Using the media
Using the media could help you get your message across to thousands of people!
- Campus or school papers and newsletters are an obvious outlet, and are often looking for something to fill their pages.
- Local media love stories about young people doing something unusual - and if you´ve got a good photo opportunity and a local angle (such as a meeting with your MP) they´ll be even more enthusiastic.
- If you think your story warrants it you could even approach the national media.
- You can post your own news on sites such as Indymedia, which provide an alternative to the mainstream media.
What you need to know
Contact details: An email address to send your story to and a phone number so you can follow it up.
Check deadlines: Find out by when they need stories. There is no point sending them news if it is too late for them to use it!
What makes your story ‘news’?
In most media, news stories are about current events, not situations. So the AIDS crisis isn’t ‘news’. What is your hook?
Linking your story into something else that’s happening - such as World AIDS Day or the launch of some new statistics, can help make it ‘news worthy’.
Stressing the local angle may be enough for your local media.
A stunt that’s imaginative, visual and relevant to your story will provide ‘reader interest’.
Send a news release
Send a news release out well in advance of the event, one just before, and one more afterwards.
Name Surname
Press Officer
mobile: 07123 456789
telephone: 01865 791927
email: people@peopleandplanet.org
NEWS RELEASE
Saturday, 31st January
For immediate release
Photo opportunity — crews welcome
Headline Catches Journalist´s Attention
The first paragraph outlines the whole story in brief. It has all the important detail - Who is doing what, when, where, why and how? It is current and relevant to the audience.
The second paragraph expands on the first, giving extra layers of information in decreasing order of importance.
“Stick in a short and punchy quote from a group spokesperson”, Name Surname, Org.
A third paragraph may not be necessary, but can give more detail or conclude. The press release should be structured so that if it was cut from the bottom, the main story would remain intact. [3]
ENDS
For more information please contact:
Name Surname,
Job Title/role, Organisation
mobile, phone, and/or email
Notes to Editors
- This is where you stick in all those crucial but boring statistics and references to United Nations reports etc.
- These notes can be put on a separate sheet.
- They can be made extra clear if you number each point, corresponding to references in the main text.
Finally, don´t forget to tell us what you get up to, so we can include it on the national website. Contribute your news at peopleandplanet.org/news/contribute/
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