PUBLICITY Most Project Celebration organizers agree that getting media coverage before, during and after their event helps spread the word about why Project Celebration is needed and how the community can help. This section includes tips on how to get your news story picked up. Keep in mind that television and newspaper editors often get 200 or more emails, calls and faxes a day from people like you, as well as from professional public relations (PR) consultants, pitching dozens of fundraisers and other good causes, demonstrations, announcements, celebrity visits and such. Add this to the constant influx of breaking news stories and you re competing with lots of people for news producers time. Never forget that news media professionals are your customers, and the product you re selling is your story. If you know people in the business, use your contacts. They may be able to help shape your story and get coverage. Five Rules of Good News A good news story is one that anyone can relate to. Before you begin to think about pitching your fundraising event, alcohol awareness activity or other Project Celebration story to a news editor or reporter, make sure that whatever you re announcing is newsworthy. Below are five rules of good news stories. If you ve got three or more of these in your story, you may have a winner. 1 2 3 4 5 Timeliness: News producers and consumers want the latest and greatest. If your event is happening today, that is news. If it happened last week or is happening next week, don t bother. Relevance: The more people affected by your story, the more likely news outlets will pick it up. Think of ways your story affects people of all ages in your community. Proximity: Because area high school students are involved, your story has local appeal, which makes it newsworthy. Prominence: If you can get a famous person or place involved, that s newsworthy. If you have any celebrity ties, even with local personalities, athletes, coaches or politicians, it s worth the effort it takes to get them involved. Human interest: Stories that appeal to human emotion, such as happiness, hope or sadness often get covered. If your story is quirky or interesting, all the better. 90
A picture is worth a thousand words News producers and consumers love good images. If you have compelling pictures of unusual happenings (as opposed to a typical talking head or a group of people doing ordinary things), by all means include them in your news release. If you have the makings of good video (because you ve arranged activities that could inspire a TV station to send a camera crew), by all means let them know! When To Get Press Engage local media (daily, weekly and monthly newspapers, radio and TV news) for planning events and for the actual event. Maintain relationships with those who cover your stories, and send thank-you notes after the story runs or airs. You may also propose a Q & A interview for radio. If you re granted an interview, ask one of your articulate students to come with you to describe the event from his or her perspective. Bring visuals to engage the interviewer, too. Weekends are slow news times, as are Mondays. Some reporters also look for especially creative stories during the weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year s Day. You may opt to pitch your story for these times. 91
Interview Tips Whether it s live on the radio or pre-recorded for TV, the key to a good interview is preparation. 1 2 3 4 5 Boil it down. Write and rehearse three sound bites that capture the essence of your story. You ll need these to make a memorable impression on your audience and to use during short interviews (noon news, drive-time radio). Then, identify three to five brief message points that you can use to explain your sound bites, if needed. Rehearse. Practice your delivery. Record yourself. Familiarize yourself with the media outlets and reporters in advance so you can adapt to their style. De-stress. Relax before the interview by breathing from your diaphragm. Flex and relax your muscles. Mentally transfer nervousness to another part of your body. Connect with your host. Be a good listener so you can respond to all questions. Make and then maintain eye contact. Build a rapport, one question at a time. Give a strong performance. Remember, you re there to help the reporter create a compelling or entertaining segment. Show enthusiasm, if appropriate. Vary your speech and volume, and keep answers concise. Shake hands after the interview. Ask when it will air, and send a thank-you note after it does. You will stand out as a quality guest, increasing your odds of getting coverage again for a future event. When fundraising, let businesses know you ll include large sponsorships as partnerships in news releases or in setups for on-camera exposure. Set guidelines for minimum sponsorships to be included, such as $500. 92
How To Get Press You have written your story, and you ve prepared your sound bites. Now you re ready to spread the word. What do you do? Contact the news media directly. Use the contacts you know, or contact someone whose work you admire. Tell them what you like about what they do and then let them know you have a story that might interest their viewers/readers. Give them a few days notice, and then follow up with a phone call the day before and day of the event. Television and Radio Watch or listen to the station or show to understand how they cover stories. Do your own research and have facts handy. Find the right reporter or editor, and sell the story to that reporter or editor. Make sure your story is visual. Television requires it. Even for radio, your host will be more engaged in your story if s/he can describe something you bring to the interview. Ask what they prefer for story pitches: fax or email. Keep it to two sentences followed by the who, what, where, when and how. Attach your print news release. (See tips on how to write a news release later in this section.) Follow up by phone. Be pleasant but persistent. Be available when the reporter calls. Give your cell phone number. Print Pitch ideas, not topics. Project Celebration is a topic. Keeping teens locked up so they don t hurt themselves or others on graduation night is an idea. A great idea. Write a good press release. Include a good photo, if you have one. Find the right reporter or editor, and sell the story to that reporter or editor. Ask what they prefer for story pitches: fax or email. Keep it to two sentences followed by the who, what, where, when and how. Attach your news release. Follow up by phone. Be pleasant but persistent. Be available when the reporter calls. Give your cell phone number. 93
Writing a News Release Some editors review the first few words of a news release to determine whether or not it s worth running. Writing a good, effective news release (also called press or media release) that will get read is an art form. Take a look at the essential components of a good news release and keep it to one page, double-spaced. 1 2 3 Headline/Subhead: Write a headline and subhead that grab the attention of the editor in fewer than ten words. Summarize the information in the story in a dynamic way. You have just a few words to make your release stand out among the many others that editors receive on any given day. Opener: Your first paragraph is critical. It summarizes the release, and the remaining paragraphs provide the detail. Explain who, what, when, where, why and how the story relates to the public. Lead with a hook, a factual statement that gets your audience interested in reading more. Follow a traditional journalistic writing style. Body: Present the most important information and quotes first, in case editors need to cut the story to fit space constraints. Limit yourself to one or two quotes: from yourself, a school administrator or possibly a teen safety advocate. You may want to include startling statistics, evidence or study findings, examples, third-party endorsements, legislative decisions, anecdotes, testimony, visual examples or analogies. Have an angle, such as how to solve the problem of keeping students safe on the night of their graduation. Other possible angles are how success came from tragedy and inspirational outcomes from lessons learned. It never hurts to include tips, such as relevant things readers can do to keep teens and others safe. 4 Close: Repeat critical contact information, and include the contact name, phone number and email address. 94
Live Liners Live liners (also called live reads) are an inexpensive way to advertise on local radio. The announcer reads your message on air rather than playing a recorded spot. You may want to create a set of live liners you can use in your community. Be sure to read them aloud as you are writing, title them and have them labeled :15, :10 and :05 for 15-seond, 10-second and 5-second reads. Then contact radio stations to arrange to have your liners read on air. You may also want to work with your high school s athletic department to arrange for your liners to be read as announcements at athletic events. Keep Your Clips Once you get media coverage, keep copies of clippings in this binder (including the date the piece ran) and to share with other news outlets. If news producers know others have covered your story, they may be more interested in covering your future activities. Remember to keep a copy of your media release in this binder, too. 95