Using the Media to Tell Your Story

Brian Barker

Who is The Media?

Overworked

60+ hours/week, holidays, weekends

High divorce rate

Underpaid

Print – $25,000 - $50,000

TV - $35,000 - $60,000

Feeding the Beast

Afraid for their job

Schedule of the average TV reporter

2:00 p.m. – Arrive at work – begin searching for story ideas

2:30 p.m. – Evening editorial meeting – present story ideas

3:00 – Reporter leaves meeting with assignment for 4:00, 5:00 and 6:00 newscasts

3:30 – Reporter and live broadcast truck arrive at scene of assigned story, begin shooting video

3:45 – Reporter begins writing script for 4:00 newscast

3:50 – Reporter hands script to photographer, who begins editing story.

3:55 – Photographer feeds video, plugs camera into truck prepares for live shot

4:00 – Live report for newscast

TV reporter schedule

4:05 – Reporter/photographer leave truck to begin

shooting more video and interviews for 5:00

newscast.

4:20 – Breaking news occurs nearby –

Reporter/photographer told to abandon story and

head to new location across town.

5:00 – Reporter/photographer arrive at breaking

news scene and begin doing live reports.

6:30 – After 1.5 hours of live reports, newscasts are

over, crew is asked for story ideas for 11p.m.

newscast.

6:35 – Reporter begins making phone calls to

sources or PIOs to set up story for 11p.m.

TV reporter schedule

7:00 – Crew arrives at new location to begin

shooting 11p.m. story.

8:30 – Crew heads to restaurant to eat and write

story.

9:30 – Crew parks live truck at live location,

photographer begins editing.

10:00 – Breaking news occurs, story is scrapped,

crew races to new location for 11 p.m. newscast.

11:30-Midnight – Return to station

Lay awake, worrying about job

Layoffs

TV – Staffing drops 20% since 2005

Newspapers – Staffing drops 33% since 2001

Why is it so bad?

Old days

3 Broadcast networks

Major newspapers

New Era – Audience is scattered

Internet

On-line news websites

Social Media

Multiple broadcast/cable outlets

Change in Ad Revenue by Medium, 2008

to 2009

Daily Newspaper Advertising Revenue,

1985-2009

Evening News Viewership Over Time

Total Average Audiences for Local TV

News, 2009

2008 2009

Late News 27.9 26.2 -6.4%

Early Evening News 24.1 22.8

-5.5

Morning News 11.9 11.3 -6.1

Mainstream Media Still Matters!

American legacy outlets like newspapers and

broadcast networks accounted for 80% of all items

linked to stories on blogs.

International legacy outlets like the BBC and The

Guardian in Britain accounted for 20%.

They’re Counting on You

Newsrooms produce more content with smaller staffs

Print

On-Line

Broadcast

Hungry for content

What They’re Looking For (TV)

Controversy

Visuals

Holding the powerful accountable

Easy/Not complicated

Live

What can you do for me?

Save me time

Save me money

Make me safe

Take me somewhere I’ve never been

Deadline = NOW

What They’re Looking For (Print)

Controversy

Government savings/waste

Stories with broad appeal/impact

Stories that make me care about someone

Deadline = NOW

Major Newspapers

Community Newspapers

TV Stations

Hyper-Local Websites

Giving You Control

Press Releases Still Work

#1 Source of stories from government agencies

Broad reach

Be careful – they may be a jumping off point for

critics

Social Media

Reporters are obsessed with Twitter

Pitching Stories

Why should I care?

Who does it affect?

It had better happen now, or soon.

They Don’t Care If…

Someone got promoted/retired

Your pitch isn’t local

Nothing is new

They probably don’t care if…

The story is about a process, not an event

It’s not visual

They don’t have anyone to interview

Ideas

Make “friends” in the media

Call them!

They’re nice people

Use press releases – they work

Engage in Social Media

Remember, they’re hungry for content