In class this week, we were talking about where we’d send a PSA and media kit as part of a campaign to increase voter registration in our local community (Eugene, Oregon). It was a pretty casual discussion, but it brought up an important topic:
Regardless of your “market,” you must be an avid media consumer. You must know and understand how the media work. You must consume local media, the key national media and relevant trade and consumer media. You must be able to name, off the top of your head, the media that matter to you and your work.
There are two points I’d like to make about this.
The first is that even if you don’t enjoy reading the local paper or catching the evening news or (gasp!) listening to NPR – it’s your job in PR to know that the media’s agenda is and how your client or organization fits. This is a vague requirement, but an important one. You may have heard recently that Ms. Palin has been ridiculed for not being able to name a single media outlet from which she gets information. While you’re not likely to have the opportunity to fumble an interview with Katie Couric, it should be just as embarrassing for you if you can’t answer this basic question.
The second point is more directly related to your future work in PR and specifically, media relations. I would estimate in those campaigns that I’ve worked on with a media relations component, the top tier list of media was no more than about 10 or 15 outlets. These were the media that we focused on as being the most important strategically.
You must know these media inside and out, backwards and forwards. Pitching your top tier media takes research (and more research!) and preparation and you should be working to build long term relationships. This means that you really get to know these outlets and yes, even be able to name them off the top of your head.
Test yourself with an easy question: Can you name every local media outlet in your city?
Comments
4 responses to “Name Your Media”
Hello from Austin, TX,
I just found your blog yesterday and have enjoyed what I’ve read so far.
You mention how important it is to get to know your local media. Do you have any specific tips on how to do this? Is it as simple as just reading different publications, or is there more to it?
Hello,
There are paid subscription databases that you can look at, but in terms of local media it’s not necessary. Just look around.
Typically there are:
** at least 3 and up to 5 local news broadcasts
** 1 or 2 major daily papers
** maybe 2 alternative newsweeklies
** up to a half-dozen news/talk radio channels
** other random independent media of all kinds. These might be very niche and not a daily or weekly read for you (depending on your campaign).
So for traditional media, you’ll see about dozen or so outlets in a typical market. (In Eugene, we have 8)
It’s also worth figuring out if there are any hyperlocal blogs in your area – I’d assume that in Austin there are likely to be some. (hyperlocal blogs are people blogging about their neighborhoods and communities)
You can also do some Google searches, too, for things like “Austin Texas media outlets” and see what you come up with.
Good luck!
I completely agree with this post. I think it’s important to let students know that going into any project at an internship/job, you’re going to be asked to build what feels like hundreds of media lists, and it’s going to be expected that you already know the media outlets that fit for your clients’ needs. I recommend studying your clients, then studying the outlets they’ve worked with in the past and read read read!! Read stuff you don’t want to read, read media outlets your clients MAY fit, because one day you’re going to be in a meeting and when a boss asks you what sort of writer so and so is and who you think a client shoudl be outreaching to…you’re going to know. 🙂
I have actually had a similar blog post in the works (lol, it has been in my blogger drafts for probably about 2 months now!) – I interviewed for a summer internship with an agency my sophomore year of college when I was just starting out in PR, and they asked me where I get my news each day. (I was in college, didn’t have cable – or even a TV, for that matter – couldn’t afford the local paper…) Struggling to come up with something on the spot (I have a tendency to not be able to tell white lies) I told them I read the campus paper each day, and I most recently read about the ASUO election… Needless to say, I didn’t get the job 🙂 BUT, it did get me thinking, it is interesting to think about 1) how my interest in keeping tabs on local and national news has changed from Freshman year of college to now, and 2) how my methods of staying informed have drastically changed. For example, I don’t read dailies as much as I used to, but I ALWAYS read the MSNBC blog and my favorite local blogs each day.
Now, I could probably name most local media outlets and dailies in Portland… but LA? That’s a different story 🙂