Using Media To Motivate Change
- 1. Transforming the World Using media to motivate social good
- 2. About @JessicaCoscia 2001 Peace College Mass Com/Jou Grad Driven by desire to listen, collaborate, communicate and do something meaningful Experience pitching to and reporting the news Focus on public affairs programming On launch team for 1 st hyper local user generated television news affiliated website MyNC.com (NBC 17)
- 3. What We’ll Cover The Evolution of Communication Old News vs. New Media Leveraging New Media for PR Success Steps to Generating Media Coverage
- 4. “ Journalism and Public Relations have been around for almost 100 years and won’t be knocking on death’s door anytime soon. Without a doubt the web and social media re making it easier to communicate with public. At the same time, where there used to be a clear delineation…the web has resulted in a blurred line between the two industries.” -Pamela Seiple, HubSpot
- 5. Old News Mass Communication Broadcast Model One way messaging Spin, Hype and jargon Transparency and ethics
- 6. New Media Online Media = New Media Focus on conversations Meaningful and targeted communication Relationships; from virtual to physical
- 7. Web based news Moving Up In 2010, EVERY news platform saw audiences stall or decline EXCEPT for the Internet. For 1 st time more people got news from the web than newspapers. News organizations focused more on aggregation than original reporting. 2011 Pew Research released March 14, 2010
- 8. Benefits of Media Evolution Leveraging New Media for PR Success
- 9. Embracing New Media Is Critical Another platform to talk about your brand, service, cause, etc. More potential for people to notice Broader more targeted reach
- 10. News & Ideas Are Viral Ability To Reach People Everywhere Allow Others to Build On Content & Ideas Evoke Contagious Emotions Can Easily Be Shared
- 11. New Media Motivating Movements? Social networks, interactive maps, videos: the spontaneous revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt and now Lybia are showing the world the democratic and freeing power of the web. Anonymous twitter hashtags (#) created in Middle East to avoid censorship, share photos & videos on twitter
- 12. Crisis Leadership? Google it. As an immediate response to Japan’s earthquake, the search engine created 2011 Japanese Earthquake Crisis Response page . No overhyped media stories or breathless reporters, but useful listing of information that people need. The site is encouraging people to take pictures at shelters and share them with photo sharing sites in a coordinated effort to identify displaced loved ones.
- 13. Citizen Controlled Reporting Hyper local and topical sites surfacing online to to fill void left by failing news organizations Aggregate news articles from journalists, blog posts, and other content that relates to particular location and/or subject area Supplement with user-generated content and encourage citizens to post updates, videos and photos, report crimes and issues, and engage in discussions with their neighbors. Focus on deepening community involvement, engaging readers in dialogue, and bringing people together not just online, but also in the real world. Sites can empower everyday citizens to share information and raise the issues that are important to them, find solutions, and connect with the places and people around them.
- 14. SeeClickFix.com - web, mobile app allows users to browse, post and track complaints and issues in their neighborhood. Empowers citizens to become actively involved in their community by giving them tools to raise civic issues and hold city officials accountable. Ushahidi.com – “Testimony" in Swahili, developed in 2008 to map reports of violence in Kenya after post-election fallout. The Ushahidi platform provides tools for communities to crowd source real-time information using SMS, email, Twitter and the web. Important resource for citizen journalists in times of crisis like the Haiti earthquake, tracking crime in Atlanta, coordinating clean up efforts after 2010 blizzard in Washington DC. Citizen Reporting & Crowdsourcing
- 15. Since 2004, more than 800 community news websites have emerged through U.S. CNN iReport – Share stories, opinions, video, photos. Discuss issues. Best iReports get vetted and used on CNN platforms. charlotte.everyblock.com – access public records, media mentions, real estate listings, crime reports, local deals, etc. The site encourages you to add your own content , whether it is reviewing a restaurant, requesting a civic service, or participating in an online conversation. Unfortunately, EveryBlock is not available everywhere yet - it is limited to sixteen cities in the U.S. Hyperlocal & Topical News
- 16. The People Spoke CNN Listened Tuesday, March 14 , 2011 CNN recognized citizen journalists who, through CNN’s iReport, had helped shed light on stories that may have not otherwise have made headlines. Categories include: Breaking News, Original Reporting, Compelling Imagery (photos or video), Commentary, Personal Story, and Interview. Will you be the next awarded for iReporting excellence?
