Doing your own media work

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Revision as of 19:14, 26 March 2012 by Terra (talk | contribs)
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It's great if OB Media WG is willing to send out a press release to its list.

But to make sure your event is a success, you may want to do some extra media work on your own.

Here are some suggestions:

- Make sure to report your event to the "newsdesks" for major media outlets in the region, especially those that cover Occupy.

Here are a couple of media guides with handy links:

- [Mondo] (Press, Radio, Etc) Scroll down to see the links to media outlets. Click on a link and then scroll down AGAIN to see contact info for each news outlet.

- [Newspapers] (including letters to the editor links. Note that the top link of each is to the main website for each publication. And the bottom link is for the letters to the editor. Generally, letters to the editor are only printed for people that work or live in the community that the paper serves. That's with the exception of regional news outlets like the Globe, Herald, Pheonix.

NOTES:

The Globe, Herald, and the Pheonix have "calendar" listings that should be notified. The Boston Globe also has a weekend "Magazine" edition that should get a copy, in case they want to do a feature.

Unfortunately, the editorial calendars of each publication is different. But the general rule of thumb (based on my little bit of experience, which might be more than you know. if it isn't, please edit this) is that the deadline for weekly news items and features is either Monday or Friday mornings. Note that the Sunday editions often have different editorial calendars. The bottom line is that if you want to get something into a weekly editorial cycle, it's best to start weeks ahead of time, no more than 3 weeks before the event, writing and calling. Look through papers and see which columnists write about topics that are similar to your event/issue. Email those folks directly.

For me to get decent press coverage from the Boston Globe, I've had to contact like 5-10 people, including the newsdesks, the calendars, the columnists, reporters, and the general submittal process.

Of course, it's easier to get press when your issue or event is connected to something that's already in the international news. But if it's not, then getting coverage requires more than just sending in a press release.