Reaching the media: What works, what doesn’t and how APC can get more coverage

Research and analysis carried out January-March 2008

by Kelly Loverock, APC communications associate

for APC communications

The press project is part of a larger initiative to build APC’s public profile in the media and target communities. It is a complement to the media and network monitoring report (March 2008), which examined APC’s ability to get stories into the media and its networks by monitoring and analysing our pick-up in 2007.

For the press project, I reviewed how APC currently reaches the media and I make proposals for new formats and ways. The main tools used in this study were staff interviews, a survey of journalists and analysis of various publications on the topic of NGOs and media coverage. This report is intended to provide an improved understanding of our current press outreach methods, which will in turn allow APC to develop a more effective press outreach strategy.

How we currently reach the media

What works

  • Contact details -- with a phone number (this is key) -- are provided on the website for both Karen and Frederic
  • The new website provides key things journalists look for: a media contact person, past press releases, and an “about” section
  • The website provides a list of all staff with photos
  • The website provides a media gallery of photos that journalists can access
  • APC’s has a strong presence at events
  • APC has a substantial press list

What does not work

  • Absence of a strategic media strategy that includes a targeted press list
  • Predominantly event-based approach to media outreach

Too few personal relationships with members of the press

  • Short-term, one-off coverage of issues
  • Lack of time/resources to focus on media outreach
  • Informal media outreach process between the programs and communications[FD1]

Both Frederic and Anriette mentioned that APC’s media outreach is too event-focused. Anriette suggested collaborating with journalists to generate more sustained coverage of issues, which goes hand-in-hand with fostering more personal relationships with reporters. Frederic believes that while APC might get its name in the news, often the themes are lost. He suggested that APC work more closely with members, especially outside of events, to advance particular themes. Alan Finlay also emphasised the importance of deepening relationships with journalists, saying, “I think with this kind of work, APC needs to bring journalists into their fold, so to speak, while respecting their independence”.

Anriette believes that the communications team and the programs need to work together to identify where the interest and opportunities exist. Karel expressed a desire to create a more formal avenue for outreach between communications and SUBC specifically. Erika believes APC WNSP’s press outreach could be improved with a clear and more centralised media plan that outlines “what do we want to illicit with press outreach beyond ‘coverage’”.

All of the suggestions contained in this report are intended to help APC increase its press coverage. But, the last three, more elaborate, recommendations are designed to help APC develop a more strategic outreach plan. I think now is the perfect time for APC to shift its focus onto developing a strategic media plan. As Frederic notes, now that APC has sorted out its public languages (and the new website has been launched) we have the tools to move forward on developing a more strategic media outreach approach. As well, a new intern is joining the communications team in August and could help to execute some of the recommendations.

Everyone I interviewed for this project noted that time and resources were a challenge to undertaking more and better outreach. Anriette cautioned that we need to be selective about what we decide to carry out because we don’t have the resources to do everything we would like. For this reason I have divided the recommendations based on their feasibility.

Proposals for improvement

Relatively simple and affordable (in terms of time, resources etc.)

Timing

It is important to consider when our messages will have the greatest impact. According to the IMPACS handbook [FD2]we should “try and issue news releases early in the day. If the news is timely, news organisations need to know about it before deadline” (p. 110 IMPACS). This might prove challenging because our press releases are issued online and go out to the entire press list (almost 200 people). However, once a targeted press list is developed this process should ideally be simplified, meaning that certain press releases will go out to reporters in particular regions and can be more easily tailored to their deadlines. As well, because the communications staff is centralised in the America’s, sending the press releases out early in the day is a feasible option.

To do: Consider timing of press releases - issuing before news deadlines

Time/resource commitment: Minimal[FD3]

Making “contact us” information more visible on the website

Contact information is the number one thing journalists look for when covering a story. In an April 2004 study by Vocus on What journalists want to see on your web site, 1,000 reporters from print publications were surveyed. Every single reporter agreed that contact information is important online – it was the only item that got 100 percent of journalists’ votes.

The IMPACS handbook advises putting contact information “on every page of your site. In your press area, place the public relations contact information on every page, press release and speech”. The Contact Us section for APC is not visible on the website unless you go to “About APC”. I think it should be visible on the home page, with a link at the bottom and/or top of the page.

