How to attract media interest in your club or association Alberta Bicycle Association Media Resource Guide 2 Getting Media Coverage 3 Making it run 5 Who to contact 6 In case of an Emergency 2 Getting coverage Below are some tips about how to get and keep a reasonable level of local newspaper coverage. Local sport is always of interest and provided you follow the steps set out below you should have no difficulty getting local coverage. The key principles are Consistency , Quality and Patience . First of all it must be understood that the local papers need good copy and that they face a lot of demands for coverage. However, most of the demand ► Is “one-off”, supported, if at all, by copy of poor to mediocre standard, and ► requires considerable effort by a hard worked staff member facing tight deadlines. Suggested Action Plan Establish Contact Call the local paper and talk to the person responsible for local sport and make sure you address any written material to them personally or at least to their position. Obtain a direct line number and a personal e-mail address. Find out how many words (column inches) they are likely to give you. Try for a written description of your matches but find out whether the paper is interested in all your teams or just your “first” teams. Initially they may only be interested in results but don’t despair once you get “in the door”, over time, better coverage becomes possible. Be Consistent and Timely Always give them the usual information regardless of the results, good or bad and in plenty of time (understand their deadlines). The earlier the information is delivered the better, because they will often reserve space for you and over time come to expect and rely on your contribution. The second biggest mistake is to provide masses of details for good results and sketchy details for bad results and the biggest mistake is to provide no copy at all. Always advise your contact in advance if you will NOT be providing copy. Provide Good Quality Copy Try and use as your correspondent someone with a good command of the language. This will minimise the amount of time the editor needs to spend on your copy and as they operate in a time poor environment, well-written copy gets preference. There is a very simple gauge of your performance, how much of your copy is being printed. The Key to Good Copy see example 1 Aside from well-written copy, the be confused with searching sports Sum up in the last paragraph in a following tips should also assist in journalism. way that the copy makes sense getting your message across. Avoid over-long sentences with the first two paragraphs and the last paragraph, even if the Put all your important information in ► Reporting Results paper has removed the middle the first two paragraphs and write Apart from just showing results they paragraphs. your following paragraphs in a way may like a few paragraphs on all that they can be cut without losing or some of the matches in which Clichés are your friend the sense of your copy. case pick some highlights includ- ing the score and maybe a player Try to deliver your copy elec- Give them a headline in this first achievement. tronically, it gets to the desk of the paragraph (you can suggest editor quickly and makes it easy to a headline but they will usually ► Reporting a race/event edit and process. choose their own but it almost If you are reporting on a race or always come from the first para- event describe the highlights of graph). winners and local riders in detail. Be positive and upbeat, this is Make it easy to follow the sequence largely a public relations exercise of the any events. for your club/sport and shouldn’t Use name and categories . Example 1 Press Release For immediate release Bicycle race doubles the excitement for 2008 Edmonton, May 21, 2008 . On Sunday June 1 2008 between 10:00 am and 2:30 pm the Edmonton Road and Track Club (ERTC) and its sponsor Revolution Cycle will put on the 14 th running of the Pigeon Lake Spring Classic bicycle race (PLRR for short) at the Mulhurst Bay Community Centre in Mulhurst Bay on the northeast side of Pigeon Lake. Since 1995, ERTC has operated an Alberta Bicycle Association sanctioned bicycle road race around Pigeon Lake that has become known as “The Race Round the Lake”. In 2002 the race shifted from early May to early June and the more consistent weather has made the race the biggest one on the prairies, attracting a record 258 riders in 6 race groups from all over Alberta and BC to the 2007 edition of PLRR. A special honour for the 2008 edition will be the presence of Calmar-Drayton Valley MLA Mrs. Diana McQueen as Honourary Starter at the beginning of the event. PLRR race organizer Jeff Davis says “We’re very appreciative of her support and will make extra effort to have our operation run smoothly when she is at the race.” Each year PLRR has done things to improve the organization and add to the competition. The 2008 race ups the excitement to the next level by teaming up with the Central Alberta Bicycle Association (CABC) to feature a Criterium race in Red Deer on Saturday May 31, 2008. Called Criterium Maximum, the new event runs on an 850-metre closed course in the parking lot of the Red Deer’s Centrium Arena. The 6 separate races will circle the tight, twisting course many times as they test their bike-handling and sprinting skills to build up points toward a combined result with PLRR. The combined race will offer prize more than $4000 in prize money. Davis says he is happy to work together with Criterium Maximum organizer Jeff Klassen. Says Davis, “Jeff K. did a great job in 2007 organizing the Provincial Championships. For Criterium Maximum, he’s designed a course that really tests the riders and is great for spectators. You can see everything from everywhere!” Teamwork and cooperation is a big part of bicycle racing and essential for PLRR. The event brings together volunteers from the host Edmonton Road and Track Club along with motorcyclists from the Blue Knights Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club who lead all race groups on the road, members of the Community Police Radio Network (CPRN) who drive the official vehicles and provide race communications and Ski Patrollers ready to provide First Aid. Davis reserves special praise for the people of Mulhurst Bay and the Pigeon Lake area. “For many years, the Mulhurst Bay Community Centre has been Race HQ. It’s a great facility for operating the race, with a large hall, paved parking and a good kitchen for lunch prep. The most important feature of the Centre, though, is the people. They register all the riders before the race and feed them, along with all the race workers and spectators, a BBQ burger lunch after the race. Out on the local roads, they marshal the course through the popular lakeside area and contribute greatly to the safety and fairness of the race.” Other users of the road can contribute to the safety and fairness of the event by watching for groups of cyclists on the roads around Pigeon Lake on Sunday June 1. Two motorcycles will lead each group and the 2 support vehicles following each group will have their four-way flashers going and will display “Caution Cyclists Ahead” signs. Motorists should wait until they can pass the entire group as they would pass a long load. PLRR uses different combinations of a short 9.6 kilometre loop through Mulhurst Bay and a long 58 kilometre loop around Pigeon Lake to suit the race distance to the ability of the riders. The provincial and national team riders in Category 1&2 will complete their two short and two long loops in about three hours and twenty minutes for a total of 136 kilometres. Category 6 was added in 2006 for male and female cyclists younger than 17 or older than 50. This group will do 5 trips around the hilly short loop for a total of 47 kilometers in about one hour and twenty minutes. The two Women’s categories and three other Men’s categories do intermediate distances. For more information about ERTC and the Pigeon Lake Spring Classic, visit www.ertc.org or contact Jeff Davis [email protected] , 780-483-1880. For more information about CABC and Criterium Maximum, contact Jeff Klassen [email protected] 403- 340-0756 For more information about the Alberta Bicycle Association, visit www.albertabicycle.ab.ca or contact Kipp Kaufmann [email protected] , 403-297-2720. - 30 - Be Patient You might have to provide copy for weeks or months before they will give you much space but don’t despair eventually a regular contributor will slip up and you will get all or most of your copy published. If you are having no luck go back to your local paper contact and find out why. Remember you are an important local alternative sport and you are entitled to local coverage but don’t tell the editor that in those words. Once you establish a relationship with your local paper, view your- self as part of the process of de livering local news and you can expect to get coverage for other events such as coaching clinics, elite player visits, presentation nights and registration days.