Communication through the Media

August 3, 2002, Congress of Neighborhoods Moderator: Tamara Scott, Reporter, Daily Journal Presenters: Matt Klink, Vice President, Cerrell Associates (a public affairs company) Kristin Scheithauer, Hill & Knowlton (a communication consultation company) Joann Killeen, President, Killeen Communications and National President of the Public Relations Society of America.

Summary: Learn how to get coverage from various media outlets, such as newspapers, television, and radio. Also, get useful tips on how to conduct when dealing with the media.

Tamara: Before I worked at the Daily Journal I worked on charter reform for two years. One of the things I worked on was Neighborhood Councils. I also worked on the structure of government and restructuring the LAPD and civil service.

Matt: I also intimately involved in charter reform a couple of years ago now, working for a number of clients at City Hall. I'm vice president for a company called Cerrell Associates. We're a public affairs and political consulting firm based in Los Angeles. Through a number of clients we interact regularly with the media. The most basic question that we need to talk about today is why use the media? Some people consider the media a nuisance and other consider the media as being absolutely essential to help them perform their daily job. From the Neighborhood Council or elected official perspective, one reason to use the media is as a source credibility. If I want to pay for an ad in a newspaper then by doing this people will know that it is a paid ad. If something appears in the press it has more credibility because a reporter who was supposed to be unbiased has written the story. A second reason why you should strongly consider using the media is what I'll term "reach." If you were to walk, shake hands with people, and tell them one-by-one what you're doing, then that would be difficult, but cost effective because you’re not paying anybody by doing this. A press story would help, but it’s going to cost you. There's a term that's used in our industry frequently that’s called "free media." Any of you who have ever worked with the press know that it’s not free. Its very time consuming and hard to get. I think the more apt phrase would be coined, "earned media" because you have to earn it to get coverage and if you get coverage it can be very beneficial. Let's jump into targeting the media. You have to realize that we live in a county of more than 10 million people. The County is larger than 44 states and we live in a city of 3.6 million people. Virtually nothing that you do on the Neighborhood Council level, and I hate to shatter the bubble, is going to get covered in the Los Angeles Times or in La Opinion. So you have to be realistic when you target your media. The benefits of working with local media in Los Angeles, is that there are tons of weekly, local, and ethnic newspapers that have ample opportunities for coverage. In some cases, they are dying for news. A benefit to Neighborhood Councils is that if you are inclined, a lot of times you can write a press release and these local publications will take it verbatim. Thus, you have gotten your organization into the local newspapers. Not everything you do is news, no matter how important you think it is. There's an old theory called the "orchestra pit theory" where it's a very fancy symphony hall and a gentleman walks in with a big trombone. He's part of an orchestra and he's given a great performance. At the end of the performance, he stands up and falls into the orchestra pit. This action makes news. That's what the press wants. There's a saying in L.A. that "if it bleeds, it leads." A lot of the local press, particularly the local evening news, wants the car chases and murders. They don't want to talk about a new street light program in your neighborhood. Or they don't want to talk about fixing potholes and planting trees unless it's so big that it's done on a citywide effort. With the local media, particularly the television media, it's not what you say, it's what people see or what they hear that really matters. Television is a visual medium. Contrary to what some people in the press think, the press is not your friend. You should be friendly with the press, but they are not your friend. They have a job to do and it’s to cover the news and to find the conflict. They do this by looking for the torque, where the arguments exist, where the pressure points are, and ultimately to write something that's interesting to help people sell newspapers. Television is an image and they don't care about what you say. If it looks good and it's a good quality image then odds are you're going to get a good T.V. story. If you're giving a speech, for example, don't stand in front a podium with a blue background. If you're talking about getting rid of problem housing in a certain neighborhood, hold a press conference in front of one of the houses that you've just condemned. That's a good visual. You have to keep your sentences short when you're talking on T.V. Eight to 10 second sound bites are what they’re looking for. They want quick, user-friendly information that they can splice -p to fit into their story. When you want to talk about radio it’s a bit different. Radio likes different voices. They like good, deep, rich, and high voices. You have a little bit longer, 15 to 20 seconds to get your point across. If you're going to do a story about traffic problems, try to do the interview on the corner where you get the cars going by and the horns honking. This is also different when it comes to the print media because you're clearly less constrained. You can talk in longer sentences, although you should be focused. Print is a little bit more dangerous because you are saying more and there are more things that can be used out of context or misinterpreted by the media. You have to be very clear. In terms of developing your media strategy don't just talk to the press because they are there. Have a strategy instead. Think about what you want to say to the press before you talk to them. What's your ultimate goal? Is it to educate or inform the press? Is to get out your side of an issue to pre-empt somebody else from getting out their side of the issue? You have to keep it simple. I use the acronym "KISS" -- Keep It Simple Stupid. You must remember to be very straight forward, especially when you're dealing with a lot of the local papers, the person who will cover local news will also cover sports. You must break it down to the basic element. Who do you want to say it to? This is very important in terms of targeting the right media. If you want to inform people of a certain neighborhood, I will bet you that they have a local newspaper that they read. How can the media help or hurt your issue? Not everything you do and not every story you want to tell deserves to be told in the press. Sometimes you may not want things to show up in the press. If you've had to kick somebody off your Neighborhood Council board, you don't want the press there covering that, unless that's your ultimate goal. Don’t forget that there are outside forces that will influence what you do. What's going to happen when somebody else starts poking holes in it? How do you react? What's your response to that? You have to think about this before you go and talk to the press. Before meeting with the press, be prepared. I tell my clients, the first three things that you should do before you talk to a reporter are practice, practice, and practice. In politics, there is no impromptu. Mark Twain said it takes three weeks to write a good impromptu speech. Everything is planned. Also, be comfortable. This is really important if you're going to be on television. Relax. Make sure you have your feet spaced nice and evenly. Don't cross your arms or don't tense up. Think about clothing and how the camera will react to what you’re wearing. Be committed. If you're excited make sure to tell your face by smiling constantly. If you're talking about a serious subject then look serious. Remember that you do not need to tell the people the whole story, just what you want them to know. In terms of pre-event activities, think about when you're doing it. Know when the reporters’ deadlines are. If a reporter has to get a story submitted by 5:00 then don't call them at 4:30 with a great story idea because odds are you're not going to make the paper that day or that week. Think about a media advisory and a press release. What's your message? What do you want to say? That's the most important thing in dealing with the press. Also, make sure you follow-up with the press. Did they get the information that they need? Do they have any questions, etc.? Stay on message. It's very easy to get sidetracked. I've had clients that said our message was A and they spent the press conference talking about A and B, which didn’t matter. Make sure to get your points across. I like to say have three points and make them at least three times each. Tell them what you're going to tell them. Their role is to shoot holes in your argument because that's what their readership will find interesting, so you have to be repetitive in what you’re saying. If somebody comes to a Neighborhood Council meeting from the media then talk to them. You want to get the coverage. Don't speculate, guess, or lie. You're going to get the question invariably, “Well, if the such and such were to happen, wouldn't you say that this would be the case?” Don't speculate because you open yourself up to a whole world that you will not like and before you know it you're off on some tangent. Don't talk too much. A great media tactic is they will ask you one question and then they'll stop talking. By doing this they know that this will get the person to talk and talk. Silence is great in the media. Having said this, don't be bullied by the press. There are very antagonistic reporters who will pressure you and push you to either answer a question you don't want to answer, or to go somewhere where you don't want to go with a line of questioning.

