Media Tips

Your grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services is a recognition of excellence that should be shared with your community. As a recipient, you are required to acknowledge the Institute’s support and take steps to extend the award’s impact on the community at large. Working with the media is one of the most economical ways to develop a strong, positive presence in your community. These guidelines are designed to help you do that, particularly if your organization hasn’t had much experience with media relations in the past. If you already have in place effective practices for getting the word out to your community and local media, that’s great. We hope you still find these tips useful.

The Basics

1. Prepare a news release. The basic way of communicating with all media is with a news release. It provides the who, what, when, and where of your news. Often it is picked up by a newspaper and run in its entirety. In other cases it introduces a reporter to your news and provides a contact for getting more information. Refer to the Sample News Release included later in this document.
   
   The Sample Release shows a simple announcement of a grant award. One way to garner additional attention is to tie the announcement of your award to an event or to a current news issue. Is your institution planning a community day, a major announcement, or an anniversary commemoration? Is there an upcoming community-wide arts or humanities week? If you can link your announcement with other activities or events, you increase the chance of capturing media attention. Similarly, you can package your story in the context of other local or national issues by including a quote that ties your grant award to the larger issue.
2. Develop a distribution list. To reach the broadest audience, your list should include local newspapers, radio stations, television stations, and news and wire services. Are there reporters who regularly cover your activities? Address the release to the features editor or education editor at the newspapers and to the assignment editor at television and radio stations. If you do not know who these editors are, make a few phone calls to the news desks to identify the right people (it might be more than one) to receive your release. This is also an opportunity to determine how each outlet would like to receive its news, whether by email, fax, or mail.
   
   You can also use your news release to reach more targeted audiences. Consider including any local community magazines, community calendar/notices listings, free community “advertisers,” the tourism board, the convention center, and the chamber of commerce.
3. Issue your release. E-mail or fax the release to daily papers, television and radio stations, weekly papers and magazines.
4. “Pitch” the story. Follow up by calling the media contact to confirm his or her receipt and to “pitch” your story. Present the facts quickly and emphasize why this would interest his or her readers or viewers. If there is interest, you might offer to set up an interview with the director or a behind-the-scenes tour of your facility.
5. Remember timing. There are a variety of factors that determine whether your story will receive coverage. If you issue a release on the same day as a tragic fire or accident, your story could get lost in the shuffle. If there is a larger news event, hold your release for a quieter news day. The time of day and day of week are other factors to consider when you issue a release or call a reporter. The best time to reach a television news desk is in the morning, not in the late afternoon when they are preparing for their newscasts. Likewise, few news bureaus can do much with a release if it is issued at 4:00 p.m. on a Friday.

Beyond the Press Release

Use the occasion of receiving an award from the Institute to:

• Conduct editorial board meetings. Educate your local newspaper editors about your institution and the important role it plays in your community. Arrange to go to their editorial board meetings. Take representatives of the public you serve, such as school teachers, leaders of local community groups like Girl Scouts or Boy Scouts, members of your museum or friends of your library, etc.
• Contact local news and talk shows. Does your area have a morning news program that features taped segments? Invite reporters to broadcast or tape a story from your institution. Identify a spokesperson from your institution to appear on radio or television talk shows.
• Call us to see if the Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services will be traveling to your area.
• A picture is worth a thousand words. Send out a visual with a caption to help tell your story.