Media Interviews
Groups are often asked to take part in interviews, particularly for radio or newspapers. This can be a good opportunity to reach wider audiences but does present challenges and thorough preparation is essential. Some tips:
- Find out what specific topics will be covered in the interview and if its possible for you to see the questions beforehand
- Decide your key messages and bring them with you written down – there are some examples here or for key statements about City of Sanctuary, see our ‘About’ section
- Have some relevant facts and statistics available
- Read our factsheet below on ‘Preparing for an interview’
MediaWise have some useful resources on dealing with the media, including advice around the risks of ‘selling your story’ to the media.
New Guide from On Road: “Better Stories: How to support people with first-hand experience to do great media interviews”. Drawing on 10+ years of experience, this practical, friendly guide includes how to feel good and ready for media work, pitching and payment tips, and how to frame issues during the Covid-19 crisis.
Positive Media Coverage
Getting positive stories covered by newspapers, radio or TV is a great way to counter-balance negative media coverage but it can be challenging to make your story attractive to outlets. Here are some suggestions:
- Build connections with local journalists
- To get a piece in a newspaper, on TV or on the radio, you story needs to be ‘newsworthy’ – relevant, timely, significant or interesting to the audience (see resources below from the Media Trust)
Watch this recording of training delivered by IMIX to CoS groups on getting positive stories into the media.
This infographic from the BBC includes tips on getting your story selected that could also be applied elsewhere.
Some examples of positive media coverage:
Challenging Misinformation in the Media
MediaWise has produced this factsheet about making complaints about journalism and has lots of information about complaining here.
If you see inaccurate, misleading or discriminatory content in the media, you can make a complaint.
- For a newspaper or magazine, write to the Editor. If they take more than a week to respond or you are not happy with their response, you can complain to the IPSO (Independent Press Standards Organisation) – see links section below
- For television or radio, contact the broadcaster or Ofcom – see links section below
Be sure to include the details of the specific piece you are complaining about.
The Light On project has produced ‘Spot Racism Online: A Practical Guide’ which provides some definitions of hate speech, explains what is legal and what isn’t and provides information about how to report hate speech.
Get the Trolls Out – resources for combatting hate speech on social media
The use of the term “illegal immigrant” in press reports is contributing to negative and xenophobic attitudes towards refugees and asylum seekers and we recommend this blog which provides clear reasoning to support complainants to write letters to their local press who continue to use this phrase. The author has successfully campaigned against the use of this term with his local press who have now resolved not to use it.
IMiX Media toolkits
IMiX have produced media and communications toolkits to help organisations better understand how to get across your message via the media and digital channels. The media toolkit looks at general principles for working with the media, how to draft press releases, secure interviews and prepare as a spokesperson. There is also a toolkit on creating messages and stories looking at the principles of story-telling, how to persuade people, get good stories and case studies.
Links
Guide to effective communication
City of Sanctuary factsheet on ‘Preparing for an interview’
‘Writing a press release’ from the Media Trust
‘Get coverage in local and regional media’ from the Media Trust
IPSO (Independent Press Standards Organisations) – See particularly this section on ‘Making a Complaint’
Ofcom – See particularly this section on ‘Making a Complaint’
