on the subject of press/media

[brasda91]

You have an event coming up.  You want your local newspaper and TV station to cover the event.  How much notice do you give the media?

The reason I ask, we had an Open House on July 14 and I contacted both TV and paper and asked for a reporter to cover the event and neither one responded to my request.  I notified them a week in advance.  Do you think I didn't give enough notice?

[Skyray]

Getting media coverage is problematical.  If you can get some celebrity to join in, it will make the job a lot easier because this population has an almost unhealthy fascination with celebrity.  If one of your former members is on leave from Iraq or Afghanistan, have the open house in honor of them.  Get some politician who is running for office to come out to your open house and do a "meet and greet."  You need som sort of hook to get the reporters interested.

[Pylon]

Also use the Media Advisory format to let all the local media outlets know of the event.  Short, sweet, to the point and leave them hanging for more information so they have to come to get the rest of the story.   Fax or email it to the news desks of the various outlets anywhere from 8 - 4 days before the event.  I attached a random example from a few weeks ago from my job.

You weren't too early, but it depends on how important the reporter you contacted feels your event is, weighed against the rest of the news that day.  You need to give them a reason to attend.

As Skyray noted, often politicians are good bets to draw a few reporters, especially if it's during an election cycle.  Just be sure to get on the politicians calendar way in advance when possible.

[jimmydeanno]

...If you can get some celebrity to join in...

Might turn out something like this...?

"Paris Hilton attends local Air Force Patrol meeting"

Paris Hilton caused quite the commotion when she attended a local Civilian Air Force Patrol meeting after running over the sidewalk in her new Bently.  Accompanied by her entrourage, the celebrity, known for her work in modeling, is quoted as saying, "At least they don't all wear the same thing, It's like showing up to the Oscar's wearing the same dress as someone else..."

The celebrity seemed genuinely concerned about the strictness of the children present, noting that they've already banned these types of activities for kids in San Fransisco, so why not everywhere.  "Why would parents subject their children to a program that forces their children to be responsible for their own actions?" Hilton said, "Look how well I've turned out and my parents didn't force me to wear those horribly styled clothes..."

"I was kinda dissapointed that they didn't all flock to me when I arrived, but instead were listening to another child wearing white shoelaces and a white belt - that's hot..."

You can see Hilton in her series The Simple Life co-starring now pregnant celebrity Nicole Ritchie.

"Overall, I am impressed by the United States Civilian Air Force Patrol, and all that they do.  However, I still don't understand why they put other people before themselves."

The United States Civilian Air Force Patrol is a non-profit corporation with more than meets the skies and is comprised of Citizens Helping Communities who perform Missions for America. 

[Walkman]

^^ ROTFLOL

[MIKE]

ROFLcopter

[jimmydeanno]

^translation:

2. roflcopter 

Invented by a Blizzard moderator on the Warcraft III forum. There is always much whining going on on those official forums, much sucking up to moderators and an awful lot of 'BLUE!!! PLZ REPLY!!!1one' (Blue = color of moderator posts), so when a mod posts something, you can bet there'll be thousands of people jumping on it, if only to spam 'BLUE FIX GARGZ PLZZZZ' or 'first reply woooot!' after it in the vain hope that the mod will read it and react.

So when one invented this new buzzword, it was grabbed and squeezed out and spread like a virus across all of the Blizzard forums and from there over the internet.

The word is derived from a unit in Warcraft III, the gyrocopter (flying machine). Your immediate response when someone masses gyros (to be funny, ruin the game, mess around or whatever) is to rofl for ten straight minutes until the copters of doom and destruction have pinpricked 1 of your 20 farms to death with their uber godly bombs.

Now mostly used in Blizzard circles as a leeter version of rofl.

'...and this guy said I could reduce lag by up to 100% by hitting alt-F4. I did and the game closed on me. This is griefing, admins plz ban'
'ROFLCOPTER!!!!!!!!!!'