- 17. Methodology: Monthly community focus forums, hyper local and topical web channels, local news aggregates, user generated news, video and pictures, development of community news programs, community blogs, free training and tools… Success: Increased web traffic, community engagement built loyalty and brand awareness, less take and more give, TV breaking community stories they would not have otherwise known about. Failure: Relied heavily on community engagement. New media was too new. Push back from traditional news team. Failure to find ways to monetize; internet is free. Local failure may have been pathway to success
- 18. The shift "means that there's less journalistic oversight over what is being disseminated and distributed and created," she said, "That raises all the natural questions about how valuable the news is going to be -- how credible it's going to be. I kind of think that argument is moot at this point because it's happening. " Jane McDonnell, executive director of the Online News Association
- 19. Media Outreach = Communication. Collaboration. Social Good. Generating Media Coverage
- 20. Don’t presume… First things first…
- 21. Media Coverage Strategies Set goals Research and listen Develop networks Develop Pitch Integrate online and offline Measure and adjust accordingly
- 22. Set Realistic Goals Define a media strategy and communication goals What do you hope to achieve? What will others gain? Create a schedule with benchmarks
- 23. Do your homework Listen, listen, listen Research Consider audience - media outlets, reporters, bloggers, community influencers and advocates Determine most appropriate mediums Current Events or News Relevant tie ins - Key dates, events, local places and people Tools Google Trends & Alerts Surveys, polls, focus groups HARO, Community Media Journalist Tweets Muck Rack Facebook Search (Groups/Pages/Causes), Twitter Search, Linked In Groups
- 24. Relationships are Reciprocal Identify & Engage Develop networks Influencers, Media, Community Position Yourself as an industry leader, partner, and resource Be Informed Be Responsive Be Transparent Be Interactive Build links online (website, multimedia content, blog, social networks)
- 25. HARO is a great tool to help connect journalists’ story needs with PR Professionals/public who may serve as a good source. Help A Reporter Out
- 26. Good Pitching Stay targeted – Get to the point Segment targets Be Brief Be Interesting , Unique, Timely Personalize Be available Pitches with visuals go to the front of the line
- 27. Pitches we “unlike” Blatantly self promotional More Vague Than The Twilight Zone Un-Edited content Generic/Blanket Pitches No Call to Action Attachments on emails Not paying attention to the (wo)man behind the curtain
- 28. Integrate online & offline Online Cross promote content Enhance media relations Talk to reporters on social networks HARO, Twitter, Linked In… Distribute online content, social media releases Offline Involve/Educate your staff and partners Speak at conferences, meetings and events Offer contests and contributed articles to generate publicity with print, radio, TV, events, conferences and other “real life” venues Ask for feedback
- 29. Measure ROE Return On Engagement PAY ATTENTION Twitter followers. Facebook fans & Insights Dashboard Blog comments and inbound links Web site and blog traffic You Tube ratings and embedded video Measuring influence and community action, movement requires RESEARCH
- 30. Be Creative Content is KING! Create something interesting, compelling, funny that people will naturally want to talk about, share or write about. Be remarkable!! OPTIMIZE stories: Use photos, videos, links, real people
- 32. Is this good news or bad news? Might these changes media consumption and interactions engage new kinds of people? Offer avenue for civic involvement and engagement? Mobilize new people to undertake the kinds of activities, whether offline or on, that have the intent or effect of influencing government action, public policy, public participation, social change? Note: Call to action on sign urging public to “TEXT” To Take Action…
- 33. Research Tools Survey Tools PollDaddy SurveyMonkey Relationship Building HARO Journalist Tweets Muck Rack
- 34. Measurement Tools Link Tracking Bit.ly Tr.im HootSuite Trend Monitoring Google Trends Google Alerts Twitter Grader
- 35. Resources & Tips PewResearch.org (2011 State of Media Report released 3/14) Linkedin.com/today/ (launched news aggregation page 3/10) Mashable.com Communitymediaworkshop.org http://blog.hubspot.com/
Editor's Notes
- #6: Newsrooms are smaller, their aspirations have narrowed and their journalists are stretched thinner. But their leaders also say they are more adaptive, younger and more engaged in multimedia presentation, aggregation, blogging and user content. In some ways, new media and old, slowly and sometimes grudgingly, are coming to resemble each other.
- #7: Newsrooms are smaller, their aspirations have narrowed and their journalists are stretched thinner. But their leaders also say they are more adaptive, younger and more engaged in multimedia presentation, aggregation, blogging and user content. In some ways, new media and old, slowly and sometimes grudgingly, are coming to resemble each other.
- #8: Yahoo! added several dozen reporters across news, sports and finance. AOL had 900 journalists, 500 of them at its local Patch news operation. By the end of 2011, Bloomberg expects to have 150 journalists and analysts for its new Washington operation, Bloomberg Government. News Corp. has hired from 100 to 150, depending on the press reports, for its new tablet newspaper, The Daily, though not all may be journalists. Together these hires come close to matching the jobs that we estimate were lost in newspapers in 2010, the first time we have seen this kind of substitution. A report in this year's study also finds that new community media sites are beginning to put as much energy into securing new revenue streams -- and refining audiences to do so -- as creating content.
- #16: These sites sometimes do a better job at covering community news and drawing targeted audiences than newspapers, local tv and radio.
- #18: Many journalists in traditional newsrooms have left their jobs in recent years to work for online news startups and help shape the future of journalism. The sacrifices they’ve made, though, haven’t always worked out as planned. In 2009, NBC 17’s MyNC.com staffers learned what happens when the future you envisioned quickly becomes the past.
- #21: Don’t presume you simply “deserve” the coverage. Build a good media strategy, goals and do the research before you begin any media generation campaign.
- #22: Who cares? What do you hope to achieve? Communication Goals? Why now? Why is this newsworthy? Can you localize a national story?
- #28: Nowadays everyone seems to be a self proclaimed “expert,” the best, the most deserving…Then, what makes you so special? If you do the research on local, national stories that are making headlines and the reporters, media outlets than are covering them then you should have no trouble targeting your message to each of them. Reporters don’t have time to weed through typos and vague information, be concise and ACCURATE. Don’t make it obvious that the reporter, blogger you are targeting is just another name in a database a pitch is not a newsletter, it’s a NEWS STORY. What do you want the public to do with this information. No Call to Action is not news. Attachments get sent to spam filters, clog emails, etc. More and more bloggers are also stringers for big news outlets, don’t forget to pitch to them. Tailor the pitch for that online media source and it’s audience. Be specific.