Communicating Your Message With the Media

Candidates must be reminded that outside direct voter contact and paid advertisements, voters receive an abundance of information from the media.  If conservative candidates want voters to hear their message they shouldn’t write off the media or take them for granted.  Instead, they must develop an earned media strategy for their campaign.   Below are five quick points to properly communicate your message with the media.

1.)  Identify the reporters covering your race.  There are a variety of media lists available to every campaign.  Locate these lists and find out who will be covering your race.  In addition, do your research.  Find out as much information as you can about the reporters that you have identified.  Read through past articles; talk with like-minded individuals that have run for office in your community.

2.)  Build relationships with reporters.  The relationship that a candidate/staff builds with a reporter is the single, most important determinant in the coverage that your campaign will receive.  Once you know which reporter(s) will be covering your race, take them out to coffee.  Let them know that you are more than “just a politician.”  The idea here is not to develop a friendship but make the impression that you want to be accessible to them as long as you are treated fairly.

3.)  Put together a plan that attracts reporters.  Campaigns shouldn’t view media outlets as their own PR view.  Reporters want to cover events that will make news.  Setting up an event or announcement to just reiterate campaign talking points will not attract coverage.  For example, if a candidate is receiving an endorsement from their local chamber of commerce, do they have a plan for small businesses to invest in their community that they can also present at the same time?

4.)  Getting the most out of events.  In terms of media coverage, the best time to hold events is Monday through Thursday during the mid-day.   You should send out a media advisory, a simple paragraph describing the what, when, where of the event, to reporters two to three days prior to the event.  Also, campaigns should have a press release that can be handed out/sent to reporters the day of the event.  Press releases should be no more than a page in length and should be appear as a mini-news story.

5.)  Engaging with reporters.  Candidates, especially those running for office for the first time, need to understand that every time they are talking to a reporter they can be quoted.  If you need to go off the record, meaning the reporter can’t quote you, to provide background, do so sparingly.  Finally, if you don’t know the answer to a question, don’t make it up!  Tell, the reporter that you don’t know the answer and let them know that you will get back to them within a proper time frame with a response.