Working with the Media
Media Relations
The following sections provide guidelines and suggestions for dealing with the mass media and presenting yourself effectively.
If a reporter called today to interview you or someone in your department about your work, would you be ready? Every time you speak with members of the media you represent not only yourself, but also your program, department, college and The University of Arizona.
The CALS Media Interview Guide offers tips to help you present an accurate, informative message to the public. This guide was written based on input from CALS faculty and staff as well as reporters in the community.
Newspapers
Many people like to use newspapers to publicize events or programs they are involved with, but most people don't know where to start.
Publicity is an important element of an effective marketing campaign. The more times the name of an organization or educational program is heard or seen, the better. The key is to be sure from your end that those references are positive. Appearing in the news media is an effective form of publicity.
Your message, in the context of "news," carries more weight than advertising. The public knows advertising is controlled by the advertiser. But it believes the news media controls the news messages. If you are prepared for the interview, you actually control it. A media interview, news release, or speech can be a great opportunity. You can use them to enhance public awareness and support of Cooperative Extension.
What is News?
Before you begin to write, back up a few steps and consider - what is news?
News is:
- Timely. Something that has just happened or is just about to happen is timely. Words such as "yesterday," "Thursday," or "tomorrow" make a story timely. The odds for successful publication will climb if your story is current.
- Close. Your story should have a local angle or appeal. Something that happens close to home or affects local residents is more likely to make it into the media than something that happens far away. How a national issue effects your local area is always news.
- Important. Events that have an impact on your readers or that concern prominent people are important. One way to make your story "important" is to have a local personality or political figure comment on your program or situation and include his or her views in your story.
- Unusual. When the man or woman bites the dog, it's news.
- Of human interest. Some stories are newsworthy because they bring about an emotional response in their readers rage, laughter, tears.
If the story you have in mind is timely, close and important, or if it is unusual or has human interest, you must next figure out if the newspaper is the best place to tell it.
When to Use Newspapers
Use the Newspapers if:
- Your story appeals to a diverse audience.
- Your intended customers read the newspaper, either as a hard copy or online. Identify key demographics and potential customers.
- Your story has a good chance of being printed. (This may depend on your newspaper's policies, as well as the newsworthiness of your story.)
- You want to give your customers more details than radio or television would carry.
- You don't have much money to spend. (All a news release costs is the price someone's time to get it the message crafted.)
If these conditions aren't true in your situation, consider using another communications method to present your message. You may still want to prepare a news story, though, in addition to your other communication efforts.
Planning
The first step in planning a news story is to identify the group you're trying to reach. The newspaper is one of the mass media, so readers will be diverse. There are some characteristics they may share, however, such as how old they are or where they live. If the newspaper has sections for special interests (such as environmental news, farm pages, or regular columns for youth activities), your customers may be narrowed down.
Consider Your Customers
Keep your customers in mind as you plan your story, and anticipate what impact your story will have on them. For instance, high crop yields and low prices mean one thing to the consumer and quite another to the farmer.
Consider Your Response
Be prepared for increased customer activity. Know where to field calls.
Consider Your Purpose
Next, determine the purpose of your story. There are three basic types of news stories, each serving a different purpose:
- Advance stories give important information about something that is going to happen.
- Follow-up stories tell about events that have already happened.
- Feature stories provide information and interpretation, instruction, or entertainment. They are different from straight news stories in both structure and style.
Writing a News Story
When you have determined your customers and the intent of your story, you are ready to put it in writing.
News stories have a definite structure they get to the point fast. The most important facts of the story should be presented in the first sentence or two (the summary lead), with details following in order of importance:
S U M M A R Y L E A D
Elaboration of Lead
Details become
less and less
important
as story
unfolds.
"The Hook" is important in all news-types, something to encourage people to continue reading/listening/watching. This way of organizing facts is called the "inverted pyramid." This type of structure is important because:
- Readers who haven't the time or the desire to read the whole story can get the most important information at a glance.
- If the newspaper doesn't have enough room to print the whole story, it will easily shorten it by chopping the end off without losing the "meat" of the story.
What Are the Facts?
Most news stories can be summed up by what is known in journalistic circles as the "five Ws and an H."
- Who? Who said it? Who is the subject of the story?
- What? What happened?
- Where? Where did it happen?
- When? When did it or will it happen?
- Why? Why did it happen? Why is it important?
- How? How did it happen?
The summary lead usually answers the most important of these questions. It may answer more than one. Which elements are most important will depend on your story and its intended customers. Keep in mind what makes your story news should be presented in the summary lead.
After the lead, the remaining facts should follow in order of importance. Details and background information usually appear at the end of the story. After you have planned your story, follow these rules to assure that your story will be easy to read:
- STICK TO THE FACTS! There is no place in news writing for the opinions or assumptions of the reporter. However - scientific writing should be saved for technical manuals. Avoid or explain jargon specific to the subject you are writing about.
- Use short sentences. Sentences should express ideas clearly. Use no more words than necessary. The average sentence length should be 16 to 19 words.
