This is the first edition of what we hope can be a guide for progressive and radical students and youth on how to use (and not abuse) the media.

Media isn’t just about conveying information in the 21st century. Media now creates the playing field for what we imagine is possible. With control of the mainstream press in the hands of a few corporations, progressive views are often locked out and the public is limited to thinking about politics in ways that don’t allow us to challenge the status quo.

Progressives and radicals have developed a somewhat antagonistic relationship with media as a result. We haven’t yet grown an always saavy means of using the media to convey our messages and sometimes we even end up fighting with the press and with each other.

This is a guide to help us develop new ways to think about the media, figure out when we want press, and strategically use the media. We’re not telling you how to think about the media, what kind of actions to do, or what your message to the press should be; We’re just here to help you do your work on an even more powerful level.

Hope this helps! This project is going to expand in the weeks to come.

E-mail mutinymediacollective@gmail.com if you have any questions!

What is media for?

There are many reasons to use the media. When you do media work, have a reasonable, achievable goal for what you want to accomplish:

• Getting your message out
• Challenging perceptions/views
• Inciting action
• Displaying dissent
• Getting people to an event (advertisement)
• Documentation of events (preventing and recording police brutality)
• Bringing pressure over an issue

Don’t overemphasize media though! Your interaction with the press isn’t going to be symmetrical. By symmetrical, we mean that the press won’t always value who you are or accurately report your message. Media is for creating a story. Your job is to tell a story through media to an audience and this story is the media narrative. The media narrative isn’t necessarily the same as what’s going on in your work, so take time to evaluate what you can realistically do through media.

What is newsworthy?

When people working for social change want to create or change a media narrative, we often do it through actions that interest people. Similarly, news media only take notice of things that have newsworthiness. Newsworthiness simply means something the media thinks is worth reporting.
For activists, making something newsworthy is typically when you take a broad theme that’s relevant to a target audience and then present it in a unique, exciting way.

Generally, people talk about seven characteristics of newsworthiness. If you’re trying to get news media (or your target audience) interested in a story, you need to be able to show that your story covers several of these characteristics and how important these characteristics are depends on where you are, who you’re talking to and, most of all, what’s been occupying the news media and your audience’s attention. Some of these characteristics are always required for something to be worth talking about. Helpfully, we’ve starred those for you!

Timeliness *
Newsworthy issues or events are those which are going on as close to the present as possible, whether in the past or the future, or ongoing issues. Something is timely if it coincides with what people are concerned with at that given moment. It is always a good idea to try to connect your issue with what THE issue of the day is, for example, linking student debt to the overall financial crisis makes it a timely issue for a broad audience.

Impact *
How widespread among your audience is this impact? Be careful not to over-broaden this. For example, you can’t claim that your issue is important because it relates to capitalism and thus effects everyone. Effect, meaning how this will benefit or negatively impact the audience, how severely, how widespread, and whom it affects (keep your audience in mind).

Proximity *
Something that happens near you. Is this a local issue? Is this a national issue? Is this an international issue? What media you target is important in that respect. “Close to home”–geographically, bodily, psychologically, economically.
If you are doing an action about a local issue, target the appropriate press. You don’t send the press release to CNN, you send press release to your campus paper and local TV stations, etc

Prominence
How famous are the people involved (also sometimes refers to the prominence of the issue, but thats more ambiguous) No one cares who you sleep with unless you’re the President. The easiest example of this is that its easier to get press to cover a rally if a famous person is speaking.

Human Interest
Stories that appeal to emotion and usually focus on human interaction. It is why news stories often involve anecdotes about an individual’s life.
Cindy Sheehan is one of the most prominent examples of this in the anti-war movement.

Novelty
How weird is the issue/item? Often this is why activists use Culture jamming. For a RAN action, people dressed up as polar bears and closed their Bank of America accounts in protest of the Bank’s funding of coal plants, which cause global warming and kill polar bears.

Conflict
Clashes are sexy—conflict can refer to either personality conflict (famous person in argument with another famous person), community conflict (gentrification conflict), political/issue conflicts, violence, destruction.  Getting beat up by the cops is a common example for activists. For example, the “Don’t tase me, bro” incident raised the profile of the on-going debate about the use of tasers.

Messaging
Identify your issue and what your concern is or the message you are trying to get out. Make it simple. Concern and solution.