Kristin: I'm a member of the media department at Hill & Knowlton. In my capacity, I've done the outreach for every client from Pet Smart to Motorola. I'd like to touch on a few basics to know when you're contacting broadcast, television, and radio. Before you ever approach television, think ahead and decide if there are any visuals to the story you are trying to tell. On T.V. there has to be something that is compelling to the viewers to catch their attention. Children, elderly, and pets always make tremendous angles to pitch to the media. For radio, think ahead. Is there some kind of natural sound you can offer to the reporter? It’s very important to be in tune to what the television media is already covering, and what you hear on the radio and think about how your story could be shaped the same way. For T.V. especially, stories are really short. 90 seconds is long for television. Some stories are 30 seconds or 45 seconds. Remember that there are usually two sides to the issue and they like controversy. Anything sensational they're really going to go for. You need a compelling spokesperson for both television and radio. Often T.V. and radio look to print to determine what they're going to cover. If you've gotten your story in print, that's another leg up for you. If you're going to be a spokesperson, pick three things you really want to communicate and rehearse those messages so that you can deliver them in 15 seconds or less. You might not get the whole 15 second sound bite, you might not end up on air, but you're giving the editor or the reporter time to cut down what you've said and deliver it in their piece. Be very concise. As mentioned earlier, don't wear distracting clothing. Small and geometric prints aren't good either. They don't show up on camera very well. Black and white is really harsh. If you're a gentleman, blue shirts work nicely. For women, brighter colors, solid prints or solid backgrounds. Don't ever forget that the microphone is likely to be on and be aware of what you're saying at all times anywhere around a camera. Cameras have their own microphones and then there’s the microphone that's clipped on to you. They can pick up the smallest thing. If your interview is live and you misspeak, go ahead and finish your statement and say, “Let me correct that” and rephrase what you want to communicate across. If your interview is being taped you can stop at mid-sentence and then restate the proper response you intended to give so there's no problem there. When you're contacting television be sure to watch the various newscasts and have an idea of what the reporters here in Los Angeles cover or the types of beats that they're assigned to. Media advisories are important. It is a one-page document. Always start with the most compelling elements first and list your visuals very high on the page. On your advisory, it's very important to include a contact that they can reach at any time around the clock and a cell phone number for that person for the day of the event especially. It's never bad to list more than one contact. You'd want to fax your advisory to the planning editors at television stations two to three days in advance. Always call to follow up and pitch them on it. Touch bases with them on the day before to see how things are looking. They don't know what's going to be happening on that day, so they can't commit to you in advance. If they ever do commit to you, be wary. Breaking news always preempts events that they've even said for sure that they'll be there to cover. On the day of your event, very early in the morning, it's recommended that you contact assignment editors. They are very tough people to get to focus on what you're saying. The assignment desks are crazy places because they've got a police scanner going, they're giving assignments to their news crews in the field, and they're paying attention to what other T.V. stations here in Los Angeles are covering all at the same time. So you've only got a few seconds to tell them what you want them to do. Try to sell them on what you want them to cover and then wait for their response. It's a very chaotic environment. They usually have meetings between 7:00 and 8:00 A.M. to plan out what they're going to do for that day. You want to call about 6:30, 6:45 before the planning meeting. If you ever have a news crew that commits to coming out and then they don't show up, there's likely something that caused that to happen, an example of a breaking news event or whatnot. So don't feel too badly about that. Weekends are often better times to pitch community-based news, feel-good stories, but that's also a time when many news stations are operating with skeleton crews. They have fewer people to assign out to you, so it's a toss up.

