Making media headlines, by Sima Sahar Zerehi

Making Headlines

How to get the media to cover your issues/campaigns

By: Sima Sahar Zerehi

[email protected]

@SimaSaharZerehi

Thursday, 13 November, 14

How Do we do things now?

• Here’s the typical media strategy for most unions . . .

• Something big is happening or about to happen like a massive contract negotiation or the launch of a major campaign

• The union organizes internal meetings with the union leadership

• A strategy is decided on that may include mobilizations like rallies and demonstrations, workshops/educational, union swag like hats/shorts and new placards, a website or new webpage or Facebook event page is created

• A few days before an event a media release is sent out

• The release quotes the usual suspects – the union presidents etc.

• The release is full of the usual union buzz words . . . Fairness, respect, dignity


How Do we do things now?

• What’s the typical media response . . .• The release is ignored

• The story is undercovered

• The media covers the issue but not from an angle that benefits the union . . .


What is the media looking for?

• Somebody doing something for a reason . . .

• The operative word is “somebody”

• Compelling media stories always involve a single person or small group of people telling a personal story

• In the trade union movement we tend to emphasize the collective, “brothers and sisters,” “thousands of members”

• The problem is that the emphasis on the masses actually makes the story less compelling rather than more compelling

• The details of how a particular issue impacts a single person that the average person can relate to make for a much more interesting story than how theoretically thousands may be impacted


Using the Media Strategically

• What does the labour movement look and sound like? • How does the labour movement look and sound?

• What do you see when you see labour in the media?

• How is labour perceived by average Canadians?

• What do we want to communicate to people?

• How can labour more accurately reflect all Canadians?


Using the Media Strategically

• The case of diversity in mainstream media• A brief analysis of CBC

radio, television and The Toronto Star

• What stories are being told?

• What voices are being sought?

• How can labour take



• Diversity is key . . .• The media is always looking for fresh new voices

• There is a hunger to hear from young people, marginalized communities, people of colour, women

• Media saturation is also a major issue – even if your issue/campaign is compelling there is a finite number of times we can hear from certain spokes people

• An important campaign can be sidelined because of a lack of new/diverse/interesting people that can speak to it

• The more new people you can offer that can speak to the issue/campaign from fresh angles – particularly from their own personal vantage point the more likely it will be that you get coverage



• Don’t forget to offer the views of the impacted populations . . .

• The media will inevitably want to talk to the people who are impacted by an issue – if the issue is a teachers’ strike expect interest in how parents and students are impacted

• Make sure you generate lists of individuals and groups outside of the union membership and leadership that can speak to the issue


Who are your spokes?

• Don’t be tokenistic . . .• Although the media is looking for diversity they will not simply

put someone on air because of their race, gender, etc. – at least not more than once

• The people who you select to represent your issues need to be articulate

• This means giving people media training as well as the information/education that they need to grasp the importance of the issue/campaign and the context that it falls in

• This means identifying people in your membership months in advance of a campaign and training them on how to share their stories with the media


Relationships are key?

• Become a source/resource . . .• It’s easy to see the mainstream media as a monolithic entity with a

singular agenda

• But the media at its core is a group of people – individual reporters, writers, producers

• These people are part of our communities, they send their kids to school, they use public transit, they rely on community and social services . . . Some of them are also union members

• These reporters will fight for stories/campaign and issues that they are passionate about

• By establishing individual relationships with these journalists by becoming a resource, offering them scoops, alerting them to upcoming campaigns, offering them access to exclusive interviews


Timing is everything?

• Don’t wait for a strike to reach out to reporters and media outlets . . .

• It’s easy for the media to portray unions as only caring about the wages and benefits of their members if they only hear about the work that you are doing the night before a strike or during contract negotiations

• It is important to be visible to the media in the lulls

• You need to have media strategies that speak to the work you do at all times


If I can’t Google it then it doesn’t matter

• Don’t forget to create a digital imprint of your work . . .

• One of the biggest mistakes made by trade unions is their inability to use online tools effectively

• Union websites don’t showcase the diversity of our members

• They oftentimes don’t speak to the day to day work that is being done in the union

• They are often not updated or contain static and uninteresting material

• Also the connection of the union with members is not maximized by showing engagement with people on social media tools


Speak like Regular People

• Forget the buzz words . . .• When figuring out your talking points for a media release or an

interview remember about the things that regular people care about

• Forget the minutia of contract negotiations – talk to people about the things that they relate to: the cost of buying groceries, the mortgage for a home, their kids’ tuition

• Get your members to share personal stories about how wages, benefits, and pensions impact them and their families

• Show examples of how members of the union help build community - make these stories personal


Don’t forget about community, Ethnic and

social media

• Mainstream media is often scanning these places for fresh new stories . . .

• Your ability to create a buzz using online tools and these smaller more community based media outlets will have a tremendous impact on how the mainstream media responds to your work

• Journalists will often look to see if there’s a conversation/buzz about your campaign

• Community media, ethnic media and social media are excellent places to build hype



social media

• Don’t neglect Social Media • Don’t forget that most media outlets we are now increasingly

using new media tools

• A new generation of journalists are using Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and other social media tools to gage audience reactions and to research stories and sources



social media

• What do we mean when we say ethnic media?

• Media that represents Canada’s various immigrant/refugee communities from various countries

• Media that represents a particular ethnic/cultural/religious group

• Media produced in a language other than English/French depending on the province you are in


Why is Ethnic Media Important?

• Because we’re the new Majority• Increasing in many city’s across Canada immigrants, refugees,

people who self-identify as belonging to various ethnic communities, communities of colour, or individuals with a mother-tongue other than English/French are making up a growing majority of the population


Why is Community/Ethnic Media Important?

