The following examples for media events may be integrated with other special events.
Choose and
use the appropriate event for your message. Don't call a news conference when a
briefing or news release would do. Prepare well-researched news kits and
quotable statements. Don't call meetings with the press lightly. Journalists
will appreciate your not wasting their time and your organization will gain
respect as a credible ‘player’. Networking on a daily and weekly basis to
develop relationships with the media will enhance the success of your formal
news events.
News
Conferences: Announce serious ‘hard’
news; indicate to journalists that you have something important enough that a
news release alone is not enough to tell it. Also implies that radio and TV
should come to record/ interview the several spokespersons usually lined up to
deliver and comment upon the news. Always
provide news kits and, if needed, sound amplification systems so that
questions/answers can be heard by everyone. Find out ahead of time if broadcast
journalists have any special electrical or other equipment needs. Arrange for a
quiet area or small room where interviews can be taped. News conferences
should not last longer than one hour, including a questions and answer period.
News
Briefings: Allow your
organization to put its ‘spin’ on a timely issue and provide substantive background or statements from your spokespersons,
without pretending that you are making news that day. Runs like a news
conference but is ‘softer’ and more exploratory in nature. Try to schedule
briefings for the slower news days of the week so that you are not competing
with weekly cabinet briefings, start or close of the week business. Be
prepared to reschedule if you are ‘blown off the page’ by some late-breaking
news story.
Press
Breakfasts (Lunches/Coffees, etc. according to your budget):
The ‘softest’ of formal media events.
Keep journalists updated on your issues, without needing a current news ‘hook.’
Provide a kit with plenty of useful facts and background info that can be filed
away for their next story on the subject. Such events usually start with a
presentation from your spokesperson or expert, followed by a questions and
answers and then discussion over refreshments. Helps keep up your contacts with
the press in between big events or news conferences. Also, very useful for
coalitions: you could have a monthly walk-in coffee/breakfast for the media,
with a different NGO or coalition member giving the presentation each time.