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