Loading ...Media Strategy, by David Harvey
Date: October 19, 2009
David Harvey, President and CEO of ProLiteracy, offers some tips and examples for working with the media as a part of an overall communications strategy for policy change.
Study the Media
The first step in creating a media communications strategy for policy change is to learn how the media works – you can’t approach journalists if you don’t know what they want and how they want it. Begin by reading the papers you want to reach, watching the TV shows you want to reach. What kind of stories do they tell? How do they frame those stories – i.e., in what context do they set them? Who are their audiences – general public, business leaders, health care community? Having this information will help you frame the message so that it resonates with a particular audience. You also have to understand that you’re going to have to play the media’s “game” if you’re going to attract attention – use the language they use to tell the story.
Here is a radio interview from Milwaukee Public Radio that you may find helpful:
Lake Effect Radio Example (mp3 audio file will take about a minute to load)
Friday, October 9, 2009
Stephanie Lecci interviews Peg Palmer, Executive Director of Milwaukee Achiever Literacy Services, and David Harvey, President and CEO of ProLiteracy, about the adult literacy crisis in Milwaukee and nationwide. Listen how they present the adult literacy issue to Milwaukeeans; hear strategies they use to hook the audience’s interests. Duration: 15 minutes.
ProLiteracy Advertised in the American Journal of Health Behavior
Target an Audience with Messages that Matter to Them
Tie the literacy story to something going on in the news right now to make it timely and relevant – health care, for example. Show how adult literacy is going to help address the problems related to the health care issue – that strong reading, writing, math, computer, and English skills will get people trained for the jobs that provide insurance, that they’ll be able to make healthier lifestyle choices that will keep them from getting sick; etc. ProLiteracy advertised in the American Journal of Health Behavior, a publication for doctors. The goal was to advise doctors that some of their patients may have literacy issues that prevent them from understanding written instructions.
Provide specific examples that show how making sure that adults learn to read is going to solve a problem – in the community, the state, the country. Be specific and provide concrete examples of how that’s worked – and the best way to do that is with a student story. Always keep in mind that reporters cover people, not issues – so if it’s an issue you’re talking about (such as adult literacy) you have to approach it in terms of people – the story of the student who got a job after months of being unemployed because they got their GED, for example. The woman who ended up in the ER because she couldn’t read the medicine bottle label and took the wrong dosage. The man who learned to read at 85 because he knew how important going through life without reading was and he was going to learn, no matter how old he was. This approach also helps you frame complex issues into “sound bites.” It also can help attract media attention at a time when there is so much competition for media space. What reporter could resist a story about the individual who saved the next door neighbor’s life by using a fire extinguisher and calling 911 for the fire department after she learned what to do in an adult literacy class? Use that example as a jumping off point for you to talk about the number of people who die in house fires each year, and how many of them because they can’t read, don’t speak English and are afraid to call 911, etc. You take it from the person’s experience and then move to the bigger issue.
Think Beyond Media in Your Communications Plan
A good strategic communication plan for policy change shouldn’t be limited to media – send your program newsletters, news releases, and event invitations to your Members of Congress as an FYI for how you are addressing the adult literacy issue in his/her home community. Prepare a briefing paper for your representative, with local/state stats on adult literacy and what your program does to address the issue. Here are two examples:
ProLiteracy prepared a briefing paper for Representative Dan Maffei after his election year, to update him on the literacy issues in his district.
The ProLiteracy Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Fact Sheet is a backgrounder on WIA for reporters and Members of Congress.
Commit to Being Proactive
You can’t wait for reporters to seek you out and ask you about your program. You have to be proactive, go to them. React to daily news events from a literacy point of view. For example, when the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act —the Stimulus Bill — was enacted, ProLiteracy put out a news release noting that adult literacy programs funded under Title II of the Workforce Investment Act did not receive stimulus funding and that was an oversight because these programs helped adults get jobs.
Make it Easy for the Media
Make it easy for the media to tell your story. Line everything up – get the person who is going to tell his/her story, make sure you have something visual for the TV cameras to film – the person at work, for example, or in a literacy class. All too often, programs contact a reporter who gets interested, then tell the reporter, “but you can’t film in the class because of privacy issues.” Don’t invite them in, then deny them access. You won’t make many friends that way!
Cultivate Relationships
It isn’t easy to cultivate relationships with reporters these days, especially in local markets, because reporters tend to move so often. But there are a few things you can do. On the local level, you need to find a reporter whose work you admire. Send them an e-mail: “I really liked your story on…” or “I read your column all the time.” Then pitch them a story geared toward their style of reporting (which you’ll know because you’ve been watching/reading them, right?) If they say they’re not interested, come back with “What kind of story would you like? How do you like to get the information?”
If I had to select one key element to a good media relations plan, it would be to create a message that the particular audience can relate to and give them a call to action that they can embrace.
