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Working with the Media
- 2. EARNED MEDIA
- 4. WORKING WITH THE MEDIA • A clear reason for telling a story at a particular time News Hook • About to occur, ongoing or near completion Timeliness • Pertains to issues, people, or events to occur within the location of a media organization and audience. Proximity • News that elicits sympathy or emotional response. Human interest • Stories that involve public figures, celebrities, and notables. Prominence • Significant impact on the news organization’s audience or influencer’s followers. Consequence • Relevant statistics and research that support the story. Data • New and unique and attention getting images that dramatically convey the message. Visually compelling
- 5. WORKING WITH THE MEDIA Problem Rotary Action Impact
- 6. WORKING WITH THE MEDIA Approach Consult Respond Engage
- 7. SUCCESS
- 8. RESOURCES Resources for clubs Public Relations and Your Club RI Media Relations Team Public Relations Guidelines Media Crisis Guidelines Trainings and Breakout Sessions Templates
- 9. DISCUSSION
Editor's Notes
- Good afternoon How’s everyone doing? Are you enjoying the convention so far. Thank you for coming. My name is Vivian Fiore and I’m part of Rotary’s media relations team. My colleagues and I are going to give a series of talks this week to give you some basic tips on how to get your club stories covered in your local news to help expand the reach of Rotary.
- With media relations your aim is to reach external, non-Rotarian audiences through what is referred to as “earned media” – or editorial coverage. Earned media, is any material written about your club that you haven’t paid for or created. With earned media, it’s key to cultivate mutually beneficial relationships with news media and influencers so that they tell your story.
- And we have great stories to tell about how we’re creating lasting change. But first it’s important to clarify our objectives. What are we trying to achieve? What message are we trying to convey and to whom? And what action do we want our audience to take? Are we trying to change attitudes and behaviors, get younger people interested in Rotary, gain support for a cause or drive attendance to an event?
- Then we need to frame our story in compelling way so that they are timely, relevant and unique. This can include: How your club is addressing a significant and locally relevant issue in a new and impactful way, Partners, influencers or local celebrities always help And featuring someone who’s life has benefited because of your initiative – or a member with a personal connection to the issue is a great way to include a human-interest element.
- The People of Action story framework is a great way to start. PROBLEM: Describe the problem or challenge your club wants to help solve. Include relevant statistics and research that support the story. ROTARY: How did your Rotary club identify the issue? What made them commit to addressing it? Why does this resonate with them? Does someone have a personal connection to the issue? Human interest angle. ACTION: How did the club gather the resources, expertise and partners and to take action? What obstacles did your club face as you worked on this project? IMPACT: What was the result? How many people were helped? Great opportunity to include a quote or interview from a beneficiary or third party. How did this initiative touch the lives of people in your community? How did this project transform you? If possible, included data points that illustrate impact.
- After you’ve framed your story, do you research. Approach journalists strategically. Offer stories that align with a reporter’s publication and the topics it covers. Reporters are more likely to read and respond to your email when you send them stories that resonate with their readers. Ideally, you’ve established relationships with journalists in your market and know their preferred method for receiving stories ideas. When in doubt, send an email first. Understand their constraints and publication schedules. Reporters often have tight schedules and need story details and accompanying materials right away. Have photos, videos, statistics, project and background data, and any other helpful material available. Respond promptly to inquiries. An opportunity you’re offered could disappear if you fail to reply in time. Engage media in your club events. Successful media outreach is all about relationships. Invite journalists to club meetings that feature speakers who address topics that they cover. Or invite them to participate in a project, event, or other Rotary activity.
- I’d like to share some success stories of Rotary clubs’ local media outreach - as well as how they worked with our team to help secure coverage. - In the upper left corner is a piece from a top French national TV network secured by French Rotary clubs of their national environmental project called “Roses for a beehive” to tackle the declining bee colonies and biodiversity. They collaborated with local rose growers to plant and sell rose bushes of which the proceeds contribute to installing beehives nationwide. All French governors came together to create this project and to align in communication activities. - A German Rotary club had been supporting local refugees for many years. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, one of the Syrian refugees they had been supporting decided to give back to the community that supported him by sewing masks and donating them. He collaborated with the Rotary Club that provided him with all the necessary material and a sewing machine. Our colleague in the Zurich International Office worked with the club to place his story to local media through their existing connections to journalists – which resulted in top regional coverage. - Angela in the Sydney office heard about the Rotaract Club of Illawarra that’s members were mostly refugees. After doing some research, she identified some key spokespeople who could talk about their efforts – around World Refugee Day – June 20. Angela reached out to media secured interviews with ABC and a regional newspaper with a member of that club who is originally from Iran. The producer for ABC program now regularly asks club members to be guests. Rotary clubs in Houston have been excited to use International Convention 2022 as a way to gain visibility of their impact in the community. We’ve been working with club members of the Rotary Club of Houston to get a placement about her club’s robotics program for at-risk youth featured in the Houston Business Journal. Also, a club in Houston built and dedicated a peace monument to the first responders of September 11. We were able to work with them ahead of that to gain a lot of information to secure placement in the Houston Chronicle – Houston’s largest daily newspaper.
- There are a number resources to help you secure local coverage of your club’s impact: ‘Public Relations and Your Club’ is a new interactive course available in languages on the Learning Center Guides and templates are available on the Brand Center including the Public Relations Guide, Media Crisis Guidelines and template news releases and materials We have regular Trainings and Breakout Sessions that we develop in coordination with RPICs at PETS, GETS, I.A. and conventions: Don’t miss the Convention Breakout Session “How to get your story in the news” on Wednesday, June 8 at 9-10am. This is an hour-long session. Moderated and led by a PR professional based in Houston. The team in the International Offices have tailored trainings for specific markets and languages, and have pre-recorded trainings that can be viewed upon request. And the RI Media Relations Team is always available to guide your approach and provide counsel on media interview prep, messaging, crisis communications, and trainings.
- Questions: What do you think is the biggest obstacle facing clubs’ media outreach?