your calls and messages if they know that they’ll be talking to someone who won’t be abusing them.
Goals for working with the mediaAgenda setting Agenda setting is what you accomplish when you influence what the media covers (media agenda), what people talk about (public agenda), and what policy makers do during legislative session or in committee (policy or political agenda). To set an agenda:
Agenda setting helps you make connections with the media and the people who pay attention to them. It also sets the stage for your next trick, shaping the debate. Shaping the debate Shaping the debate is trying to change the way people talk about public health problems. Traditionally, the media tell an audience, "This is what the problem is"—informing the public about a problem – and "This is the solution" – usually summed up in a quick health message such as, "Just say no". The media's habit of giving tidbits of information about problems and then providing quick-fix solutions (e.g., "This is your brain... this is your brain on drugs... Any questions?”) can reinforce the idea that if a person has a health problem or is poor, it's her own fault. This kind of simplistic media picture often influences the general public to believe that complex problems have quick and easy solutions. Once you gain greater control over the way community health and development issues are reported by the media, then the community can work for improvements. Advancing a policy Advancing a policy is a way to use the media to put pressure on policy makers. But media coverage created by media advocates has to be built and backed up in such a way that decision makers feel or anticipate pressure from the people who elected them. This pressure, then, motivates policy makers to take action. Like setting a public agenda, this can take time. Just as with the public, you have to make sure that policy makers know the issue exists and understand its implications for them and their constituents. You also have to realize that the media alone won’t bring about policy change. Media pressure has to be combined with messages from constituents – whether through direct contact (e-mail, phone calls, letters), or through demonstrations, petitions, and other public forms of direct action. The media can help to get those messages flowing, but it won’t happen overnight. And even once legislators or other policy makers have heard the messages, change may take a while. You have to keep the pressure on until it can’t be ignored, and then continue to keep it on even after policy change has occurred, to make sure there’s no backsliding. Getting attentionThe primary methods used to public eye include:
So there are a lot of different ways to get the attention of the media and the general public. Which one is right for you? What you choose to use in your media campaign depends on what you want to say, who you want to say it, and who you want them to say it to. How do you set up a media campaign?A media advocacy campaign is similar to a political campaign in that the people who run it need to plan it out; they need to have specific strategies, or plans and tools, in mind before they take any action. As you gear up for a media advocacy campaign, you'll need to prepare yourself to do business with the media. It's your job as a media advocate to understand your organization's goals and to know how you want the media to help you advance those goals. Prepare your organizationDesignate a media coordinator or coordinating group. This person or group develops and implements media strategy, and acts as the bridge between the media and your organization or coalition. They should approve anything that’s destined for the media before it leaves the organization, to make sure that your message is consistent, and that no one is saying anything he (or the organization) will later regret. The media coordinator or a member of the coordinating group should also act as spokesperson with the media for the organization. She should be articulate and politically savvy, able to think quickly, and equipped with all the facts, statistics, and other information available about your issue and your organization or coalition. She should have an open manner, come across well on radio and TV, and be able to establish friendly relationships with media people. (That’s why press secretaries to politicians are often former media people themselves.) She’ll also need to be prepared to speak with media representatives at any time,using extra caution with words and language that can be manipulated.
Make sure that everyone in the organization understands both your media strategy and your message, so that if someone is approached unexpectedly by the media, he can answer questions consistently, and will know what he should say and what he shouldn’t. Identify your objectivesAsk yourself why you need to set up a media campaign in the first place. What is your organization missing? Is an advocacy campaign the best way to get it? What are you going to use the media for? Do you only want to inform the public of important facts or do you want to get community members involved in your issues? Do you want to change policies or create new ones? Do you want to expose your opponents? Do you want to build support for your goals and objectives? Clarifying why you want to work with the media will clarify what they can do for you...and what you can do for them. Select a target audienceAnyone who gets involved in public health and development issues can make a difference. But, because the people who live in one community can have many different opinions and preferences, you can't reach everyone with just one message. You will need to narrow your audience and decide whom you want to target. Whom do you want to reach? The general public? Policy makers? People who are undecided about your issues? People who don't know about your issues? People who are affected? Different populations respond to different kinds of messages – sometimes in subtle ways.