Joann: I'm president of Killeen Communications, a Los Angeles-based firm. I'm also pleased to tell you that I'm the National President of the Public Relations Society of America, which is the largest PR association in the world. There's tremendous resources available for public relations and communications to help you with your community effort. The first place you want to go to is our Website. It's prsa.org. We have 117 chapters all across the country that are looking for getting involved with community activity and help you with your education and your training and your outreach to the media. Once you go to our Website you can click on your local City and there are people there. We have student groups and they are looking to get experience. They need to have internships, they need to get out into the community, they want to practice their academic experience and communication, and they need clips. So you can partner with them and you can have a lot of this work done for you. There are lots of people here in this area who are looking to do pro bono work. Try not to give them your whole story all at once. We have a term in the business that goes, "does the story have legs"? Will it continue to walk after I presented it one time? If you're really looking for your story and you’ve got some nuggets and pieces, try and be very strategic and plan it out. Look to keep your story alive. Look to tell it in segments so that there's always a refreshed perspective on your story. The younger media people are very eager to work with you. So while they may not have a lot media experience, they're very well trained academically, and are flexible. They haven't gotten cynical quite yet about PR people and the media. Don't be afraid of them. Be yourself. Be confident.

Tamara: You shouldn't underestimate cable television. Also, large news organizations do read community papers. Strategize your message and make it clear and simple. Check your images and sound bites. Media advisories are important and two contacts are what I would recommend. Creating a press release or press package is also important. I wanted to point out that many newsrooms operate on telephones, so don't be surprised about getting telephone calls and giving information to people that you think they might be working on. Telephone calls, emails and faxes are also important. Listen to the question and listen to how it's asked because I think that's really important. It kind of gets you in a mind set where the reporter may be going because the news is a lot of times manipulated by editors. Editors will tell reporters, this is the angle that I want you to go on and at best, the news is balanced. It's not objective.

Speaker: We're now at 39 certified councils and there's a promise that they're going to certify another 30. I'm seeing a lot of clutter within the media with over 60 or 70 little community groups all flooding media with Neighborhood Council activities. Is there some perspective those of you who have been in the media trenches that you can give us on that? Tamara: One of the things we touched on was to target your community newspapers because all those large organizations are going to be looking at those little ones.