To do: Add contact us information to each page

Time/resource commitment: Less than one hour

Use a columnist

“A columnist can provide an additional avenue for coverage, with the added bonus that she or he can support your position” (IMPACS, p. 101). The IMPACS handbook suggests calling the columnist, introducing yourself and your story idea, with an emphasis on why the issue is important and why it would make a good column. APC staff in different cities could each make an effort to connect with local columnists. I think the same advice applies as when trying to develop a targeted press list – pay attention to columnists who write about issues relevant to APC. If we think they could be interested in a particular story or issue, call them and introduce the story idea. Make sure to provide your contact information. Even if they don’t cover the story at that time, they may contact you in the future for other ideas or an interview.

To do: Take note of columnists of interest, log their information and call at an appropriate time e.g. when you have a story to pitch.

Time/resource commitment: Taking note of relevant journalists to contact is part of developing a targeted press release. Calling the columnists should only take a few minutes time and I would aim to make contact once or twice a month.

Editorial board meeting

Every newspaper has an editorial board, which generally meets once a day to debate the news, consider the pros and cons of different issues, and develop the newspapers editorial policy (May, p. 65). An editorial board meeting “allows you to present your organization’s viewpoint, in person, to a newspaper’s editors and to raise their awareness and understanding of your issues. These one-on-one sessions also help you to develop personal relationships, and to build you own and your organization’s credibility as a key source of information”. (IMPACS p. 102)

APC might want to consider this approach during events for instance, when staff are in one place for a meeting/event etc. and there is a newsworthy issue they want to advance. The communications team could call the editorial page editor of a local publication to request a meeting. For instance, John Dada of Fantsuam, and a past board member, was quoted in El Pais when attending a board meeting in Spain. Frederic thinks this idea merits more attention: “It can boost our themes in the media, while offering the reporters with a person/interview angle”.

To do: Contact editorial board(s) to request a meeting, prepare presentation and present views to the board. Also, make yourself available to the press for interviews.

Time/resource commitment: This might only take place once or twice per year. Accounting for preparation time and the meeting itself I believe it would add up to a commitment of a day or two.

Public service announcements (PSAs)

PSAs are short, non-confrontational messages that allow organisations to advertise local events or promote a message about an issue in a creative way. Importantly, they provide the opportunity to increase the organisation’s profile.

Contact the advertising departments at various media outlets to find out their policies, lengths and timing. (IMPACS, p. 115; May, p. 79). This information should be logged so that in the future if we do want to use a PSA, we can easily determine where and how. For assistance in creating PSAs, contact local community television or radio stations. In Canada, many radio stations will produce PSAs free of charge because they are obliged by the Canadian Radio and Television Commission license to broadcast a minimum number of PSAs each month (IMPACS, p. 115). Frederic also recommends doing an exchange with AMARC (community radio stations), in order to cover off roughly five countries where community radios disseminate APC PSAs. I think turning this into a contest could also be a great way to generate publicity and get the PSAs created. Here is one example of a contest by Sony to create a PSA about cyber bullying:

To do: This would be a good task for an intern – to determine where and how exactly APC can develop PSAs and/or to develop a proposal for a contest.

Time/resource commitment: Determining where and how to create PSAs could be a commitment of about a day. Creating the PSAs, or developing and executing a contest to create the PSAs could take a couple months.

Develop a page on Facebook

I know some APCers are adamantly against joining Facebook but I think it is a great way to increase name recognition for APC and create an additional online community around APC. As well, journalists are increasing using platforms, such as Facebook, to gather additional information on people and organisations, when writing stories. Major organisations, such as Planned Parenthood and The Sierra Club, have pages on Facebook. People choose to become “fans of” various organisations. For example, the David Suzuki Foundation has a great page (you may require an account to view this link):

A page would be relatively easy to maintain and is driven in large part (e.g. writing on the wall and in discussion boards) by the members or fans of the page.

To do: See here for instructions on how to create a page:

Time/resource commitment: Creating a page is a simple, step-by-step process that should take no more than 30 minutes. Depending on how much time APC wants to devote to adding information to the page, e.g. adding applications, updating fans, maintaining the page could take anywhere from a few minutes per week to a few minutes per day.

More effort/time, potential cost

Personalise and localise stories

“Editors are always looking for stories that affect the lives of ordinary people. They want to cover real people, not just officials and spokespersons. Another factor that makes for relevance is proximity: editors search for news that is close to home. Always look for ways to localise your stories” (IMPACS, p. 89). For instance, the APC press release “2005 APC Hafkin Prize winner trains Kenyan youth for business opportunities” ( is again a good example of a personalised press release. The focus on Jostinah Wawasi provided an important human-interest angle to the story. This aim is also in line with the core goal of poverty reduction that APC pursues. Putting stories into a real-life context would help to make the policy information more understandable for a wider audience.

