Media and Publicity Workshop - A Summary
Presented at the Biannual Meeting of the Coalition for the Community of Reason
- October 27, 2001 - Washington DC -

By Rob Boston
Assistant Director of Communications
Americans United for Separation of Church & State

GOALS

First ask yourself, what are your goals with media?

If it's to get better publicity for your organization's events in your community, try the following:

1. Assess the nature of media in your area. Most cities are served by just one paper. But there may be other sources: alternative papers, suburban dailies or weeklies. Radio and TV are usually tough to crack.

2. Establish a good relationship with those media. Introduce yourself, usually to the religion writer. Put a press kit together about your organization to say who you are and what you do. It should be in the form of a folder with material in it; some type of press release; background information on your organization, including a brochure if you have one--a pamphlet, a position paper, a single sheet, etc.

3. Also include a list of contacts. Limit spokespersons to just two or three and make sure they are available during day. Give their night phone numbers also.

4. Say something nice about what the reporter has done. "I saw that piece you wrote..."

5. Don't be a crackpot - have a realistic goal, not something that will never happen.

6. Have a long term strategy.

PRESS RELEASES

1. Ask reporters you are targeting how they want to get information--by e-mail or fax, usually not by snail mail.

2. Put every press release you issue on your organization's Web site.

3. Keep in mind the purpose of the press release: Either for direct lifting (where the reporter pastes parts directly into the reporter's story) or an invitation to call the contact(s) for in-depth information.

4. Use: Short sentences. Short paragraphs. Short press releases--one page if possible, two pages max. Active voice, strong verbs, like a news story.

5. At bottom put End, ###, or 30.

6. If the press release is used as an invitation to call and the reporter calls you, remember: You are always on record unless you say you are not, so be careful about what you say. Have your answers ready by thinking about them beforehand.

REACHING THE PEOPLE YOU WANT TO REACH

1. For national media: Consult the list published by the Religion Newswriters Association. Will cost a fee. It has a Web site at http://rna.org/home.html Editor and Publisher - The professional journal of every weekly and daily newspaper in the country - get their Yearbook. Their Web site is at http://www.editorandpublisher.com/editorandpublisher/business_resources/yearbook

2. Consider doing Op-eds instead of press releases. Op-eds are often published by small to medium daily papers. "Simultaneous submission" op-eds won't get into big daily paper. "Exclusive rights" goes only to one paper. (Try a differently written one as simultaneous submission.) 800 Words max, (For USA Today, only 500)

Content must be newsworthy. In an op-ed you need sharp focus on one idea. Can have several points. Begin with overview sentence, explain points, summarize at end. Write at a level an average person can grasp.

3. Advice on placing op-eds: Very hard to place one with cold call - phone first and mention you want to send to the paper.

Buy a list of editors.

Knight Ridder has a service that distributes to papers and pairs with other opposing op-ed.

If exclusive submission is rejected, you can send it to another paper. If you haven't heard back in 3-4 days, call to see if paper is interested. To know if they publish your submission, ask for a tearsheet. Or do Lexis-Nexis on-line to search (fee based) on the Web at http://www.lexis-nexis.com/

OTHER MEDIA

1. Monthly magazines have much longer deadlines. So look in the magazine for submission guidelines and follow them.

2. On-line news media are possible too - Cybernews Media is one possibility.

3. To get on TV, CSPAN sometimes broadcasts conferences held in DC.

PRESS CONFERENCES

1. Saturate the wires. Get on the Daybook wire in DC. AP publishes a Daybook wire. UPI and Reuters also publish them. You can get the wire numbers from Hudson's Media Directory in DC. Then follow up by phone to specific media and say it's on the Daybook and offer to fax them information. FOX is surprisingly easy to interest.

2. If there is no Daybook wire, phone each one.

3. In DC reserve a room in the National Press Club.

4. In another city, have in an accessible place and sometimes serve food. Hold at 10 a.m. or 2 p.m. Never on weekends.

FOR CONFERENCE

1. Get a big name to speak and push big name.

2. Add a session with "sex appeal" in order to attract media.

3. Remember the larger issue - the value of having a conference - and think of side benefits. You'll probably lose money - but it energizes people - it shows you are a serious organization, with the ability and resources to put on a national event - it draws people in who have not been involved before.