Jump Rope for Heart Media KitThis media kit is designed to give you some simple tools to use and practical advice about how to achieve media coverage of your school’s participation in the Heart Foundation’s Jump Rope for Heart program.

Good photos and vision can often make a story and Jump Rope for Heart provides lots of colour and movement, making it a wonderful way for your school to showcase its achievements.

It’s the Heart Foundation’s experience that media outlets, particularly local newspapers, welcome the opportunity to come and photograph local school kids participating in a fun, physical activity.

This media kit contains:

Key messages. Information about different types of media. Tips for writing a media release & media release checklist. Example media release. Photography guidelines.

If you need help, please feel free to contact the Heart Foundation’s Jump Rope for Heart Media Manager:

Siobhan McMahonEmail: Siobhan.mcmahon@heartfoundation.org.auPhone: (02) 9219 2439Mobile: 0478 313 656

Key messagesAbout Jump Rope for Heart

Since 1983, more than 10 million Aussie kids and more than 90% of Aussie schools have taken part in Jump Rope for Heart.

Every year, more than one million Aussies are involved in Jump Rope for Heart as skippers, teachers and sponsors.

The Heart Foundation’s Jump Rope for Heart has been keeping Aussie kids active and healthy for more than 35 years while raising vital funds to fight heart disease – the single biggest killer of Australians.

Jump Rope for Heart is one of Australia’s favourite school activity programs, inspiring kids to embrace skipping as a fun way to get active.

For more than 35 years, Jump Rope for Heart has encouraged kids to develop positive attitudes to exercise and healthy eating, and to develop healthy habits for life.

Every year, more than 300,000 kids in over 1,300 schools take part in Jump Rope for Heart with the help of more than 500,000 generous sponsors including families, friends and community members.

Since 1983, Australian schools have raised awareness and more than $104 million for the Heart Foundation, making a difference to the lives of all Australians affected by heart disease.

The facts Being active is one of the most important ways that Australian kids of all ages and

abilities can improve their health and wellbeing, but about 3 in every 4 Aussie kids aged 5 to 12 years are not getting the recommended one hour of moderate to vigorous exercise every day;1

For young people aged 13 to 17 years, the figure is even worse, with 92 per cent failing to meet the recommended exercise guidelines of at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise every day. 2

Only 1 in 3 (35%) children aged 5 to 12 and 1 in 5 (20%) children aged 13 to 17 meet the sedentary screen-based behaviour guideline. (Limiting the use of electronic media for entertainment to no more than 120 minutes per day.)3

Recent data shows that 1 in 4 (27%) children and adolescents aged 5 to 17 years are overweight or obese and 1 in 5 (20%) children aged 2 to 4 are overweight or obese. 4

Physical inactivity is a major contributor to heart disease in Australia and is estimated to be the main cause for about 30% of heart disease worldwide.5

Heart disease is the leading single cause of death in Australia, affecting two out of three families.

Low levels of physical activity have been shown to be associated with increased risk of high blood pressure and obesity among children as young as 12 years of age.

Types of media and what they look for:

Print If a local newspaper decides to run your story, they are likely to send out a photographer, who may come with or without a journalist. More than likely, the journalist will speak to you over the phone for some quotes, or may even just run your story using the details from your media release. Therefore, it’s essential that you include ‘approved’ quotes from the appropriate school coordinator or principal, as these may be printed verbatim.

The photographer will want to photograph students skipping, being active and having fun. It’s important that you have the approval of parents/guardians prior to their children being photographed. (See more tips on photography later in this document.)

Television A journalist will most likely accompany the camera person to interview your chosen school spokesperson about your involvement in the Jump Rope for Heart program. The camera person will need lots of additional “overlay” footage of the school grounds and the kids jumping, to play over the voice of the journalist telling the story of the day’s activities. Again, please ensure only children with parent/guardian consent are filmed.

Top tips for a TV interview

Always give yourself time to prepare before your interview. Prepare your key messages – about 3 to 4.

1 Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Physical activity across the life stages, 2018.2 Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Physical activity across the life stages, 2018. 3 Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Physical activity across the life stages, 2018.4 Australian institute of Health and Welfare. A picture of overweight and obesity in Australia, 2017. 5 World Health Organization. Global Health Risks: mortality ad burden of disease attributable to selected major risks, 2009

When preparing your key messages, focus on the objective of the interview and the audience.

Make sure your key messages are clear and concise. Don’t try to say everything. What is the most important thing you want to get across?

Rehearse your key messages out loud. Be mindful of your appearance for TV and photos.

Less is best, as are solid colours. Avoid white and bold prints and patterns. Don’t wear sunglasses or glasses with transition lenses that may change colour. Avoid wearing any jewellery or accessories that may be distracting for the viewer. Ask the camera person where to look and check your background.

Answer the questions but deliver your messages with confidence and authority. Get to the messages – don’t wait for the question.

Radio With radio, a journalist may conduct a pre-recorded interview with the appropriate spokesperson over the telephone, interview the spokesperson live on air during their program or (less likely), attend in person with a hand-held microphone and record background noise etc. for a pre-packaged story to play at a later time. If a student is interviewed, please ensure parent/guardian consent has been provided.

