Media Relations

Media relations is the part of communications work that deals directly with journalists and the outlets they write for. It covers the research that happens before anyone is approached, the material an organisation prepares, the approach itself, and the record kept afterwards.

Before anything is sent

Most of the work in media relations happens before a single approach is made. A practitioner establishes what is actually new, whether the organisation is in a position to answer follow-up questions about it, and who inside the organisation is authorised to speak. A story that cannot survive its second question is not ready to be offered. The same preparation identifies which outlets and which desks have covered the subject before, because relevance to a particular reporter matters more than the size of an outlet's audience.

What the material contains

A press release remains the ordinary vehicle, and its conventions are unglamorous for a reason: the substance sits in the first paragraph, the detail follows in descending order of importance, and the notes at the foot carry the background a journalist would otherwise have to ask for. Quotations are attributed to a named role and are cleared before the release leaves the organisation. Supporting material such as figures, images and background notes is prepared in the same pass rather than promised for later.

The approach itself

An approach is a short, specific message that says what the story is, why it is being offered to that particular journalist, and what is available to support it. Volume works against the practitioner here. A list of twenty relevant contacts, each written to individually, produces more coverage and less irritation than a list of four hundred sent identically. When a journalist declines, that is information worth recording rather than a reason to send the same offer again.

After a story runs

The record of what ran, where, and in what form is the raw material for everything the measurement desk does later. It is also how an organisation notices patterns: which subjects are picked up, which spokespeople are quoted accurately, which outlets return. Corrections are handled directly and quickly with the outlet rather than through public complaint, and an organisation that asks for a correction should be certain of the point it is making.