1. How to work with the
Media

2. Today’s Media
• 24/7
• Highly competitive
• Television news dominates
• Newspapers still viable but readership is shrinking
• Online sources rapidly growing

3. Today’s Journalist
• Has a job to perform
• Is driven by deadlines
• Will not fully understand your project
• Seeks new and interesting stories and is focused on his/her
story. If you aren’t focused, they will be in control
• Does not like to give interview questions in advance

4. What’s in it for Me?
• Informing key audiences
• Influencing key audiences
• Strengthening links
• Promoting dialogue
• The media are the means, not the end
• Media are just one part of a larger communications strategy
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5. How Journalists Work
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6. Effective Media Relations
• To interact effectively with reporters, you must understand
the news business, how it works, reporters’ daily
routines, what they need to write a story and when their
deadlines occur.
• Know how they prefer to receive information - by
phone, fax, email, SMS or tweet.
• Journalists have busy schedules and are often juggling
numerous stories at once and working across media
platforms — writing, shooting video, doing audio
transmissions, blogging and tweeting.
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7. Get to Know Your Media Contacts
• Arrange a coffee meeting with some key media
contacts, as strong media relationships will assist you in
your communication efforts.
• Make an effort to get to know key media contacts early
on i.e. before you have news/a story you want to tell;
learn about their particular news interests, their
deadlines and how they like to be reached.
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8. Develop a Media Contact Database
• Develop and maintain a media contact database which lists the names of
reporters, bloggers and social media reporters, their affiliations, their beats
or special interests, addresses at work, mobile phone numbers, fax
numbers, e-mail addresses and Facebook and Twitter addresses
• Maintain separate lists of reporters by beat or interest and by geographic
region, and make sure the lists are kept up to date
• Know how each contact wants to receive news — by email, tweet, SMS, fax
or hard copy
• Know each reporter’s deadline and don’t call during those times
• Find out the name, title and contact information of the person in each
media outlet who decides what news will be covered and at what time of
the day, week or month story decisions are made. Learn how far in advance
of an event a media outlet wants to be notified.
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9. Make Your Story Media Friendly
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10. What Makes News
• Impact on people/human interest stories
• Superlatives – biggest, smallest, oldest, first
• Link to other newsworthy events or issues
• Celebrity connection/endorsement
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11. A story has to be newsworthy for it to be a story

