Telling Your StoryThrough the Media
Mar. 24, 2011
Traditional media
•TV
• Print Media
• Radio
•Web
Notes: While social media is grabbing our attention., we spend a good part of our days responding to traditional media.
Mn/DOT and the media
“On an average day 7 minutes of news happens. Yet there are currently three full-time, 24-hour news networks.
Jon Stewart –
Notes: 1,000 stories per month. Times have changed:
- Sophisticated public
- Few Mom & Pop newspapers. Now a handful of huge corporations own “everything.”
- Internet gives instant news which can circle the earth within seconds.
Ted Turner started CNN in 1980. Few colleagues believed Americans would watch a 24-hour all-news show.Prediction: his ego would drive him into bankruptcy. 1997 donated $1 billion to charity.
The media
•The media is an important interest group and vehicle in getting our messages to the public
•News is competitive – reporters, editors and producers have an incredible need for information
Notes: The media is critical in helping us get information to the public, stakeholders and opinion makers. Delivering clear and purposeful information is our goal. We are a high profile public agency. The media craves information about transportation – this need for information and the competitive nature of the news puts us in a strong position because we are the best source. Competitive, FOX 9 has a 9 1/2 hr. news hole to fill daily, KSTP has 8 ½ hours to fill.
What influences leaders
•Congressmen and women are influenced more by what is reported in their hometown media than any other form of communications.
Peter Hart Research Associates ,Communicating with Congress
Notes: Senior staffers in the House and the Senate told the Peter Hart Research Associates that an editorial in a local paper is twice as likely to get attention as a similar piece in a national publication because the local piece reflects the wishes of the local constituency.
Although people in Congress spend the majority of their time in Washington, they pay strict attention to local news reports to find out what’s going on at home. This is also true of our Minnesota elected officials - even though they night spend a lot of time in St. Paul during the legislative session, you can bet they have their eyes on the local media back home.
This is why it is so important for Mn/DOT to get the attention of local reporters - they truly are where the action is!
What Americans say about the media and the news
•Access media for average of one hour per day
•Useful in their everyday lives
•Believe media are more influenced by powerful interests than good of society
•Trust local news outlets more
Notes: 2/3rds of people surveyed think news too sensational.Journalists have ethics equal to politicians and lawyers.Commuters, all 2,646,000 of them are interested in how their drive to work will be. There are 29,370 lane miles in the state and Mn/DOT is responsible for keeping folks updated on their status, for example, construction, crashes, detours, weather related closures etc.
Newsmakers
•Unique, unusual situation
•Focus is impact on people – how many?
•Prominence – who or what is involved?
•Timeliness
•Proximity
•Opposing views
Notes: Important transportation topics give way to the next newsmaker, Wakota Coalition
What is news?
Notes: According to former WCCO reporter Lindsey Strand,“Bad news is good news to a reporter. All I needed was a story that had someone who loved it, someone who hated it and my boss loved me!”
Here’s what makes news, Compelling C’s
Conflict, Confusion, Close to home, Contradiction, Controversy, Catastrophe, Competition
Notes: The compelling “C’s” use current examples if possible for several of them.What would you think about this story if you were a reporter?A caller says: “I don’t want to give you my name, but you should look into what’s happening at the Zebra Club. The treasurer embezzled $200,000 and ran off with the president’s wife. The Children’s Hospital that we support is about to run out of money because of theft. There’s a horrible internal fight right now on whether or not to prosecute the treasurer. By the way, did I tell you he is a priest?
Mn/DOT makes news
•Snowplowing
•Road construction
•Traffic management
•Potholes
•Road blows
•Litter
•Speed limits
•Funding
•Investments
•Sprawl
•Contracting
•Eminent domain
•Environment
•HOT lanes
Notes: We could use the tune “Send in the plows” in the background
Mn/DOT Media Relations
•Provide ongoing communication with print, television, radio and Web-based news media to ensure that accurate and timely agency information is provided to a broad public audience
Notes: It is the policy of the Minnesota Department of Transportation to provide clear, accurate, timely and consistent information to the news media. The news media serve as a conduit to Minnesota citizens and can help inform, involve and educate them about transportation plans, issues and decisions. Therefore, it is critical to the success of Mn/DOT’s programs and initiatives to develop and maintain good working relationships with members of the news media.