• Because we’re about Community• Ethnic and community media outlets are produced and

distributed by niche, close-knit communities

• Our publishers, writers, journalists and photographers are in constant in-person communication with our communities of readers

• Our close-knit relationship to our readers means that we are keenly aware of our communities’ needs/issues


Why is Ethnic/community Media Important?

• Because we’re Trusted• Unlike mainstream corporate media, ethnic media outlets rely

exclusively on support from community supporters and local small business to finance our work

• Because of that relationship only publications valued and trusted by communities survive in our business

• The only way to ensure our survival is for us to remain accountable, representative and reflective of the communities we cover

• As such our publications are trusted and valued by our communities



• Because we have Reach• Although our circulation/readership pales in comparison to our

mainstream counterparts ethnic media outlets have greater reach and penetration among the communities that they represent

• With the onset of new media tools and prevalence of online publications, many ethnic publications are reaching increasingly larger numbers of readers across the country and globe



• Because if you don’t THEY will• Increasingly with the growth within ethnic and newcomer

communities various stakeholders such as large business and government are reaching out to ethnic publications to communicate with our audiences

• The Federal government as well as various provincial governments including the Ontario government make concerted efforts to outreach to ethnic media

• Often the information provided by these entities remains unchallenged by any other perspective


How can you reach us

• The best way to connect to media is to utilize the resources within your own membership

• Ask your members about the media outlets in their community

• Talk to them about which outlets they feel best represent their community

• Make sure to enlist lots of opinions - our communities are diverse and our various media outlets often reflect that diversity


How can you reach us?

• Become a Source • Oftentimes ethnic journalists cover the same stories that make up

the headlines in mainstream outlets such as the federal budget

• We translate and interpret these stories for our communities helping them make sense of the issues of the day and how they impact them

• Since our job is to present these stories from a community perspective, help us reach our goals by presenting your perspective in a way that directly links to our audience


How to generate stories

• Train more members to be media reps from various communities

• The labour movements’ greatest assets are their members, you have access to people therefore it’s possible to identify individuals from your rank-and-file who can become spokespeople for issues in relation to various groups including various ethnic and linguistic communities

• However, this is a task where training and education is needed, speaking to media is not simply about language, make sure your representatives demonstrate your knowledge and insight


How can you reach us?

• Use your Resources • Ethnic/community publications are often in desperate need of

support

• Lend a hand by helping these community run outlets survive

• Place an add

• Contribute content

• Offer stories


Words of Advice

• Don’t underestimate us• Although we are significantly less resourced than our mainstream

counterparts, we are professionals in our field

• We lack in staff, tools and funds but not in talent, perseverance and journalistic integrity


How can you reach us

• Build a Relationship • As stated before ethnic media is about community, therefore the

best way to work with ethnic publications is to connect to the community

• Ask for meetings

• Attend community events

• Joint the conversation


Words of Advice

• Don’t get lost in the forest for the trees• Every linguistic, cultural or ethnic community is made up of

various sub-groups that includes various religious, ethnic, political and social groupings

• Your job as an outsider is to not get entangled in the internal community divisions


Words of Advice

• Show don’t Tell• By selecting representatives from your membership that look and

sound like the ethnic communities that you want to reach you allow these media outlets to see that they are reflected in the labour movement


How to Create an Ethnic Media Strategy

• Have an ethnic/community media liaison

• Someone who’s job is to identify and communicate with niche and ethnic media outlets



• Make sure to have updated lists of ethnic outlets

• Preferably updated annually

• You can start by consulting organizations such as the National Ethnic Media and Press Council of Canada or the Canadian Ethnic

Media Association



• Include ethnic media on your media release distribution lists

• Make sure to also send ethnic media outlets your news items

• Let our publications know what your take is on the news of the

day and how it may impact our communities



• Provide ethnic media alternatives to attending media releases

• Sue tools such as Skype or phone-in interviews as many ethnic media outlets don’t have the resources to attend all media conferences in person

• By also submitting audio, video or photo files you assist in removing barriers to covering your story



• Train more members to be media reps from various ethnic communities

• The labour movements’ greatest assets are their members, you have access to people therefore it’s possible to identify individuals from your rank-and-file who can become spokespeople for issues in relation to various ethnic and linguistic communities

• However, this is a task where training and education is needed, speaking to media is not simply about language, make sure your representatives demonstrate your knowledge and insight



• When possible provide media release or at least a few quotes in the languages needed by ethnic media

• This could be as written text or in the form of audio or vide clips



• Consider addressing how the issue/campaign that you are working on will directly impact ethnic communities

• It may only take a few moments to fine-tune an existing media release to showcase its links to ethnic communities but this will go a long way to ensuring coverage


Building Relationships with Ethnic Media

• Championing international human rights or labour issues

• In order to foster meaningful working relationships with ethnic media and communities it’s important to demonstrate that you are invested in issues and causes that matter to them

• One simple way to do this is by becoming active around international labour or human rights issues



• Supporting initiatives within ethnic communities such as campaigns for heritage language skills

• Make sure that you are aware and active around local issues that impact ethnic communities



• Show that you are a champion of immigrants/refugees/communities of colour in Canadian

• Take up struggles for immigrant/refugee/non-status rights or campaigns against racial profiling or pay equity



• Place advertisements in ethnic outlets• Not only to promote your own campaigns but also to

communicate your interest in important community happenings such as new year celebrations

• These advertisements cost a fraction of the cost of placing an add in a mainstream publication and they go a long way of showing a community that you care


News & Politics

Making media headlines, by Sima Sahar Zerehi