Roberto MussiResidence Palace, Brussels

10th February 2009

SUSTAINABLE ENERGY GOES MAINSTREAM

Where EU energy projects meet the media

Media Coverage Analysis

G.V. Fracastoro, R. MussiDepartment of Energetics

Politecnico di Torino

Main results

Analysis of sustainable energy topics in a survey group of European

newspapers and magazines

Classification and data base of 100 articles according to topic (solar,

wind,…) and typology (editorial, scientific report, interview,…)

List of Strengths and Weaknesses in the way of presenting energy

issues by mainstream and specialized media

100 articles

4 Languages

6 EU countries + USA (see next slide)

28 magazine/newspapers

12 regularly monitored (mainly specialized)

16 single articles (mainly mainstream)

ITALY

•Energia, Ambiente ed Innovazione

•Gestione Energia

•Ilsoleatrecentosessantagradi

•Progetto Energia

GERMANY

•Photon

•Sun and Wind Energy

UK

•The Engineer

•ReFocus

•Energy world

SPAIN

•Energias renovables

FRANCE

•Energie Plus

•Revue de l’energie

First level topics

Renewable energy sources

Improvement of Energy conversion

efficiency

Demand Side Management

Energy transportation and

distribution

CO2 Capture and storage

Miscellaneous

MCA Outcomes

“WHAT A MACHINE DOES”

VS.

“HOW A MACHINE WORKS”

Don’t try to condense in a few lines “how a machine works” if you are not familiar with its technology. It is more effective to say “what it does” and present in separate “boxes” technical descriptions, or references to internet sites.

IDEOLOGICAL

VS.

PRAGMATIC

Don’t analyse RES topics with prejudice. No need to be a negationist nor an environmental fundamentalist. Each technology has its advantages or drawbacks which depend on the context and should be clearly mentioned.

SUSTAINABLE ENERGY

VS.

HIDDEN ADS

Don’t use articles about RES and “sustainability” to advertise a company, nor fall in the trap of politicians who just want to use them for gaining political consensus from electors.

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

VS.

“FROM THE DESK”

Almost always, “on the field” project descriptions or personal interviews of those partaking in the project lead to an interesting article, while an article written from the journalist news-desk may soon become boring and trivial. Go and see!

Rodolfo Perez SaracibarResidence Palace, Brussels

10th February 2009

SUSTAINABLE ENERGY GOES MAINSTREAM

Where EU energy projects meet the media

How the sustainable energy projects can be best promoted

to the media

Tips for an effective communication Define your message:

Identify information that could be interesting to the media

Present the results of your project and show practical applications

in daily life

Give concrete examples and be as clear as possible

Connect your message to the news agenda

Target the audience

Disseminate your message using a press release

Put the most information first and find a “catchy” tittle

Build good relations with the media

Evaluate the results of your communication strategy