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Using radio and television in your media campaign You want everyone to know about your event or cause - you want to use the broadcast media. But unless you target your broadcaster and write your press release in a way which catches his eye, you'll be wasting your time. Like any professionals, broadcasters have their own language and codes which you need to be aware of and respect. Before starting your media campaign, think about the following:
The 'so-what?' question - what's in it for the broadcaster? You've worked hard preparing your exhibition, event or action campaign. To you it's precious, and worthy of attention from the media and the public. But in some ways you're the last person who should be promoting it, because you're too close to it. Stand back from your project, and defend it to another person who's prepared to be critical about it. Broadcasters are constantly having to justify and defend their own ideas (for example, in proposing a programme idea for commissioning); it's useful to be able to think along the same lines.
There may be more than one way of selling your project, depending on the type of programme. A local angle would probably be the main focus for a local station, whereas for the national audience you would need to put your project into context, relating it to other current trends or events going on across the country or around the world. What's in it for you? be clear what you want from the media Before you send out press releases to twenty different programmes, think clearly about why you want this publicity and what effect it might have on your project.
If you are contacted by a broadcaster (rather than having made the first approach), find out what they expect from you. Ask them:
Never simply send out a set of unnamed press releases hoping that one will hit its mark. Know the station/channel: listen to it or watch it. If you have time, you can also find out about an independent station or channel by phoning to ask for a 'media pack'. These are mainly prepared for potential advertisers, but they are also generally available, and they give useful information about how the broadcaster sees itself, and more importantly, how it sees its target audience. To help smooth the process of commissioning from independent production companies, many of the BBC departments now publish useful information packs and booklets for people outside the Corporation. Know the programme: listen to it or watch it, note its regular features. Across the UK, the Radio Times magazine is a useful research source of programme information, and at present it is the only listings magazine which gives the names of producers and production companies, at least for the BBC radio networks (its coverage of independent local radio is not so comprehensive). In London, Time Out also has a good TV and Radio listings section; many of the national broadsheet newspapers carry listings on Saturdays. Find out the time scale needed: different programmes work to different time scales for their planning, but generally the earlier you send information the better. For a local radio 'What's on' slot, it may be enough to send your press release a few days in advance; for a national magazine programme, it will need to arrive in time for the programme's planning meeting, often several weeks ahead. Appoint a spokesperson: it makes the task easier if you decide who in your group or organisation will deal with the media. Choose someone who can put across clearly what you are doing, who feels at ease and confident in the broadcasting situation, and who has easy access to a telephone and an answerphone. When writing your press release - apply the editing pencil Don't send out seven pages of information in the belief that someone will find it so fascinating that they'll read it all - they won't! Broadcasters are trained to be ruthless in editing, learning to cut out that favourite bit on the tape because it doesn't add to the story. They'll be more likely to consider your item if it's been written concisely.
Include the following information:
If your organisation is not well known, or if you are including any statistics, include a separate section at the bottom: Information for editors. Include
And finally ... learn from the experience Artists and members of the public who speak on the media for the first time are sometimes left with a sense of shock because the experience was unpleasantly different from what they had expected. For example:
This is seldom done deliberately or maliciously - usually it happens because the broadcasters had their own agenda and were seeing things from a different point of view. If you were the one who initiated the contact, remember that by doing so you voluntarily entered into the situation - which is why you should think everything through carefully before you send your first press release. If, more unusually, you genuinely are being unfairly pursued by broadcasters eager to misrepresent you, you may need to resort to the Broadcasting Complaints Commission (in the UK) or equivalent - but such extremes are rare. Certainly, it also makes for a better
relationship if you approach people in the media with a degree of understanding of the
needs and constraints involved in their tasks, and with as much flexibility and humour as
you can muster. |
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