Highlights of mass media coverage in 2014 generated by Brighton & Hove City Council's media relations team covering 'people' stories. We target mass media coverage ideally regional TV and radio as well as national magazines to spread important messages that directly affect residents. We also work to improve the reputation of Brighton & Hove City Council. The People team covers education, housing, public health, adult services as well as sports and the Register office. Where possible we use real life stories to trigger bigger coverage as well as digital and social media to engage directly with the city's residents as well as key opinion formers.

1. People team 2014
highlights

2. Focus on high impact media

3. People team portfolio
Focus on the human stories across:
• Adult social care
• Children and young people
• Housing
• Public health
• Register office – same sex marriage
• Sports
Plus media interview training and lectures

4. Through human stories the team seek to generate mass
media coverage showing the impact council services
have on residents.
TV, radio and newspapers want real life stories. We seek
these out throughout the council and line them up to help
demonstrate how council taxpayers’ money is improving
lives across the city.
We target regional broadcast coverage as well as
national magazines and we punch above our weight. We
lobby Whitehall through specialist media such as The
MJ, Children & Young People Now and Inside Housing.
We also work with the Local Government Association.
People team media strategy

5. An Argus double page
spread at least every month
519 items of coverage by
tone, including “+3 stories”,
highly positive and high
profile features.
• CYP 17
• Sport 9
• Adult social care 7
• Health & Wellbeing 5
• Housing 5
• Weddings 30 + national
media
The statistics

6. Items of coverage - 159
Children & Young People
Children &
Young
People
Now

7. • B.Fest – views of Youtube video jump by 100 during
festival period
• Council’s work to support young people not in education
employment or training – 7 minute feature with case study
and officers on Radio Sussex
• Youth Employability Service – use of social media to
engage with young people – feature in Local Government
Association report
• New drive to improve safety for children – LSCB report –
two Argus features, including Soapbox, and radio
• SoundCity wins national award – news item on ITV
Meridian, Argus, websites and film on Latest TV
• Troubled families being turned abound – Argus double
page spread
Coverage

8. 94 items
Housing
Cllr Randall on ITV Meridian on
homelessness

9. June: Argus double page spread on private
rented sector instigated by the media team
set out the problem the council faces and
what being done to tackle it, with Cllr Randall
Redeveloped Portslade Town Hall includes
housing office and community hub – Argus
double page spread feature, Latest News,
Juice FM, Radio Sussex and Heart FM
New ‘show’ apartments unveiled – Argus and
social media audio ‘listens’
Credit Union top story on BBC Radio Sussex
Breakfast with Cllr Randall
Mutual exchange scheme – ITV News
Coverage

10. 65 items
Public health

11. Public health

12. Mass media coverage, local,
national and international,
including:
BBC, ITN, Sky News, Reuters,
ITV, Press Association, Getty
Images, AFP (European
agency), The Telegraph, The
Sunday Times, Euronews, Gay
Star News, The Sun, Sunday
Express, The Asahi Shimbun
(Japanese newspaper), Mail on
Sunday and The Argus.
Advance interviews arranged
with CNN, Channel 5 (Russia),
The Independent and ITV
Daybreak.
21 international and national
media covered story
Advertising Value Equivalent
£1.4m
Same sex marriage
ITV Meridian

13. 10 couples at 10am on the 10th December
The Independent, ITV, BBC SE TV, Radio 5 Live,
Argus, Heart FM, BBC Online, Juice FM, Daily
Mail, Daily Star, Metro and international media. 17
national media covered story
Civil partnership conversions

14. Items of coverage – 134
Highlights
June Carers features with care
support worker featured on Juice
FM, Radio Sussex and Heart FM
Double page spread in Argus
‘Thousands of young carers’ –
council support
July 5 mins BBC South East TV
feature on Shared Lives ‘fostering
for adults’ – ‘…but to them it’s
priceless.’
August BBC 5 Live 7 mins Shared
Lives interview
December – Carers Rights Day – 7
minute feature with carer and our
carer support manager
Sept - Carelink Plus Argus feature
Adult Social care
Marian
and
Brian,
Shared
Lives,
Radio 5
Live,
BBC SE
TV,
Argus

15. Items of coverage - 57
TakePart festival of sport – official
launch day and main event
Rugby World Cup 2015 – media
relations and blog production
Brighton-based skateboarding
group She Shredders collect Bronze
award at the National Sportivate
Project of the Year Awards. With
sports development officer Ricardo
Magee Atxukarro
Sport and Music & Arts
Argus

16. Practical media interview training so enable
lead officers to front TV and radio interviews
Covers:
• Key messages
• Handling hostile questions
• Delivering the 10 second ‘sound bite’
• With an emphasis on practical aspects of
interviews
In 2014 four public health staff and eight
community safety officers were trained up
Feedback has been ‘good’ and ‘excellent’
Media interview training

17. Wide use of audio and images
across Twitter and Facebook.
25 audio updates on
AudioBoom shared on
Facebook and Twitter.
First in series of profiles on
new independent retailers in
refurbished seafront arches –
spread on social media – first
profile has a good response
with 230 ‘plays’. Facebook
story has 1,400 people
‘reached’, 19 people ‘liked’ it
and 11 ‘shares’.
Social media

18. Series of lectures at Rise Violence Against Women and
Girls Conference at Sussex University on role of real life
stories in media relations
Filming at BHCC adult social care conference and
producing case studies for adult social care team
Strategic media advice across BHCC
Expertise to ‘kill’ negative stories – e.g. ‘teacher accused
of homophobia’ story that the Argus agreed not to
publish
Added value