3. roflcopter 

The superior being of chatspeak, 'roflcopter' out takes down all lollerbladers, lmaoplanes and various other outlawls. Pilots of the roflcopter often enjoy a nice crispy ZOMGBBQPIZZA and some lolmonade. Children also enjoy a good ride in the roflcopter, as it spreads smiles and festivals known as the 'lolapalooza' across the world.

Captain Sloloman of the elite omega roflcopter squad enjoyed a fresh ZOMGBBQPIZZA and a cool lolmonade after his swift victory over the lollerbladers, lmaoplanes and outlawls and returning safely to the lolapalooza.

I hope that clarify's

[Major Carrales]

You have an event coming up.  You want your local newspaper and TV station to cover the event.  How much notice do you give the media?

The reason I ask, we had an Open House on July 14 and I contacted both TV and paper and asked for a reporter to cover the event and neither one responded to my request.  I notified them a week in advance.  Do you think I didn't give enough notice?

I'm not gonna let this thread get hijacked.

The best route is to develop a replationship with the media before you need them to print anything.  That can be accomplished several ways.  From putting on a CAP uniform, making an appointment and metting with them to less formal means.  I've known of people who ask if they can do an "internship" sort of arrangement where the PAO spends some time at the Station or Newspaper. 

That way,  you can circumnavigate all the "who are you, again?" elements of first contact.

[jimmydeanno]

You have an event coming up.  You want your local newspaper and TV station to cover the event.  How much notice do you give the media?

The reason I ask, we had an Open House on July 14 and I contacted both TV and paper and asked for a reporter to cover the event and neither one responded to my request.  I notified them a week in advance.  Do you think I didn't give enough notice?

I'm sorry, I was bad...however, we always follow this rule of thumb. 

Provide as much notice as possible to the media.  The media outlet usually decides who's covering what, and when.  So without enough notice, you might not make the schedule.  Unfortunately some other news even might take priority, such as Paris Hilton coming to town.

Getting to know a reporter or news anchor always helps.  If there is anyone in the squadron that is 'personal friends' of one always helps.  This works well with smaller news outlets like town papers, etc.  Many of the smaller papers cover things like high-school sports games, etc - so it is definitely within the scope of what they cover.

It is important to remember as well, to realize the scope of what you are trying to do.  Getting statewide coverage for a larger event like an airshow is easier than getting coverage for an open house statewide.  It may be a big event for the squadron, but for the size of the media outlet, it may be small time news, outside their scope of relevance.

Editor's choice I guess...

[Walkman]

I think it also depends on the locality. Here in Cache Valley, there's a small newspaper and a community TV (public-access style) station. I'm going to get a lot more response from the local newspaper here as they are always on hungry for stories to fill pages. If I was in a larger metro area, I'd have to work harder to get any attention.

[RiverAux]

I think the chance of getting media coverage of an open house is slim to none for tv.  If you live in a fairly small town, you would have a decent chance of getting a press release advertising it as an upcoming event in the paper, but no chance of actually having a reporter show up. 

Unless is is a really major event, a week for initial notice is probably fine with follow up 2-3 days beforehand. 

[PhotogPilot]

You have an event coming up.  You want your local newspaper and TV station to cover the event.  How much notice do you give the media?

The reason I ask, we had an Open House on July 14 and I contacted both TV and paper and asked for a reporter to cover the event and neither one responded to my request.  I notified them a week in advance.  Do you think I didn't give enough notice?

I'm not gonna let this thread get hijacked.

The best route is to develop a replationship with the media before you need them to print anything.  That can be accomplished several ways.  From putting on a CAP uniform, making an appointment and metting with them to less formal means.  I've known of people who ask if they can do an "internship" sort of arrangement where the PAO spends some time at the Station or Newspaper. 

That way,  you can circumnavigate all the "who are you, again?" elements of first contact.