- Use short paragraphs. Short paragraphs are easy to read and will hold your reader's attention. Average paragraph length should be two to five sentences.
- Use the active voice. "Sue threw the ball" is better than "the ball was thrown by Sue."
- Use short, simple words. Why make it difficult? Instead of "deficiency," use "shortage"; "attempt," "try"; "prior to," "before"; "construct," "build"; "this point in time," "now."
Writing a Feature Story
Feature stories seldom follow the inverted-pyramid format of the straight news story. The First paragraph of a feature story sets the tone for the story and grabs the reader's attention. It can't stand alone as a summary of the facts as the first paragraph of a straight news story an. Most newspapers prefer to leave feature writing to their own reporters; but if you care to try your hand at it, be as creative as you wish. Just remember that, even though the feature story format is more flexible than that of the straight news story, the rules for good writing still apply. Avoid opinion, excess description, cliches and complicated construction. Alert your favorite reporter of feature story possibilities.
Editing
When you have completed your story, read it carefully to check for accuracy, grammar, and style:
- Make sure you stick to the facts. There's is no place for opinions or assumptions in a news story. If you are quoting someone else's opinions or assumptions as part of the story, be sure you say so.
- Check and double-check your facts: spelling of names, addresses, meeting places, times, dates, titles, awards. Accuracy is essential in any news story.
- Check each sentence for mistakes in spelling or grammar.
- Check for errors in style: improper capitalization or punctuation, improperly hyphenated or abbreviated words. Use an AP stylebook as a guide. It is available at most bookstores as well as online.
- Eliminate cliches and empty phrases, and clarify confusing or complicated sentences.
- Check once more to make sure your story is written for your readers. Put the facts most important to them in the first paragraph.
Additional Editing Tips
Most experts agree that effective editing is an important element in good writing. The following tips will help you improve your writing through effective editing.
- Let your work sit for a while - 24 hours if possible - before editing it. You'll view it with a fresh perspective.
- Be brutal with your first draft, especially the first few paragraphs. Delete, substitute, rearrange, and insert as necessary.
- Read the copy aloud for content and style. When it comes to detecting errors, the ear is more efficient than the eye.
- Make sure the story is easy to follow - that copy moves logically from beginning to end, and doesn't ramble and confuse.
- Make sure your copy explains who, what, when, where, why, and how.
- Get rid of every word that adds nothing to meaning.
- Substitute short, punchy words for long, showy ones.
- Replace abstract words and terms with concrete ones.
- Avoid jargon or technical terms. When you have to use technical terms, explain them.
- Use the strongest verbs possible - active voice, present tense.
- Vary the length of your sentences and paragraphs; an occasional one word sentence or one-sentence paragraph can add interest and emphasis.
- Avoid using paragraphs longer than seven or eight typewritten lines.
- Put yourself in the reader's place and re-read the manuscript to be sure nothing can be misinterpreted.
Publication
When you are convinced you have written a straightforward news story that is aimed at your audience and has no inaccuracies in fact, spelling, grammar or style, you are ready to submit your story for publication. The CALS press release form ( http://cals.arizona.edu/pressrelease ) is designed to help you get your information out to a wider, specific target audience.
Know Your Local Newspaper
Being familiar with the newspapers in your local area is a good idea. Read them regularly to get a feel for the types of articles they print, the style they prefer and who is writing about what.
Know the editors you may be working with and their responsibilities. The staff of a weekly county paper may be quite small with workers sharing responsibilities. Large daily papers usually have several editors, each in charge of a different department.
Make sure you submit your story to the appropriate department. If you aren't sure who the appropriate editor is, check with the receptionist, city editor or online.
Getting to know your papers' staffs may mean the difference between success or failure in getting a story published. But remember, editors and other media people are busy professionals with high turnover. Before visiting, try to find out which days they are least busy and schedule an appointment. Keep your visit brief - just introduce yourself and your program. Don't call the editor every time you think you have a great story, but do send a press release. Save the phone calls for the truly unique stores. Do not fax material unless you have checked beforehand. Most papers prefer stories as an embedded email message. They do not like email attachments and will delete them without looking at them.
Sending Your Story
The subject of your story will probably determine the newspapers it should be submitted to. Local stories go to the local papers. Stories that may be of interest to people throughout the state should be more widely distributed.
Do learn the paper's deadlines. By what time must a story be submitted for inclusion in the day's/week's edition? What are the editors' busy work hours/days?
- Do learn who's who on each paper's staff.
- Do read the newspapers. Are there regular columns that might use your material? What is each paper's style? Policies? Do papers welcome stories from outside, or do they prefer news tips to their own reporters?
- Don't wait until the last minute to send your story. Try to give the editors enough time to plan ahead for the best time to print your story. Use deadlines only as a guide for your planning.
- Don't miss deadlines.
- Don't call or drop in on editors during their busy times. Be aware of their deadlines.
- Don't be upset if your story isn't printed. The paper has many releases to consider. Don't give up. Try next time; perhaps earlier, with a different focus or with a different section or writer.
