The panelists for “How Weblogs are Transforming the Media Landscape,” at the Community Media Workshop’s Making Media Connections conference: (left to right) Andrew Huff (Gaper’s Block), Barbara Iverson (moderator, Columbia College Chicago) and Eric Zorn (Chicago Tribune). (Photo by Jason Pettus on Flickr.com)
The web has made it easier for us to get our stories out, but what about our events? Most journalists will admit that covering a nonprofit event such as a fundraiser won’t make the headlines unless you have some untouchable “newsworthy” guest or if you are savvy enough to bridge the event to current breaking news features.
But what most people don’t know is that news sites often have “community calendars” where users can submit their own events or tips to be published on their site and in some cases featured in the day’s news broadcast or news publication. Read the rest of this entry »
There’s many ways to contact news outlets about news they can use. One way is through news outlets’ websites. Submit press releases and media alerts to Chicago and other Midwest news outlets using the links below. A word of advice: Be selective when choosing news outlets to send your news too. Consider the geographic area the outlets cover and the readership/viewers they serve. Consider publications’ frequency. Will your news be timely by the time it might be published?
Chicago-area Outlets
• ABC Television
WLS-TV (ABC7-Chicago) does not accept press releases via email. All documents should be faxed to (312) 899-8019. For a directory of links for ABC New’s various national programs click here.
• American Bar Association Journal
All press releases should be emailed to releases@abanet.org.
All firms with more than one employee should have a clearly written media policy that spells out who in the organization may respond to media inquiries, what kinds of information can or should be released to reporters, and what information must be kept confidential.
It’s important to assure your employees that talking to the media, and establishing good relationships with reporters, can and should be constructive. It can help to establish an accurate public perception of who you are and what you do. There’s no need to feel intimidated: Reporters need you as a source of news and background information as much as you need them to give you publicity and clarify your point of view. Read the rest of this entry »
As the corporate Web site becomes a powerful communications center, public relations practitioners should make sure the site effectively supports the media relations function. Here are several strategies to ensure that reporters can easily find your site when they need information about your company, locate useful information within your site, and feel encouraged to contact you.
Make sure the press can find your site. Try to register all possible names for your company. If possible, a Web site name should be the company or organization’s name (or appropriate abbreviation or acronym) followed by .com, .org, or .firm. Most reporters will try that before utilizing search engines. Make sure your meta tags (hidden HTML code that provides information for search engines) include critical key words related to your organization, and ensure that your home page title includes both your company name and major business category. For example, the page title for XYZ Company, which an HR software vendor would access, might read: “XYZ Company delivers HR software solutions to businesses worldwide.” Include your Web site address on everything — business cards, product literature, press releases, e-mail signatures, etc. Read the rest of this entry »
HOW CAN NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS GET MEDIA ATTENTION DURING AN ELECTION YEAR?
Given that news about various political campaigns will consume much of the media’s ink and air time during an election year, Kevin Lampe of Kurth Lampe, a public relations and political consulting firm based in Chicago, offers his advice on how nonprofit organizations can gain media attention for the important community issues they are addressing. He suggests:
Nonprofits can use an election season to deliver their message through political campaigns. Read the rest of this entry »
It’s a respectable way to express your point of view and gain exposure in the marketplace.
Writing a letter to the editor is a great way to (1) correct a mistake, misquote, or distortion in a recent news story; (2) illuminate one or both sides of a controversy involving your profession; or (3) comment on how proposed regulations or policies may affect your clients. Read the rest of this entry »
Media outlets are businesses just like any other. As a result, the media must provide stories that are important, detailed and interesting in order to maintain customers. For this reason, an important but potentially dull public policy story must take an arduous journey to get some form of media coverage. At a recent panel discussion at the Community Media Workshop’s annual Making Media Connections conference, Cornelia Grumman of the Chicago Tribune and David Schaper of radio station WBEZ explained the best ways to get generally unexciting yet important stories into the media.
As a reporter for the Tribune, Cornelia Grumman understands the inherent problems with a newspaper. Familiarization with the quirks and shortcomings of the print media may very well be the first step to getting an article published. The more you know about your disadvantages, the more you can do to combat them. Read the rest of this entry »
Chicago is internationally famous as a “city of neighborhoods,” but its news media celebrate this identity more in theory than practice. Though Chicago has 76 coherent “community areas” and a few hundred identifiable “neighborhoods” within these areas, news and feature stories from and about these areas is usually treated as space filler or calendar fare.
Major downtown Chicago newspapers go through cycles of attempting to cover its neighborhoods better. They have done this by:
Reassigning general assignment reporters to covering certain neighborhood turf,
Creating zoned editions of the papers to permit–especially in the suburbs–better focused “community” stories for their readers, and
Setting up special sections or columns of the paper that specialize in community news.
These efforts come and go, however, and those pitching community stories must stay abreast of the media’s current approaches to covering communities and neighborhoods.
TV news departments often cover neighborhood or community stories by focusing on extraordinary achievements and efforts by “people you should know” or “Chicago’s very own.” Likewise, TV newscasts may feature remarkable achievements or “success stories” of community institutions–housing or school groups or community-based organizations. Any publicist who does not look for and maintain an arsenal of these stories–extraordinary individuals and programs with proven success credentials –should get out of the business. But even stories like these are rarely published by the major media. Read the rest of this entry »
Alex Garcia is an award-winning photojournalist covering real life in the Chicago area and other parts of the world for the Chicago Tribune since 1999. Before coming to Chicago, he worked at the Los Angeles Times and the Long Beach Press-Telegram. He can be reached via email at agarcia@tribune.com.
I used to work for a Ralph Nader organization in Washington D.C., and I remember sitting at the fax machine, wondering what it was going to take to get seemingly out-of-touch reporters to see the story that was screaming to be told.
I remember thinking that if I ever became a journalist, I would help people who needed a particular issue/cause to be fairly represented at whatever newspaper I’m working.
What are some of the things I’ve learned during the past thirteen years on the other end of the fax machine? Read the rest of this entry »
Are Chicago’s Latino-serving nonprofits “too shy or too buena gente” when it comes to seeking news coverage and editorial board meetings? That was one question Gerardo Cardenas of Contratiempo posed to our panel during a meet and greet that featured Gerardo with Tony Martinez of Telemundo Chicago, Fabiola Pomareda of La Raza, Teresa Puente from Chicanísima blog, and Tania Unzueta of RadioArte.
The topic, along with how to make news in the community and quite a few other questions, was hotly debated by the panelists and about 75 folks this afternoon at the National Museum of Mexican Art. Two nice bits of news at the event:
Vocalo and RadioArte jointly announced at the event that the former is sharing its HD signal with RadioArte and the two will collaborate on producing some content. Both stream online but Vocalo sharing its stronger signal will boost the audience for both stations by adding RadioArte’s public affairs, rock en Español and other content to its lineup. (Check the news release here or in Spanish here).
Tony Martinez of Telemundo Chicago reported that the station won a 2009 Emmy for “Outstanding Achievement for Alternate Media/New Media Interactivity” for Tu Voz which is the station’s online, phone bank and related services for connecting with its audience members, helping them with immigration, health or other issues they may face. Read the rest of this entry »
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