Working with the Media Writing for the Media Training Webinar

© 2011, National Association of Health Underwriters History of American Journalism The abridged version 1690: First newspaper printed in America (Boston’s Publick Occurrences) 1791: First Amendment protects freedom of speech 1827: First political correspondents sent to Washington 1846: First news stories delivered by telegraph, Associated Press founded 1861: Rise of inverted pyramid when Civil War armies cut telegraph lines 1898: Yellow Journalism hits peak, shifts focus from hard news to editorial 1920: First radio news broadcast, daily newspaper numbers begin to fall 1930: First television news broadcast, print circulation falls again 1972: Woodward and Bernstein write first Watergate stories 1980: First online newspaper published, print circulation falls again 1994: Fist online news-sharing services (Yahoo! and GeoCities) founded Today: Digital news publications continue to increase in popularity

© 2011, National Association of Health Underwriters Everything I Need to Know General News Writing Letter of Introduction Media Advisory Press Release Opinion Editorial (Op-Ed) Letter to the Editor (LTE) I learned in Comm211: Writing for Communications

© 2011, National Association of Health Underwriters The Inverted Pyramid A nonlinear approach to news writing

© 2011, National Association of Health Underwriters Establishing Your Lead Find your selling point Who am I writing for? Is this topic clear enough for anyone to understand? Is it specific enough for one article? How strong is my topic/thesis?

© 2011, National Association of Health Underwriters Everything that Follows After you’ve hooked your reader Picking your main points, or strength in writing stems from a strong outline Your call to action, or what you leave behind

© 2011, National Association of Health Underwriters Making First Contact Introduce yourself to local media Contact a reporter by: –Sending an –Making a phone call –Introducing yourself at an event –Networking through a friend Have a specific purpose or pitch Don’t: –Send snail-mail or fax –Just “drop by” –Let a month go by without contact

© 2011, National Association of Health Underwriters Making First Contact Write a letter of introduction

© 2011, National Association of Health Underwriters The Proactive Approach Header/logo Who, What, When, Where, Why bullets An agenda of activities open to the public and the media Contact information A boilerplate Invite the media with a media advisory

© 2011, National Association of Health Underwriters The Proactive Approach Distribute a media advisory

© 2011, National Association of Health Underwriters The Passive Approach A crisp headline that captures the significant news An introductory paragraph that leads with the most newsworthy information Several paragraphs that describe the news and its relevancy in more detail At least one quotation from a credible spokesperson (preferably local) A closing paragraph known as the "boilerplate" that clearly identifies the company or organization issuing the release The date and city from which it is being issued and a contact name and number Give the details with a press release

© 2011, National Association of Health Underwriters The Passive Approach Distribute a press release

© 2011, National Association of Health Underwriters Everyone Has an Opinion Pick a topic that is timely and important to you Know your audience Get your contact information right Look up submission guidelines Turn to NAHU for help Formulate your opinion piece

© 2011, National Association of Health Underwriters The Big Picture Addresses a large, communal concern or current event Sometimes written by the invited of the editor Usually between 400 and 500 words What is an op-ed?

© 2011, National Association of Health Underwriters The Op-Ed Introduction—emotionally driven Thesis (or claim)—a strong statement Concession—willing to look at both sides of the issue Support—the facts Plan—how to solve a problem Call to action—what readers can do Organization is key

© 2011, National Association of Health Underwriters A Community Forum Respond to pieces previously published Address a specific claim in an article or editorial Between 150 and 200 words What is an LTE?

© 2011, National Association of Health Underwriters The LTE 1.Introduction and claim 2.Support 3.Restate your claim Three paragraphs make a point

© 2011, National Association of Health Underwriters Formatting for Print 1.Type a single space at the end of a sentence. 2.Use rhetorical questions sparingly, if ever. 3.Avoid exclamation points. 4.Write in plain font. 5.Remove quotation marks from phrases you wish to emphasize. 6.Don’t indent points or lists. 7.Include a word-count directly under your title and byline. 8.Keep your paragraphs short. 9.Delete transitional phrases. 10.Spell out numbers below 10, numerate numbers between 10 and 999,999, and use a combination for 1 million and above. Ten simple ways to look like a pro

© 2011, National Association of Health Underwriters When All Else Fails Use one of NAHU’s templates

© 2011, National Association of Health Underwriters Brokers Making a Difference Visit to find out what consumers are saying about the difference you make.BrokersMakingaDifference Send all stories to and encourage your clients to submit as We greatly appreciate you for helping us reach our goal and your wonderful support of NAHU! A no-pressure, high-impact writing exercise

© 2011, National Association of Health Underwriters Writing Resources Media Kits: writing templates organized by topic, type and for chaptersMedia Kits "How To" Media Guide for NAHU Members: training manual with detailed information on working with media"How To" Media Guide for NAHU Members Webinars: past Working with the Media training sessionsWebinars Media Tools Video: an eight-minute guide to media resources available on our websiteMedia Tools Video NAHU PR Staff: we work full time to help youNAHU PR Staff Let NAHU help!

© 2011, National Association of Health Underwriters Q&A Kelly Loussedes, Kathryn Gaglione, Redonah Anderson,