How to get media attention for your cause and how to pitch a story
On January 14, 2017, a group from the Green Party of Utah attended the “Pre-Legislative Bootcamp” hosted by Libertas Utah to gain insight into how to more effectively communicate with Utah's legislators and navigate the processes of law-making and advocacy. Find our notes from the event below.
Note: the Legislative Session starts on January 23rd and ends on March 9th.
Presented by Ben Winslow (Fox 13- @BenWinslow on Twitter) and Matt Canham (Salt Lake Tribune)
Contact each media outlet for your organizing events. Persistently inform them about them.
TV outlets want visuals, so they want stories that have footage to go with them from protests, events etc.
Try a variety of outlets: television, newspaper, radio, city weekly, etc. Clearly state how covering your issue is of importance to a number of people and why.
Get involved with high importance issues to draw media attention.
Consistently send status updates to media outlets, and provide them with a reliable direct contact with questions.
Send stories to news@FOX13now.com or contact the assignment desk directly at 801-536-1313. View http://www.sltrib.com/staff/ on the Salt Lake Tribune for direct contacts.
Takeaways: have a consistent, friendly, smart and professional person for media relations and PR events. Consistently email reminders for events of significance.