Framing

• Big picture rationale for why people should listen. Drives home overall importance and value of message.
• What are the boundaries that define your issue in a newsworthy fashion?
• Are there aspects of the issue that you want to avoid?
• What is it about your issue you want people to remember?
• How do you not want people to think about your issue? (Are there things you should not be talking about?)

Audience

• Who are you trying to reach? What audience does the media you are in contact with reach?
• You speak differently to mainstream media than you do to independent media. You also speak differently to national media than you do to local media.
• Audience is also defined by medium. A television audience is different from a print audience.
• Remember that when you are speaking to the press, you are technically not speaking to the press, you are speaking to those who read the press, with the press as the gatekeeper of the conversation.
  

Language and Style

• Use accessible language
• Do not use academic language or activist-speak.
• Terms must be consistent and rely on the popularly used term (unless you are trying to shift the terminology or reclaim language).
• When you speak or write for the media and for an audience, you are not writing a manifesto. Avoid epic language.
• When you speak and write, make your voice likable, not abrasive.

Talking points are…

• The elements of your message.
• Highlights of your arguments. Not in depth all-inclusive reasoning behind every single facet of your argument.
• Scripted responses to dominant stereotypes and tough questions a reporter might bring up in an interview.
• Similar to the answers to a Fequently Asked Questions list.
• Written in a way in which anyone can take the talking points and re-state them in their own language.

Why do you need talking points?
Talking points democratize media work in your group by ensuring that regardless of who is speaking everyone has input on content, people can all agree on what are the important facets of an issue, but they can still talk about important points in their own voice. They make your message consistent across individuals and, perhaps most importantly, they prevent awkward rambling.

Sound bites
A sound bite is a short way to express what your action/event/campaign is about.

A sound bite should be:

• Short (15 seconds, 1-2 sentences)
• Memorable
• Expressed through common language and common values (remember that you’re talking to a person you want to relate to but who might not be exactly like you, not just a reporter)

Spokespersons
These are the individuals selected by a group to represent them by speaking to the press.

Why do you need a spokesperson?

• Press is looking for quotes and sound bites from individuals.
• You reliably know what a single spokesperson or group of spokespersons is going to say and sound like.
• You can collectively make sure that they stay on message and communicate what the group has approved.
• You can stay conscious of group dynamics.
• You can control who is represented in the group (the identity of the speakers. You can make sure that the voices of people of color, women, and queers can be included or even prioritized)
• Regularly shifting who is a spokesperson maintains democracy and makes sure to teach everyone this valuable skill. Don’t rely on the “media people” to be spokespersons. Everyone needs to know how to do it. Don’t be shy about it.

Tips for Spokespeople

• Try to counter stereotypes about your message and through your spokespeople choices
• Speak from the heart
• PRACTICE! PRACTICE! PRACTICE! It never hurts to be prepared with a well thought out, brief sound-bite
• The more you say to a reporter, the more they get to choose what to use, so if you have something specific to be included, make sure to just say that. There is no shame in repeating your sound bite over and over again. Sometimes the one little thing that you wish you hadn’t said will be the thing that gets quoted, so choose your words wisely, and gracefully repeat yourself. Regardless of the question you are asked, you can always find a way to bring the attention and focus back to your sound bite. Breathe.
• Remember your ABC’s – Acknowledge, Bridge, Communicate:
  • Acknowledge the reporters question.
  • Bridge from what they’re asking to what you want to talk about.
  • Communicate your message.

How to write press releases

• Press releases are not manifestos
• Press releases notify the public about something that has happened, some piece of news that we want them to cover.  You are not writing TO the press. Although you are sending it to the press, you are writing to your audience and the press’ audience
• Your press releases should be concise, and never more than one page (we mean it!).  Pay attention to the language you’re using and keep it consistent throughout the press release
• Try to write so that a journalist could take your press release and run it, as is, appearing as a news article (corporations get the press to do that all the time—a large amount of news articles you see in small, local newspapers owned by major media corporations are not written by the journalists but by PR departments).

Press Release Format:

• At the very top, write “FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE” and the date that you are sending it out
• Under that should be the names, phone numbers, and email addresses of two spokespeople or media contacts
• Next put a catchy title that describes or eludes to what your press release is about
• Write your information in an “inverted pyramid” putting the most vital information at the top
• Make sure to cover your talking points in the press release, and often your talking points can serve as a guide for the content of the release
• Make sure to include the Who, What, Where, When, Why, & How
• At the very end, include a short paragraph describing what your group is and if offering a website to go to for more info (if appropriate)

Media Advisories

• This is basically a shorter press release that alerts the media to an upcoming event so they can cover it
• This is mostly what you are going to be sending out—this is what you do for rallies, actions, events, etc.
• Send your media advisories out ideally a week before the event, and again two or three days beforehand.
• Media Advisories follow the same language, style, and format of a press release.
• A press release can be sent out the day of the event, or you can just send the media advisory again.  Press releases can also be sent out right after an event to alert the press to what happened if they didn’t cover it, and can include links to any pictures or video from the event to allow the press to cover it after the fact.