Media release checklist To help maximise media opportunities to showcase your school’s achievements in Jump Rope for Heart, you need to include the below information in your media release:

School name and school address

Date and time of presentation/Jump Off Day activity (earlier in the day – preferably AM – works better for most media outlets due to deadlines, especially daily papers and TV news)

Number of students participating in the program

Number of times your school has participated in the program

How much money has your school raised to support the fight against heart disease

Description of the presentation/Jump Off Day activity, i.e. what will there be for the camera person or photographer to capture?

Who will be available for interview from your school? i.e. program coordinator or school principal?

Any stand-out or peculiar angle that would make this story an interesting piece for media – i.e. student/teacher with heart condition, students all dress in red/wear something funny, highest fundraiser, etc.

Handy tips for writing a media releaseThe headline should sum up the subject of your release: What’s the most interesting thing you’re trying to say?

The first paragraph is called ‘the lead’. It is the most important part of the release and should contain the strongest key message. This paragraph should also give the who, what, when, where, and why of the story i.e. who is saying something/involved in the event, what are they saying/doing, when are the saying/doing it, where are they saying /doing it and why are they saying/doing it?

Editors may not read beyond the first paragraph, so it is important that it contains all the necessary and relevant information.

After the lead, each remaining paragraph should be less important than the one that precedes it. When written this way, the story can, if necessary, be trimmed from the bottom up, paragraph by paragraph.

Each paragraph is self-contained and regardless of how many paragraphs are deleted, the story should still make complete sense. This style is intended primarily for newspapers and magazines.

Quotes, quotes, quotes – this is a media release not an advertisement. Someone must be saying something.

Keep the media release to one page! You can include details about the photo opportunity on a second page or in your email correspondence to journalists.

Example media release

Below is an example media release, which you could send to local media outlets in the body of an email, or as an attachment on your school’s letterhead. If you would need assistance finding media contacts in your area, please get in touch with our Jump Rope for Heart Media Manager. We are here to help!

Siobhan McMahonEmail: Siobhan.mcmahon@heartfoundation.org.auPhone: (02) 9219 2439Mobile: 0478 313 656

Insert date 2019(Insert school name) gets jumping for heart healthStudents from (insert school name and location) will put their skipping skills to the test on (insert date) from (insert time) when they officially ‘Jump Off’ to celebrate their achievements and fundraising efforts in the Heart Foundation’s Jump Rope for Heart program.

(School name) has joined hundreds of schools across the country for Jump Rope for Heart, Australia’s largest and most recognised fundraising program, which is celebrating a 36-year legacy of encouraging Aussie kids to get active and have fun while raising funds to fight heart disease.

By getting their hearts pumping through the Jump Rope for Heart program, students and their families learn the importance of keeping their hearts healthy through regular exercise and by following a healthy diet – both key defences against heart disease, which remains the single biggest killer of Australians.

“Jump Rope for Heart teaches our kids that being active is rewarding and fun, and encourages them to adopt healthy habits for life,” insert teacher’s name. "This is the (insert number of times your school has participated) time we have participated in the program and we are aiming to raise $XXXX for the Heart Foundation this year.

“Our students can’t wait to show off their skipping skills and we are so proud of their fundraising efforts, which will help the Heart Foundation continue its fight against heart disease.”

More than 10 million school children and 90 per cent of all Australian schools have taken part in the Heart Foundation Jump Rope for Heart program since it started in 1983. Each year, more than 300,000 kids in more than 1,300 schools take part in the program with the help of more than 500,000 generous sponsors including families, friends and community members.

For more information on Jump Rope for Heart, visit www.jumprope.org.au Media contact: Insert name and contact details of person handling media

Please see over-page for photo opportunity details.

Photo opportunity:

Date and time: XX

Address: XX

What: More than XX students will be ‘Jumping Off’ to celebrate their participation in the Heart Foundation’s Jump Rope for Heart program.

Who: List school spokespeople who will be available for interview at the event.

Media contact: Insert name and contact details of person handling media

Photography guidelines

Photos are a key part of getting your school’s Jump Rope for Heart activity into the media.

Sometimes a photographer from the newspaper will come to your school, but if they are not available, it’s great to be able to provide some photos you have taken yourself.

Here are some tips for taking great, newspaper-worthy photos:

Only photograph children who have consent from parents/guardians to be included in media stories.

Take photos of different things. This will ensure there is a suitable selection for the newspaper to choose from.

Take multiple photos of each set up. You can then choose the best one.

Take several action shots of two or three (different) students skipping.

Make sure your camera settings are set to high res (resolution) and at least 300 dpi.

Send your photos to the journalist as soon as possible. This is essential in order to meet media deadlines.

Include the names of each of the children (their age / year group if you can, too) in your email with the photos. They’ll be needed for captions. Again, you should only provides photographs and names of children where parent/guardian consent has been given.

Photo examples

Below are some examples of recent photos in the media. This should give you an idea about what your newspaper will be looking for.