4.03 Publicity

How Media Relations Work

Term  media relations: cultivating positive relationships with media personalities that facilitate an organization in getting favorable and widespread news coverage

Importance of Media Relations in SEM  Maximize favorable publicity  Encourage media to cover team  More media coverage = greater brand equity

Media Relations Approaches  Reactive: when responding to events  Proactive: planning ahead of events  Interactive: ongoing and mutually favorable communications with media  Always be honest and professional

Cultivating Relationship with Media  Make media’s job easier  Provide information  Provide resources (space, WiFi)  Feed them  Allow them to cover preparations of event

Techniques to Work With Media  Get to know the media  Write clear, concise press releases  Be prepared when talking to media  Be honest and professional  Don't antagonize

Media Representatives in SEM  beat writers: cover team on daily basis  Columnists: write opinions on variety of subjects  wire service reporters: write stories that are shared nationally  television news crews  television game broadcasters  Radio/game broadcasters  Photographers

Tools to Communicate With Media  Face-to-face   Fax  Phone  Social media

Media Relations Challenges in SEM  Media has increased options in what to cover  Increased number of media outlets

Terms:  hard news: stories that deal with formal, serious information  soft news: stories that are informal, lighthearted  press releases: factual information provided to news media  captioned photograph: information below a photo that describes action, identifies people

Purposes of Press Releases  To introduce new products  To keep the business in the public eye  To position the business’s image  To support good employee relations  To create good community relations

Press Releases Used in SEM  game advance: preview of upcoming game  hometown release: highlight of player that is sent to his/her local media outlets  news release: information about team (scores, schedule, ticket information)

Guidelines for Writing a Press Release  Post contact information  Keep it short  Be attenion-getting  Avoid giving opinions  Meet media deadlines  Call media if mistakes are sent in release  Remember, the editor decides to publish the story

Getting a News Editor's Attention  Include a captioned photograph.  Meet media deadlines.  Write an appropriate number of releases.  Direct the release to a specific person.  Avoid pressuring the editor.  Avoid playing favorites.

Newsletters  Provide information to public/fans

Develop an Effective Newsletter  Written for the audience  Provides relevant information  Visually appealing  Regularly published

Media Guide  publication that provides information and statistics to media covering the team  Encourages media coverage

Components of Media Guide  Information about organization  Information about coaches  Information about players  Photos  Statistics