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What makes news? The wild, the whacky, the unexpected, the challenging, the controversial. It is not about everyday things that go on in our lives.
News has to turn what interests us into a story with a headline, with pictures, with data, with anecdotes. We like stories and news about very basic principles of storytelling. So, journalists are trained to ask the very basic questions – what, when, who, why and how. In short, news is about controversy, conflict and change.
News is also about the very big (global issues) or the very small (local)
We advise spokespeople to avoid talking about process and detail – this is what we call the ‘miserable middle’. News is about the very big and the very small-scale local but not the stuff in the middle.
The very big…
The media, their viewers, readers, advertisers are interested in global events – the global economy, terrorism, war, international relations.
The very small…
We are also interested in the very small – are local elections free and fair? Is the local mayor corrupt? Is provision of new health services helping local communities?
In short, the trains either run on time or don’t. News is not about the trains running on time. News is when the trains don’t run on time. And why it happens and who is responsible. And the disruption caused to passengers, the incompetence of the train operators and politicians.
Journalists respond to facts
We should use facts to reassure journalists that we are not spinning an agenda, and facts give them the foundations that they need to generate a credible story. Your messages are propositions or arguments; to persuade anyone to believe them you will need proof – particularly when defending yourself against a negative preconception or promoting a contentious proposition.
You should have to hand “proof points” that validate, illustrate, explain, bring to life and lend authority to your messages. Proof points can be “hard” information like statistics, or “soft” information like anecdotes and personal stories.
You need to prepare messages
News value:
- Why are the public and media interested in your mission?
- How can you make them care?
- How is your news going to impact on your target audiences?
Messages sit at the heart of strategic communications. They ensure consistency and impact. We must choose messages that make our point in a way that stakeholders find convincing, appealing, and relevant to their lives and interests.
Prepare messages for media interviews
Remember that talking about process is not interesting – so the work of operational meeting are of less news value than the predicted outcome that affects peoples’ lives.
Deciding on the right messages – messages that work – is by far the most difficult element in planning media interviews.