Media contact
•Phone call from a reporter about your project
•Reporter asks questions at a public meeting or open house
•Report is searching for information or spokesperson on a particular issue or during a crisis
•Special interest on the particular function you perform at Mn/DOT
Notes: Examples include reporters calling about the delay of Hwy 100; questions during a public meeting about equity and toll roads (e.g. I-394 pay option); calls about paint vs. epoxy striping, rest area closures, the litter plaguing I-94 between Minneapolis and St. Paul; the impact of ethanol on federal funding for Minnesota roads; etc. Many of you at one time or another have had media contact on some of these subjects/issues …
Media Relations tasks
•Responding to media requests for information and interviews
•Issuing news releases and media packets
•Providing public statements and commentary for the agency
•Holding news conferences and media events
Notes: PAC s provide the lead on tall these. Chris will talk to you more about how we use news releases .
Media Packets
•News Release
•Maps
•Project /subject Information
•Resource material
•Agency information
•Contact information
Mn/DOT spokespersons
•The people assigned by management and communications staff to represent the agency in a media interview
Image of MnDOT public affairs coordinators around the state:
Major TV Media
•KTCA
•WCCO
•KSTP
•FOX 9
•KARE 11
Notes: KSTP and FOX9 have largest news holes and we hear from them frequently. TV needs visuals and generally wants an on-camera spokesperson.
Cable TV
•Local cable TV is important to the community
•Good source of free media coverage
•Provides in-depth coverage of topics
•A natural for transportation and transit projects
Notes: Agency develops a relationship with its community access television provider, which in turn can provide its television production expertise.
Cable TV in Minnesota
•Great opportunity for agencies to connect with community
•Check out for cable access closest to your community
Mn/DOT and print media
•Print media generally serves an audience with more advanced education than other types of media.
•Print media provide identity to communities and lends a certain weight to content.Source: iMedia Advisory, 2009
Notes: Proint media both online and hard copy allow for discussion of a topic while TV and radio coverage generally does not
Daily Print Media in Metro Area
•Star & Tribune
•St. Paul Pioneer Press
•Minnesota Daily
Image of outstate daily print media and Minnesota daily newspapers:
Image of outstate weekly print media of suburban area newspapers:
Radio
•Arbitron research shows that 84.8 percent of people, 12 years or older, listen to radio every day
•On average, people listen to six radio stations each week, and they tune in for shorter bursts of time than previously documented
Radio Stations and Mn/DOT
•WCCO
•KSTP
•MPR
•Clear Channel
Minnesota Radio Stations
•To find radio outlets in your project area visit:
Mn media serving ethnic populations
•Asian American Press
•Asian Pages
•Bois Forte News
•Nett Lake, American Indian
•CircleMinneapolis, American Indian community newspaper
•One Nation News, Native American newspaper
•Nash Dom Minnesota
•Russian community newspaper
•Somali TV news show through CTV15 in Roseville
•African News Journal
•Insight News, African American Newspaper
•Spokesman Recorder, African American Newspaper
•Hmong Times
•Latino Communications Network, newspaper, radio & TV
•Mshale, Online African-American media
•Hmong Today, newspaper
•Vietnamese Broadcasting of Minnesota, radio and TV
•KFAI Radio provides several ethnic radio shows
Ethnic media and projects
•Develop relationships with editors at ethnic media outlets
•Work with ethnic community leaders to promote involvement at public meetings
Media interviews
Before, During, After
Before agreeing to an interview
Contact your public affairs/information coordinator
•They may have background information on the reporter or media outlet
•They will find out:
•Scope of interview
•Who else has been interviewed
•Deadline
Notes: As content expert, you can’t say “I don’t know.” But communications experts are not expected to have the ready answer. We’re expected to find the answer out. So let us do a little reporting for you. Tell the reporter you’re in the middle of something (you probably are) and send them to us. We’ll find out background info so you have context.
