Belief System Analysis · Updated on .
A media relations strategy links the organization's issues to the issues that newsrooms address for their audiences. She defines angles, evidence and interlocutors, then organizes an ongoing relationship. A press release calendar is not enough to constitute this strategy.
The initial question is simple: what will the reader, listener or spectator be able to understand thanks to the information provided? Important internal news is not automatically a media story. The job is to find the contribution informative, without distorting the fact to make it spectacular.
Define areas of expertise
The organization must identify subjects on which it can provide original information, analysis or communicable experience. For each field, it specifies the experts, the available data and the limits. This preparation makes it possible to respond to a request without inventing legitimacy in an emergency.
A field can be narrow and yet useful: a method of coordination, a professional development or a documented operational difficulty. Seeking to comment on all current events dilutes expertise. Strategy benefits from focusing effort on issues that the organization really knows about.
Qualify the writing and formats
The relevance of a media depends on its audience, its editorial approach and its formats. A survey, an interview, a sector analysis and a brief do not call for the same material. The contact file must therefore be supplemented by an understanding of the work of the editorial staff.
The charter of the International Federation of Journalists recalls their independence. A topic proposal is not a processing order. The communication must accept verification, conflicting questions and the possibility that a topic will not be retained. [1]
Prepare evidence before solicitation
The file must make it possible to verify the main statements: study method, scope of a result, status of a project or qualification of a participant. Accessible parts are organized and confidential elements are identified. The spokesperson knows the limits of what he can confirm.
This preparation avoids the back and forth that weakens the relationship. It also allows you to identify a subject that is still too immature. Delaying a proposal may be preferable to a solicitation that promises data or access that the organization ultimately cannot provide.
Construct distinct angles
The same file can interest several audiences, provided that the angles are really adapted. A study on communication directions can feed into a governance analysis, a discussion on skills or shed light on measurement. Each proposal must correspond to established teaching.
In a fictitious example, an organization transforms an announcement of a new tool into a subject on the conditions of its use: control, training and responsibility. Media interest is then based on a broader professional question, with precise facts to shed light on it. The subject remains honest about the scope of the experience.
Evaluate the quality of treatment
The assessment examines the media, the angles used, the accuracy of the facts and the messages understood. The volume of impact describes a diffusion activity; it is not enough to establish reputation progression. The AMEC provides a framework for organizing this distinction. [1]
The relationship is also built between publications: respond correctly, correct a factual error precisely and make an expert available when the subject warrants it. A sustainable media relations strategy is based on this reliability, as much as on the ability to offer news at the right time.