Mission-based Advocacy Toolkit from Alliance for Children & Families

Part III: Helpful Advocacy Techniques and Framework
12 Media Tips from Steve Goldsmith
Office of News & Information, University of Washington
Here are a dozen pointers on getting into the news that I learned, painfully, over the
decades of having my story ideas shot down by fish-eyed assignment editors:
1. Don't appeal to the reporters' altruism or friendship. Appeal to their hunger for a
good story.
2. Don't give them enthusiasm. Give them ammunition.
3. A good news story is something new. Plus: surprising, fascinating, amusing or
counter-intuitive - or has a direct and dramatic impact on the reader's or viewer's
life.
4. Your opinions or feelings are not news - unless you are the Secretary of State and
you have suddenly decided to break with the President's foreign policy.
5. Don't overlook the opportunistic nature of news. If your organization is active in
part of Elbonia that just got devastated by a volcano, contact the news media at
once! This is the moment when the public is interested in Elbonia. It won't be
tomorrow.
6. Point #5 is more important than any 300-page strategic communications plan that
gathers dust on a shelf. It means you have to follow the news and be quick on
your feet.
7. Specifics are usually more effective than generalities.
8. Reporters feed on new, specific information. If nothing else, this can be a poll
result, a survey, a research study, etc.
9. Journalism almost always requires the testimony of ordinary individuals who
embody the story - a gay couple getting married, a flood victim, etc. Because of
public suspicion over "unnamed sources," an individual (with rare exceptions)
must give a name.
10.Don't ask the reporter to review the story in advance. You wouldn't want others to
have that privilege.
11.News conferences, events and receptions are not, by themselves, news. Reporters
have less free time than most people; don't ask them to waste it on something that
won't produce a story. (And, while they are underpaid, they probably have had
enough to eat, so free food isn't that much of a lure).
12.Before all else, remember Point #5!
70
Reprinted with Permission
© January 2006 The Alliance for Children and Families