Devices that let you record and communicate with the public can help a nonprofit chronicle events that matter, network with each other, and expand their brands.
by Elsa Wenzel
Originally published in the 2009 Getting on the Air, Online & into Print Media Guide
As tools to record the world’s sights and sounds drop in price,more people have the power in their pockets to show and tell intimate stories with a global audience.
Writer Howard Rheingold describes this as the “little brother” trend. In other words, unlike with fears of “Big Brother” surveilling and controlling the common folk from on high, people on the street can watch the watchers, and each other. The Smart Mobs blog is named after his book describing how digital tools are creating a social revolution.
http://www.smartmobs.com/
For better or worse, human rights abuses at Abu Ghraib in Iraq, for example, would never have become public without military members using their own, small cameras. Read the rest of this entry »
By Gordon Mayer, vice president Community Media Workshop
1. Make Your Own List
Personalize this directory to make it work for you. Make sure to write your own notes in the margins and put your most important contacts in a personalized list—unless there are more than 50 of them, a spreadsheet program such as Microsoft Excel should be fine.
Your personalized list is more important than ever in the era of mass layoffs at news organizations and everyday changes in which online news publications cover our organizations and issues. It’s simply not possible to craft a new list of print, broadcast, and online journalists from scratch each time you plan a media outreach campaign. Likewise, a media list allows you to keep track of journalists who have covered you in the past and are familiar with your work—and if more than one person in your organization works with reporters, it can be a good spot to keep track of who contacted which journalist most recently. But make sure one person is responsible for maintaining the list… that way you’ll know who to hold accountable for keeping it up to date! Read the rest of this entry »
By Gordon Mayer, vice president Community Media Workshop
To get a story in the media, you can’t rely solely on the written word; you can’t merely send a fax or a press release. You also must “pitch” your stories through phone calls to selected editors and reporters.
As difficult as it may seem, “pitching” your stories in this way is necessary to getting media coverage. Phone calls humanize and personalize your stories, so if you have a newsworthy story you believe in, get on the phone and tell the media about it.
Set aside time right after you have sent off your media alerts or press releases to make phone calls to those journalists you really must reach. Making “cold” calls to people you don’t know can be difficult, but most reporters and editors don’t and shouldn’t mind getting them; they depend on and encourage citizens to phone in story tips. Here are some tips to make this task easier. Read the rest of this entry »
Edited by Jessica Rosenberg
Words on the Web
Jessica Rosenberg
When writing on the web, panelists stressed nonprofits avoid jargon and use clear, concise language.
Especially when writing emails, Annie Kinnard Williams of EMMA said to never underestimate the personal touch. No one likes a mass email so when possible, address your reader by name or organization and keep the language conversational. It’s best to put your organization’s name in the subject line – that way your email is searchable once in someone’s inbox.
“Short updates on a frequent basis” is a good rule of thumb for email messaging, said Williams. Stick to a schedule and try to be consistent. And don’t rely on images to communicate information because some people block images and won’t get the message.
Brad Flora of Windy Citizen recommends nonprofits start using blogs to tell their organization’s story. Keep the language simple in blogs too, he said. Even though it sounds informal, it works.
He also suggests that blogs should include links to other sites or blogs because it tells your reader that you are an authority on your topic. Images are good too – it creates a visual appeal for your reader.
“The title of a post is absolutely critical,” said Flora. It’s one of the first things that will grab a reader’s attention.
A good way to generate traffic to your blog or site is to fill a hole in a conversation. Find out what’s missing in someone else’s blog and provide them with the missing piece. For example, Flora said if a blogger doesn’t have any photos that pertain to their post and you do, send them over and ask them to link back to your site. Read the rest of this entry »
2 to 3:15 p.m. CST, Tuesday, February 9
$25, REGISTER
With: Tamar Charney, program director, Michigan Radio; Steve Edwards, acting program director, Chicago Public Radio; Jerome Vaughn, news director, Detroit Public Radio; Bill Wheelhouse, general manager WUIS-Springfield. Moderator: Thom Clark, Community Media Workshop
Media changes are pushing public listener-supported radio to the forefront of how Americans get their news in many communities. In this conversation, four leaders from two states share views on their stations’ changing goals and roles and how they envision local nonprofits as partners and audience members.
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