Joann: I don't know enough about your structure, but I would think if you have a national or a group that oversees your council then that would be great. If you can somehow get together either electronically or with a Website, you need to have a unified message about what the group is and then you'll get more of a strategic look and a focus nationally. Then you're going to have to really work out how you had your local messages. Otherwise, you really dilute the impact of what you're trying to say to the media about your programs.

Speaker: The Hollywood Independent is a community newspaper that serves a lot of our neighborhoods. I was talking to the editor there about if he can create a separate account on every issue that lists the upcoming Neighborhood Council meetings. We want to work together on those events. He thought that sounded like a good idea. So as a community, they're getting that feedback from us a group.

Tamara: That would be something good for the Department of Neighborhood Council’s Website to do as well.

Speaker: Would you please elaborate on the difference between a press release, a press statement, and the press advisory? When is it appropriate to use each.

Matt: The advisory should go out before the event actually happens. It's what is happening, who's going to be there, visuals, what's going to be there, and where. I will put the Thomas Brothers page in the map book where my event is unless it's like at City Hall or something to make it so easy for them to find it that they have no problem with it. List your contact information. You send your media advisory out beforehand and then you have your press release. It answers to who, what, when, where, why; and how? Your most important points go first. If the media is going to be rushed then they're going to read the top of your press release. If that captures their interest then they'll read the rest of it. At the same time while the event is going on if you fax it out to other news organizations because in certain circumstances, they don't have to come to your event, but you can still get coverage from it. Then you pick up the telephone and you call.

Tamara: The news advisory is getting people to the event. The press release is the information that you're trying tell them on why they should arrive there. The statement is when somebody's interviewing you and you're giving them the sound bite.

Speaker: In the interest of full disclosure are these consultants being paid for their performance here today.

Tamara: Absolutely not. Nobody's getting paid today.

Speaker: What I'm hearing is a lot of spin doctoring played to the lowest common denominator, play it for the media, and I think that we're in need of other type of information. Tamara: Like what sir?

Speaker: How we can tell the truth and convince the media that what we're doing is important. It is different. We're not a unified group of a national spokesperson. We are an organic group of organizations. And I think we owe it to ourselves to make our news and not play to the idiocy of the media.

Matt: You just made all of our points exactly. We're telling you to localize your stories. Look for things that are going to attract people locally. We just want to tell the truth. How you view your experiences in life are going to dramatically differ and they are going to impact how you look at a certain story. The media has a job to do. We are telling you from my professional experience what it takes to get into the newspapers. If you don't like it, then don't do it. But we're telling you how it gets done. I'm sorry if you don't like it.

Speaker: A number of years ago, City News Service used to have an item called the Budget. You could call in and say I'm having a media event at this time. Do they still do that?

Matt: Yes.

Speaker: I took media training a few years ago from a reporter and the most compelling thing he said was that in regards to radio and television, not so much for print, is that a reporter's job is not to report the news. The reporter's job is to bring audiences to be sold to the advertising. That tells you what the perspective is.

Speaker: We’re just forming our Neighborhood Council in downtown and I've been attacked by the local press. I was accused shifting my viewpoint with the wind on certain issues. Are you going to be able to provide that type of advice for us on how to handle, for instance, an editor that wants you to choose sides and try to find controversy? Eventually I believe that the Neighborhood Councils are going to start conflicting with each other. That's what the media is looking for, conflicts. Believe me, it's going to start becoming big news.

Matt: From one who also does a significant portion of my business in political consulting and helping people get elected to public office, welcome to the exciting world of politics. You were experiencing what inevitably is going to happen and you're right. As these Neighborhood Councils are created Citywide, one neighborhood's view is going to differ with the other neighborhood's view. That is what the press is going to cover. It's never going to go away. What you have to do though, is that if you are adept at dealing with the media, you will get your message across. If you can get your message into the news, then you let the broader public decide. You'll never be able to control it 100%. That's why it's called “earned media,” and that's why it's so hard to get that attention. You have to earn the right to get into that publication, and hopefully by your message being compelling, you will get coverage the way you want to get covered.

Tamara: My experience would be to try and plant something like around 10:00 a.m. on a weekday. As far as the T.V. crews are concerned, you're much more likely to get them out at 10:00 in the morning on a weekday because when they get closer to press they've got their last minute things going on and this kind of an event, try 10:00 A.M. weekday.