Here's the media relations 101 primer that will lead off the 2013 Media Relations Summer Camp at The Hamilton Spectator for 22 nonprofits & community groups from Hamilton, Ontario. PR pros will help campers polish, practice & then pitch story ideas to a panel of editors and reporters. The best pitches from past camps have wound up in print. Launched in 2008, the camp is offered free of charge as a thank you to dedicated community builders.

1. Media Relations Summer Camp
June 25 & 27 at The Hamilton Spectator
2013

2. Why we’re here
To help you:
• Pitch better stories to the media
• Get more media coverage
• Move the yardsticks on your
organization’s goals

3. What we’ll do
• Media relations 101
• Polish, practice & then pitch a story idea
• Plus primers on:
– Writing letters to the editor & op-eds
– Getting in front of the camera
– Getting onto social media

4. The good news payoff
• Stand out from the crowd
• Thank your donors, funders, volunteers & staff
• Raise your profile & enhance your reputation
• Build your trust & forgiveness account

5. We’re pitching the wrong stories

6. Grip & grins with giant cheques

7. Ribbon cuttings with giant scissors

8. Breaking ground with shiny shovels

9. Golf tournaments
Fundraisers
Rubber chicken galas
AGMs

10. Yes, these are worthwhile events
for fundraising, friendraising and recognition.
Just don’t hold your breathe for media coverage.

11. Hail Mary panic pitches
No one’s buying tickets to
our FILL IN THE BLANK!!!
We need free publicity ASAP!!!
If we don’t get new funding
and more donations, our doors
will close forever!!!

12. Do you really want to be known for
big scissors, big cheques, big holes in
the ground, rubber chickens and
precarious finances?
12

13. 13
Worthy? Definitely.
Newsworthy? Not so much.

14. The good news….
you have much better stories
to pitch to the media.

15. You’re in the solutions business.

16. And you’re making this
an even better place to call home.

17. "People are not very interested in talks
about organizations.
Ideas & stories fascinate us;
organizations bore us.”
"Don't boast about your company; rather,
tell us about the problem you're solving."
-- Chris Anderson

18. The very first question
you will always be asked.

19. Why should I care?
Why should our readers care?
Why should our viewers care?
Why should our listeners care?

20. 2nd question:
And why now?
How is this timely?

21. The better your answers,
the stronger your news hook.

22. Make it newsworthy
• Are you doing something new? Innovative?
• First in our community? First anywhere?
• Are you the best at what you’re doing?
• Solving a problem? Creating an opportunity?
• Informative / interesting / entertaining?
• Story hasn’t been told yet?

24. 3 ways to get more & better
media coverage

25. find your poster child

26. The best stories - the one’s we read,
watch & listen to, talk about, share
and remember - are all about people.
Ordinary people in
extraordinary situations.

27. It’s not about the ribbons you cut.
The ground you break.
The cheques you get.
Or the events you run.
It’s all about the people you serve
and whose lives you transform.

28. Find your poster child
• Who can be the face & heart of your
organization for this story?
• One person with a compelling story –
a life transformed because of you
• Someone we can relate to and root for
• Enlist, don’t conscript
• Authentic, not rehearsed

29. Client
Patient
Customer
Volunteer
Staffer
Board member
Donor or funder
Funder

30. Pitch your poster child
• Tell your poster child’s story in
2-3 sentences
• Link to the program, project, event or
announcement you want to profile
• Spokesperson for your organization
• 1 sentence boilerplate about your
organization (with a focus on the problem
you solve)
• Contact info

31. Pitch to the right one reporter

32. Coverage in one media outlet
can lead to coverage in others

33. 33
Email your pitch

34. 34
The subject
line is your
headline.
Make it clear,
concise and
compelling.Max. of 4-5 sentences in the
body of your email.
Get to the point.
End with contact info
(work & cell #s, weekend #)
Should take 30 seconds or less to read.

35. Long emails send up red flags

36. • Poster child + spokesperson lined up
for interviews
• Available for interviews any time
• Complete contact info
• 2-3 supporting facts & stats
• Highlight potential places for interviews,
photos and video
Make it as easy as possible for the
reporter to tell your story

37. Follow up with a quick thanks
37

38. Reporters are always looking experts to help:
• Localize stories
• Provide comment, analysis and background
• Simplify complexity
• Add colour with great quotes
Be a resident expert

39. Credible, reliable & trustworthy…passionate…
knowledgeable…enjoy working with the
media…speak in soundbites…24/7 availability
Qualifications

40. Get on some of these

41. More ways to raise your profile
• Stand and deliver: give
speeches & talk on panels
• Submit letters to the editor
and op-eds
• Win awards
• Follow up with reporters when
they file stories that are in your
wheelhouse

42. Newsjacking
Inject your idea and parachute your
organization into breaking news
Add to the narrative with a
new dimension / perspective

43. • Monitor the media
• Need to be fast – respond in real time
• Post on social media (reporters will be there
doing keyword searches)
• Contact reporter directly
• Use your judgment – always in good taste
and never opportunistic
Newsjacking

44. Pester the reporter.
Pitch & vanish.
Promise what you can’t deliver.
Ask to review & approve the story.
Ask the reporter to send you a copy of the
story.
5 cardinal sins of media relations

45. Worth a read
Newsjacking by David Meerman Scott
The Media Training Bible by Brad Phillips

46. Jane Allison
Manager of Community
Partnerships
The Hamilton Spectator
jallison@thespec.com
Jay Robb
Director of
Communications
Mohawk College
jay.robb@mohawkcollege.ca