How to Manage Your Media Coverage
(Summary of a session held at the October 2003 Communications Network conference, Chicago, IL)
Max King, Heinz Endowments president and former
Philadelphia Inquirer editor shared some tips from
his days in the newspaper world:
- Be open and honest in your media work. Nonprofits
and foundations should balance the content in all
public communications, including media relations to
include what is working and what is not. If you
don't cover what is not working, and how your
organization is striving to change that, the press
will.
What does this mean for your nonprofit or foundation?
Here are some subjects on which you should
communicate proactively so that you control the
message when and if you are covered by the press:
- Your organization didn't make fundraising goals
this year.
- Your organization is under investigation by the
authorities.
- You are cutting your staff by 50% due to funding
cuts and will have to cut services accordingly.
- Provide periodic media training -- training
leadership and staff in key messages, how to
sidestep traps set by overly aggressive reporters
and how to get your organization's message across
no matter what they are asked.
Do you want newspaper coverage that reflects what
your spokespeople actually said? Would you like TV
stations to use your colleagues' best quotes? Then
media training is your best bet. Make sure you train
regularly to keep media skills sharp and messages
current.
- Strengthen internal communications so that your
organization's leadership and staff are aware of
what's coming and why. Make sure they are not
surprised by their own institution.
I'd go beyond King's suggestion to recommend that
you develop a media update plan detailing how often
and via what medium you'll inform key staff and
board spokespeople on organizational news. Your
plan should include regularly scheduled updates
and emergency alerts.
I recently recommended that one nonprofit client
set up a Monday morning staff-wide email update on
high level news only. This brief email comes from
the president and has worked well to brief those who
do speak with the media while ensuring that other
staff feel included and are aware of news that
might impact their work. It's working great!
© 2002-2008 Nancy E. Schwartz. All rights reserved.
About the Author
Nancy E. Schwartz helps nonprofits succeed through effective marketing and communications. As President of Nancy Schwartz & Company (www.nancyschwartz.com), Nancy and her team provide marketing planning and implementation services to organizations as varied as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Center for Asian American Media, and Wake County (NC) Health Services.
Subscribe to her free e-newsletter "Getting Attention", (http://www.nancyschwartz.com/getting_attention.html) and read her blog at http://www.gettingattention.org for more insights, ideas and great tips on attracting the attention your organization deserves.
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© 2002-2008, Nancy Schwartz & Company
Revised April 12, 2008
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