Make a planBecause media advocacy activities can be time and money-consuming, it's important to put your best foot forward when you begin a campaign. Carefully consider when you should start your campaign, who you will contact first, what issues you will tackle, how you will present them. What forms of media would you like to use? Television, print media (magazines, newspapers, newsletters, press releases, etc.), websites, blogs, podcasts, e-mail, radio, billboards, public service announcements, news stories, feature stories? Be flexibleEven though you put a lot of thought into your media advocacy plan, be prepared to change your plans and goals if necessary. Remember, the news in our world can change in the blink of an eye,and you need to be ready to react to an opportunity. When the political or financial climate shifts, are your goals still feasible for your organization? Do you want to continue to send the same media message, or will you reframe it? Should you use other media outlets, rather than those you’ve been using? Keep your ear to the groundWhat do people talk about these days, in your community and nation-wide? What can polls and surveys tell you about the hot topics they talk about? How much do people know about your issues? What kinds of misconceptions or prejudices can you find in public opinion? Knowing the answers to questions like these can tell you what your media campaign should focus on, and how you should frame your message to get the greatest impact. Keep at it indefinitelyMedia campaigns never really end. Once you’ve achieved your immediate goals, you have to maintain them, and you’ll have other goals to work toward as well. Sustaining your relationships with the media and continuing to get coverage of the issues you’re concerned with are necessary if you’re in this work for the long run. Online Resources CDC Media Advocacy is a comprehensive guide for media advocates provided by the Centers for Disease Control. Early Childhood Advocacy Toolkit provides resources on framing your message and communicating with the media as well as policy makers and elected officials. Media Advocacy Manual. This manual provided by the American Public Health Association offers information on connecting with the media through newspapers, internet, radio, television, and magazines. Media Advocacy 101 is a website provided by the Berkley Media Studies Group that includes an hour-long keynote address by Lori Dorfman about the approach of media advocacy. Media Advocacy Guide is a guide provided by the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists. Media Communication Tip Sheet provides tips on contributing to the local news, tailoring language and style for the media, developing messages to reach the public, and evaluating media coverage. Media Advocacy Basicsis a mini-guide for hospice advocates and professionals. News Media: A Different Kind of Advocacy is an excellent guide from the National Association of Foreign Student Advisors for working with the media. Using Print Media as Advocacy is an article titled, “How to Write a Letter to the Editor,” with tips on effective communication with the media. Working Upstream: Skills for Social Change - a resource guide for developing a course on advocacy for public health. Worksheet: Answering hard questions, from the Berkeley Media Studies Group, helps you practice your responses, anticipating your opposition’s arguments and preparing for hard questions, whether they’re from a news reporter, your target decisionmaker(s), or even a community member who could one day become an ally. Print Resources Altman, D., Balcazar, F., Fawcett, S., Seekins, T., & Young, J. (1994). Public health advocacy: creating community change to improve health. Palo Alto: Stanford Center for Research in Disease Prevention. Goldman, K., & Zasloff, K. (1994, December). Tools of the Trade: Media do's and don'ts. SOPHE News & Views, 6 - 7. National Cancer Institute. (1988). Media strategies for smoking control: Guidelines. Bethesda, MD: Author. Pertschuk, M., & Wilbur, P. (1991). Media advocacy: Reframing public debate. Washington: The Benton Foundation. Wallack, L., Dorfman, L., Jerniagan, D., & Themba, M. (1993). Media advocacy and public health: Power for prevention. Newbury Park: Sage Publications. Wallack, L., Woodruff, K., Dorfman, L., Diaz, I. (1999). News for a Change: An Advocate’s Guide to Working with the Media. SAGE Publications, 1st edition. This book provides step-by-step instructions for working with the media to promote social change. Why is it important for a professional sports organization to develop relationships with the media?Foster relationships between Organizations and the Public
Strong media relationships are important in Sports PR because they help convey understanding, acceptance and communication between the public and the sports organizations, athletes, or leagues.
What information is usually contained in a database about competitors?SEM Unit 2, 2.03-2.06. Which mobile advertising strategies have been most successful?3.0- 3.8. Which of the following is a company focused pricing objective for sport event products?Gauge Your Prices Test - PI7 - Review. |