The good Major from the other end of I-37 is spot on. As someone who recently left that insane biz after almost 30 years, let me tell you what happens with "Media Advisories". All newsrooms keep what is called a "day file", a set of 31 manilla folders, one for each day of the month. Anything sent as advance press notice is put here, unless it is obviously a major news story (POTUS coming to town, etc). Then the day before and the next morning, the assignments editor (or news director in small markets) looks to see if there is anything interesting. He or she sorts through all this, and pulls the "must carry" items (Ron Burgundy and Veronica Corningstone at the local 3rd grade class or the General Manager's favorite charity), and any local politicians town hall meetings. Add to that the usual daily run of stick ups, drive by's and freeway pile ups. If there is time a photog might swing by and shoot enough for a 20 second vo (voice over video), or maybe even grab a few SOT's (Sound On Tape, little sound bite interviews) if it's really slow. Even if a photog swings by and shoots something, God forbid it rains, because your little event will get dumped faster than Paris Hilton's latest boyfriend.

Build relationships with news directors, assigment editors and reporters BEFORE the time you need them, and get a reporter a media ride in your shiny new C-182 with the spiffy glass panel.  Then the newsroom brain trust will know who you are when you call media advisories are a waste of time, of course the above description assumes the "media advisory" isn't turned into a paper C-172 and flown straight down the ILS into file 13.

[Major Carrales]

From where do you hail?

[PhotogPilot]

From where do you hail?

San Antonio

[JohnKachenmeister]

Sparky!

Quit playing on the internet and get ready.  You've got a Cat 4 hurricane headed toward you!

[JohnKachenmeister]

Getting media to your event is like shooting craps.  Its a lot of luck.  You can have a well-planned event with a great "Hook," and some nitwit will do a school shooting-multiple homicide that day.  You could call the media at the last minute, and it is such a slow news day, the editor has the choice to cover your event or a story about somebody catching a near-record catfish.

A few pointers:

1.  Be ready to do their job for them.  Have the news release written, some pix they can use, and make it as easy as you can. 

2.  If you want TV, make sure you have something that is visually appealing.  Planes, action, or Paris Hilton.

3.  Keep the fat guys and the fuzzy guys out of sight.  Like a fraternity rush or a Democrat election campaign, you keep the nerds hidden until after pledge week.

4.  Have prepackaged background material ready to hand out.

[Major Carrales]

Getting media to your event is like shooting craps.  Its a lot of luck.  You can have a well-planned event with a great "Hook," and some nitwit will do a school shooting-multiple homicide that day.  You could call the media at the last minute, and it is such a slow news day, the editor has the choice to cover your event or a story about somebody catching a near-record catfish.

A few pointers:

1.  Be ready to do their job for them.  Have the news release written, some pix they can use, and make it as easy as you can. 

2.  If you want TV, make sure you have something that is visually appealing.  Planes, action, or Paris Hilton.

3.  Keep the fat guys and the fuzzy guys out of sight.  Like a fraternity rush or a Democrat election campaign, you keep the nerds hidden until after pledge week.

4.  Have prepackaged background material ready to hand out.

Words to live by!!!

[Walkman]

Getting to know a reporter or news anchor always helps.  If there is anyone in the squadron that is 'personal friends' of one always helps.  This works well with smaller news outlets like town papers, etc.  Many of the smaller papers cover things like high-school sports games, etc - so it is definitely within the scope of what they cover.

So, I just talked with the city editor about sending in a PR, and asked about a quick meeting To introduce myself sometime. He told me sure and to also meet with the new reporter on the beat. So, the question is, should I go in blues, even though I'm SM w/o grade (so no impressive bling) or just biz clothes?

[brasda91]

Getting to know a reporter or news anchor always helps.  If there is anyone in the squadron that is 'personal friends' of one always helps.  This works well with smaller news outlets like town papers, etc.  Many of the smaller papers cover things like high-school sports games, etc - so it is definitely within the scope of what they cover.

So, I just talked with the city editor about sending in a PR, and asked about a quick meeting To introduce myself sometime. He told me sure and to also meet with the new reporter on the beat. So, the question is, should I go in blues, even though I'm SM w/o grade (so no impressive bling) or just biz clothes?

Blues.  Probably short-sleeve shirt, no tie.  Not overbearing, but yet still professional looking.

[floridacyclist]

I agree. This is the best time to push how special and different we are.