Stefi Rucci

Say Communications

April 2015

Working

with the Media

This session

What makes a good news story

Understanding the media

Targeting and engaging with the

right media

Becoming the go-to organisation

Awareness

campaign

News Ashya King & the story

about proton beam therapy

Scientific

breakthroughs

Three DNAs to make a baby,

controversial issue which

sparked debate but could be

the answer for some rare

conditions – coverage in

national papers and debates in

broadcast media

Human interest

stories

Patient advocacy

Calling for access to a

treatment that could

make a difference to the

lives of people with the

rare genetic mutation in

CF.

Fundraising

challenges

Health stories are myriad

Every day there are hundreds of different stories to do with health conditions, cures, medications, the NHS etc

The media have an agenda and cater to specific groups

Size matters

• Difficult for smaller patient groups to be heard among the larger players

• Relevance to the wider public

Credible sources, knowledge and expertise are in great demand

Timing is everything

Challenges and

opportunities

Build a compelling story

Know your media & align your agenda

Target media for high impact and high relevance

Position your organisation as the expert

Be ready!

The answer 1

2

3

4

5

Pitching a story successfully is all

about alignment

Your news and

what matters to you

The media

agenda

The environment

A story with cut through

Build a compelling story1

Healthcare news

triggers New science/ Breakthroughs /Clinical Trials

Campaigning for patient needs

(healthcare access)

Expert opinion on conditions/HCPs and

your organisation: challenge to status

quo

Case studies & celebrity supporters

NICE guidelines/ policy changes

Awareness weeks [not always!]

What might the media be interested in?

What’s new, and how does it

change the status quo?

What are the implications/

benefits and for

whom /on what?

Does this align with health priorities?

What is the evidence?

Who is supporting or endorsing this?

Who needs to know?

What is the call to action?

What are your best assets? Data,

survey, KOLs, case study,

photography, video

Test your story: is it compelling?

Specialist media National papers Local papers Magazines

TV

Radio Bloggers Social

Know your media2

Know it better…

Things to consider when matching your story

and your assets to the right media:

Lay or specialist? Readership profile?

Short, medium or long-lead?

International, national, regional, local reach?

Print, radio, TV, digital, all?

News or features, dedicated columns, special

features, Q&A etc

Staff or freelance writers, health, social care

or science reporters?

Define the ideal media target

Matchmaking your story

3Targeting for high impact and

high relevance

How to identify and

contact the right

media

Create qualified target lists

No scatter gun approach please!

Social mediaInternet

research

Media

databases

Providers such as

Precise/Gorkana/

Vocus – offer a

charity rate

Full database of all

media and press

release distribution

Will also offer

other services

including forward

features lists and

monitoring

Find out the Twitter

handle of the

journalist you want

to target

Approach via

twitter: e.g.

@rosieBennett you

might want to

know about new

research to cure

for Rett syndrome

pls contact us

@rettuk

Look at the media

your audience

reads/listens to

Go online and find

the journalists that

write stories you

like to read

Target according to

the audience, e.g:

Guardian

Healthcare

Network for HCPs

Where to start

“Start with regional if you

have not had much contact

with media.”

• Many good stories are told by the regional media who are more receptive to stories with a local angle

Regional media – broadcast and print

• Are hungry for real life stories and have a long lead time, so they have time to listen

Magazines, print and online

• Only contact when you have a strong story, be prepared to react quickly if they take your story on board

National media – print and broadcast

Press release

No more than two

pages

At least one quote but

no more than two

E-mailable – in the

body text of an email,

no attachments

Hyper-links to

supporting materials

(reports/infographic

etc)

FAQs and

Information Box

• An informative box

about your disease

area, magazines

and newspapers

often use them

Online / Social

media

Shareable assets

Have supporting

tweets/Facebook

messages ready

Press release and

information available

online

Supporting materials

available to access

Case studies

Agree who will

represent your charity

in advance

Write up their case

study so that it is

available to send and

is signed off by that

person

Ensure their

availability so that

they can be

interviewed

What you will need to back up your media contactMedia assets

Expertise

CEO/Policy Director

available to speak

Healthcare

professionals linked

to your organisation,

if needed to speak

Define clearly what you stand for

and what you can offer:

A strong voice and a clear position in

representing your patients

A clear focus: advocacy, research,

patient support?

Disease expertise and information

Access to case studies/access to

clinicians and experts

Clinical trial data, research

Leverage your best assets!

Positioning your organisation as the expert and first port of call4

Be visible:

Your website, social media platform

should be up to date, informative,

professional

Make your organisation known by

signing up to alliances of organisations,

a collection of voices is more likely to be

heard than a single voice

Sign up to sites like Ask Charity and

offer case studies wherever possible

Be ready to get involved!5

Take the media seriously, read your key media and

follow influential journalists and relevant columns – keep

building and maintaining your target list

Be ready to react to stories piggybacking on topical

issues - as well as proactively contacting media when

the time is right

If a journalist rings, provide what they need if you can

and do it in good time ahead of their deadline. They will

respect you for this and come back again

Update your owned platforms and background materials

regularly and keep the message consistent and up to

date

Maintain a bank of case studies that have not been

published.

Seven deadly sins of

media relations Scattergun approach

Impersonal emails

Stalking journalists with irrelevant material – it will

result in your email being blocked

Attachments - absolutely no attachments in first

email contact

Calling a journalist on deadline, or pitching a story

irrelevant to their column/role

Sending very long press releases

Never picking up the phone and relying on email

only.

Final top tips

Journalists may try to dramatize a story, be vigilant to this

Case studies, be prepared for last minute crisis, they may pull

out of a story at the last minute

Be targeted, use the right media for the right story, e.g: science

breakthrough = Science correspondent

Brief your spokespeople well with three clear messages and

stick to them

Pitch to news agencies like PA News/AP for really big stories

they will help to syndicate your story more widely

Inaccuracies are rife! Wherever possible request a read back

If a journalist writes a good piece about you, remember to

thank them and go back to them again when you have

something that may interest them.

Say Communications Ltd.

The Courtyard

7 Francis Grove

Wimbledon

London SW19 4DW

+44 (0)20 8971 6400

hello@saycomms.co.uk

www.saycomms.co.uk

Thank you