Press Packets

If you’re feeling fancy, make press packets for your event to hand out to the press who show up.  It will make you look way professional. At the bare minimum, include your press release and a flier for the event or for your group generally.

You can include any of these other things to make it fancier:

• 2-pocket folder with business card slot
• Propaganda – like stickers and fliers
• Press clippings – put your best clippings here!
• Spokespeople bios – include only information that shows why these spokespeople are experts on your issue
• Important background research
• Fact Sheets – fact sheets are an important way to challenge bias. Use well-framed facts that counter myths and stereotypes.
• Charts and Visuals
• Photos – a great photo that tells the story of your campaign is key to building credibility.  If it’s good enough, media makers might even use it in a story.
• Organizational overview

Media contacts

One of the most valuable resources you can create for your media work is a good press list.  This list should have the name, outlet, phone number, and email of daybooks, news desks, and reporters in your area.  Most major media outlets have a news desk, a central place where possible stories are received and then doled out to appropriate reporters.  Newswire services like the Associated Press (AP) and Reuters have Daybooks, where all the days stories are compiled and then doled out to reporters AND provided to other news outlets (for example, your local news station likely checks the AP and Reuters Daybooks for stories to cover, or will republish a story that the AP writes).  Put reporters on your list who cover your issue or generally cover protests/activism, and especially keep track of those who have wrote about you in the past; building relationships with reporters is one of the best ways to get consistent coverage, and remember, reporters are people too. If you are nice to them they are more likely to give you positive coverage.  If you’re doing a really visual action, also make sure to alert photo and video editors.

Here are some online resources for generating local press lists

The Progressive Democrats of America have a tool to generate local press lists – http://capwiz.com/pdamerica/dbq/media/
You can actually send your press release/advisory out using their website, but only to 5 contacts at a time.  To build your own press list using this system, you actually have to click through and copy/paste, but its a good comprehensive list of major local and national media outlets in your area.

The GOP website has a tool where you can send a letter to editors of your local paper – http://www.gop.com/ActionCenter/WriteNewspapers/
Its mostly just fun to use their tools for our purposes, but if you want to respond to an article in your local paper, a letter to the editor is the way to do that, and this is a good tool if that’s what you’re going for.

If your group needs a more comprehensive local or national press list, email Sam Miller from DC SDS and she’ll hook you up – samantha.dcsds@gmail.com

When you work with press contacts, a good way to

Press conferences
Events specifically designed for questions from the press, in order to get soundbites and discussion of issue out.
Typical format is: At a rally, you have your speakers talk at some designated time before the rally for a set period of time, invite the press, and only allow questions from the press. This is NOT a rally.
A single person (the spokesperson) makes a statement. If there are speakers, you have a single person field questions from the press and then refer those questions to your speakers, sending questions that a specific speaker should answer to that speaker (keeping in mind the identity of the speakers).

Making your actions media friendly…

Start on time!

Keep your message clear and consistent – Have one clear, concise, consistent message, and have it everywhere. Your banners, t-shirts, props, handouts, etc should all have that message or be reinforcing the main message. For banners – keep it short and use easily understandable language. People should know exactly what your action is about from taking one look at your banner.

Send out a press advisory – let your local and campus press know what you’re planning ahead of time, and don’t forget to make follow up calls to important media outlets.  Or, if you’re doing a direct action/civil disobedience/anything that might be considered illegal, have someone ready to send out a press advisory and make phone calls as soon as your action is in place or you decide you want media present.

Have talking points, a media liaison, and prepped spokespeople

Have an “art director” – someone to make sure everything looks good. Any and every picture the media takes should tell your story

(Try to) anticipate the worst case scenario ahead of time and be ready for it. Have plans A,B,C, etc, and a tactical team ready to make decisions on the spot.

Have your own camera and/or video camera to document the events – media is used for protection as well as getting your message out.  Media may request pictures/video if they didn’t get any or decide to cover your action after the fact, and they can also be used as legal evidence.