In APC’s case, it would be useful to localise and target media in specific regions and provide different contact people based on each region, using members as a resource. “Consider whether you can customize your story to directly address the geographic reach of the media you wish to include on your list, by including, for example, local spokespersons/experts or referring to the localized impacts of the issue you are addressing” (IMPACS p. 92).

Alan Finlay noted that APC’s press releases need more work, suggesting that it would be useful to have a centralised standard media release, with local adaptation and adoption. Frederic believes this is a good idea; however, he is not sure a centralised process is necessary: “If we have one good press release writer per region, this could be left to them, thereby gaining in time and flexibility”.

To do: Localise and personalise press releases when drafting. Consider how the issue will affect particular people or groups and try to illustrate with examples.

Time/resource commitment: Personalising press releases will take some additional thought at the time of writing, but in general it is not that time or resource intensive. Localising stories also requires more thought and also involves adding additional resources or contacts to the release and therefore involves more time and energy.

Devise fresh angles

Press releases could be re-written for different publications based on various angles of an issue, e.g. what are the environmental, health, business or educational aspects to the story? An aspect of an issue might have relevance to environmental publications for instance. The press release should be re-written (perhaps even just the lead) and distributed specifically to the individuals and organisations on the targeted press list that cover these types of stories. For instance, the press release on “2005 APC Hafkin Prize winner trains Kenyan youth for business opportunities”

( could also have been sent to various business publications without much modification.

Because press releases are time sensitive I would advise sending the theme-tailored press releases out at the same time as the original press release. Thus, before the original press release is sent, one to two additional versions should be developed (possibly related to the one or two themes APC chooses to advance that year). Frederic notes that this is a time-consuming and difficult task for the multi-tasking communications team to undertake. I would go so far as to suggest a press person focus a certain number of hours on media relations solely. I think it is vitally important and believe it could generate a lot of benefits. In terms of devising new angles for press releases I also think it could be as simple as changing the title and the lead, and possibly the contact people/resources.

To do: Write additional press releases with new angles for specific publications

Time/resource commitment: This could be a potentially very time-consuming task. I would suggest starting small – targeting one or two additional publications and tackling only one new theme to begin with (for example, the theme could be Environment, and the publications could be E-Magazine[i] ( and The Ecologist (

Create a media or press room

A media or press room is not essential but is worth considering. An online space could be created that centralises all the information journalists want to access when covering a story. The press room could include the following components (or simply incorporate some of these components into the new website):

  • Make note on the website about our unique virtual situation (e.g. no concentrated head office) and post a link to the world time clock. I think this would be a small but useful addition to the website to make it clear to everyone how to reach us/where we exist.

“Where it's [the organisation] located is also important, for sorting out time zones for interviews; some sites make you click around to find a mailing address in order to figure out what city the people you're contacting are located in”.

-Terri Coles, Reuters, Canada

  • Background information: Provide more background information and key interview contacts for particular stories. Frederic mentioned that this is standard practice at events such as WSIS and the IGF. I would recommend continuing this practice and also including background information as an online complement to press releases. The background information should include a list interview contacts of the most compelling spokespeople for your organisation or issues, as well as charts/visuals/photographs, and FAQs relevant to the story. (IMPACS, p. 106). When asked about how useful they find background information and fact sheets when reporting on a story, the majority (10/11) of the journalists surveyed independently by APC noted its usefulness (see appendix 1).
  • APC in the news: Provide a list with links to past news stories written about APC or its programs/campaigns. These links have been compiled as part of the media monitoring report and could easily be uploaded to the new website and should continue to be updated. The Vocus study found that 87 percent of journalists said this kind of information online is helpful. “Posting recent coverage also gives journalists ideas for expanding the angle of a story” (Vocus p. 9). I would advise uploading articles to this section as they are found and checking it monthly to ensure it is up-to-date.
Letters to the editor and Op-eds

The letters to the editor section are one of the most-read segments of the paper (May, p. 75). They can be used when we want to comment on a particular story or on coverage of a particular issue. It’s advised that you keep the letter brief and not overly negative (IMPACS p. 103). If APC manages to keep a pulse on local news and what is being written about our issues, opportunities to comment on articles will start to arise. For instance, when Willie was staying with Anriette in Johannesburg for a meeting, he happened to read about SAT-3 in a South African publication. He wrote a response to the original article, which ended up getting published.