Focus the interview
Who is your audience?Why are you conducting the interview?Why does your audience care? How will information affect them?Are you the appropriate spokesperson?
Notes: It’s not the reporter. Are you providing info people need to know (traffic will be detoured), info. you want them to know (department wins a safety award?) something you need them to do (stay back from snowplows)Why does your audience care?
Messages
- Speak in pyramids
- Talk about benefits, not features
- Keep it simple - 3 points
- Be brief – 7 seconds, 140 characters
- Sum it up
Notes: We each receive up to 3,000 messages every day. It’s important to boil your message down to the important, critical information because people don’t have time to listen to everything coming their way.Speak in terms of benefits-instead of talking about bituminuous or concrete overlays, say you’re resurfacing for a smoother, safer ride. Instead of talking about installing projects that keep us in compliance with ADA law, talk about improvements to accessibility. This keeps jargon out of our language and keeps the message focused on the end benefit to the motorist. For example, on a big construction project on I-35W and the Crosstown, it was important to communicate that: when the project was complete, people would have
•more transportation choices,
•less congestion
•Easier commute on one of the busiest roads in Minnesota.
•Go to 511 for updated info. during construction
•thank you for your patience.
•The project had a lot of other benefits, but they weren’t relevant to commuters during construction.
•Keep it brief, focused on benefits and relevant
How do we provide info to media?
•Phone calls
•Emails
Notes: Generally, reporters call or email us when they’re working on a story. And that’s generally how we reach them too.
News releases
•Useful for sharing info. with a number of media
•Critical when sharing complicated info
•Today, increasingly helpful in sharing info. immediately through media websites
News conferences
Advantageous to work with reporters as a group
Economical use of your time
Involves:
Pre-briefing
Opening statement
Rehearse presenters – limit the number
Accessible location with parking
Media kits that reinforce information
Notes: Use sparingly. Valuable when you have breaking news, a crisis. You want to make sure journalists are happy they came. If they aren’t you have trouble. If they can get the info.in another form-like a news release-you will have wasted their time.
During the interview
- Weave your three main points throughout your answer
- Don’t repeat negative information
- No personal opinions
- Don’t go off the record
- Don’t say “no comment”
- 6. If you don’t know the answer, say so
- 7. Keep your message simple
- 8. When you’ve answered the question, stop talking
- 9. Never comment on an issue in litigation
- 10. Don’t speculate
Answering questions
- Watch your reaction shot (especially on video)
- Don’t label the questions
- Don’t use the reporter’s name
On camera?
- Have your public affairs staff present
- Get out of your office
- Pay attention to the background of the camera shot
- Keep your feet flat on the floor
- Sit still – don’t rock, chew gum or slouch
- Forget the camera-keep eyes on interviewer
- Use normal tone of voice
- Remember the photographer
- Notes: Your PAC can observe you, help you improve
- When the reporter asks, as they often do “What haven’t we covered?” They’ll remember what you didn’t cover.
After the interview
Monitor
•Look at the coverage in print, online, on-air
•Correct inaccurate information
•Thank them for a job well done
They got it wrong!
If story has factual errors, call the reporter and point them out
Don’t ask for a retraction
Summary
- Contact your PAC
- Know your audience
- Use three key messages
Questions?
Where do Social Media and Regular Media Intersect?
“Marketers feel they’re required to have a Facebook strategy. That’s unfair to the poor marketers—heck, Facebook doesn’t really have a Facebook strategy.”
--Chip Heath, forward to The Dragonfly Effect
What we do
•Mn/DOT Tweets our traffic updates and news releases
•Mn/DOT set up a Facebook Page
•Mn/DOT set up a YouTube channel
What MSM does with our social media
•Snow plow video
•Mndotnews and mndotraffic tweets
•Facebook?
Questions we ask ourselves before we post
•Do we have something to say?
•Do we have somewhere to point them?
•Are we responding to questions quickly?
•Is our tone right?
Social Media’s two-way street
You can monitor media outlets’ Tweets and their Facebook Page
Image of TweetDeck:
Image of TweetDeck topic of Explosion Last Week:
Questions?
Thank you for your time and attention.Get a copy of this presentation (without video) from