12. Types of Stories
• News
• Features
• Opinion
• Interviews
• Letters to the Editor
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13. Pitching Your Story to Media
• Compile a list of target reporters
• See the story from a reporter’s perspective – is it interesting?
• Be clear and concise
• Be timely
• Boil down to the basics
• Focus on the human angle
• Link to current events
• Showcase key individuals, develop a narrative and visuals to
support your story
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14. Top Tips
• Put your stories/news in a format that journalists can use
i.e. press release, feature stories, photography
• Remember the 5 W’s when developing your story for the
media:
– Who
– What
– Where
– When
– Why
• Don’t bury your news/story – if you are sending a
report, provide a summary to draw out the most important
points
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15. The Press Release
• The press release is the most
commonly used communication
tool.
• BUT REMEMBER journalists
receive dozens of these a day so
yours must be interesting in order
to grab their attention!
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16. The Press Release cont.
• If your story captures journalists’ imagination and the
information is accurate, timely, factual it is likely to be
covered
• The most important parts of a press release are the
headline (title) and the introduction
• Equally important is timing
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17. The Press Release Headline
The headline should make journalists want to find out more
Headlines can… Headlines must not be…
 Tell a story × Long
 Refer to the facts × Full of jargon
 Announce in figures × General
× Announce a meeting,
 Be lively
event, etc.
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18. The Press Release Introduction
An introduction should answer the «five Ws» + «H» (How)
✓ Who is involved in your project, other
partners
✓ What happened your story
✓ Where the place
✓ When the time
✓ Why the reason it took place
✓ How does this affect audiences/groups
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19. The Press Release cont.
Before writing a press release know what you want to say.
Also consider…
• Reliability/credibility – a few “mistakes”, people will stop trusting you
• Consistency – be consistent in: visual identity: logos and colours (graphics),
project name, key messages, style of text
• Quotes (statements) - make a text more lively, real, interesting, human
• Language – write in a clear and precise way: don’t try to impress with difficult
words, don’t try to cover up something you don’t know, don’t use five words
when you can use three!
• Photos – it is best to accompany press releases with a good quality,
publishable photo to which you will add a caption
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20. The Press Release cont.
• Have a couple of paragraphs at the end as background
information about involvement in the sector or the country
• At the end or as an accompanying document give the facts
and figures that are too technical
• Add useful links, and link to your website
• Give a contact name and phone number at the end
• Consider attaching a biography or backgrounder to your press
release for more detailed information
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21. •
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22. The News Conference or Public Event
• Hold event early in the day
• Promote widely and follow up
• Take special care with logistics – it’s all in the detail!
• Prepare speakers and practice
• Consider visual events such as a field visit
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23. The Exclusive
• Journalists are competitive
• Exclusive stories help their careers
• Respect an offer of exclusivity
• Feel free to recycle the story to other reporters later
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24. How to Handle Media Requests
• Always be prompt
• Keep reporter in the loop
• Be prepared with facts and figures
• Be both professional and personable
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25. Be Ready to Respond
• Monitor the media
• Monitor events
• Consider a letter to editor or op-ed
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26. Evaluation of Media Results
• Keep a record of the media articles achieved i.e.
source, date, reporter, key messages
covered, spokesperson quote/image included
• Analyze quality of articles as well as quantity
• Cross check against communication objectives…are we
achieving what we set out at the beginning?
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27. Maintaining Control
The Importance of Media Training for
Media Interviews
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28.  Every interview can give you the opportunity to effectively
communicate your key messages
 It can help you target your message to the people you want to
hear it
 Important news about your project and its work should come
from you!
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29. Understanding the Different Mediums
• Longer, more detailed interviews
• Possibly more knowledgeable reporter
• Questions repeated in different ways to get
response
• Chance to correct misstatement
PRINT MEDIA
• Deadlines will vary according to medium i.e.
TV short lead times for daily newspapers vs
longer lead times for monthly magazines
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30. Understanding the Different Mediums
• Short, simple answers crucial
• Don’t talk to the camera
• Avoid patterned fabrics and lean towards
dark and neutral colours
TV • Emphasis on appearance crucial
• Very important to be yourself
TV
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31. Understanding the Different Mediums
• Emphasis on delivery
• Need to speak visually
• Try not to leave any “dead” air time. If you
have difficulty answering a question, ask the
RADIO host to repeat it. This will give you time to
think.
TV
• Usually have tight deadlines
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32. Social Media as a Communications Channel
Represents a fundamental
shift in the way we
communicate
It is people having
conversations online.
Has resulted in communication being
INSTANTANEOUS, MORE SIMPLE AND
TRANSPARENT REACHING FAR MORE
AUDIENCES THAN EVER BEFORE
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33. Interview Tips and
Techniques
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34. Getting Your Message Across
• Keep it simple, clear and concise. This means no jargon but
audience friendly words.
• Stick to three short and simple key messages
• Words are the tools we use to shape perception. Choose the
right tools for the job.
• You want the audience to understand everything we say
because you don’t have much time to say it.
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35. The Message Test - The “Three C’s’’
Clear Concise
Compelling
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36. Support Your Messages With…
1.Facts 2.Statistics
3.Examples 4.Experts
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37. Developing Your Message Points
• Your message points must be relevant to your target
audience
• Consist of primary messages and proof points
• Be frequent and consistent
• Become familiar and comfortable but not memorized!
• No more than 20 second in length
• Stick to YOUR message- don’t offer the other side a
platform by bringing up their position
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38. Blocking and Bridging
• Is a technique to help an interviewee stay on message
• “Block’’ by acknowledging and briefly answering the
question – then “bridge’’ to the key message you want to
deliver
• Don’t ignore or evade the question
• Address the topic of the question
• If asked about a problem, talk about a solution
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39. Blocking and Bridging Examples
“I don’t know about
that but what I do
know is…”
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40. Ten Top Tips!
1. Keep cool, calm and collected
2. Show passion for your project, your messages and the work you are doing
3. Avoid using jargon
4. Never say “no comment”
5. Illustrate points with anecdotes and examples
6. Prepare your key messages
7. Practice delivering them
8. Always try to cooperate with the journalist
9. Avoid the phrase “I think’’
10. If you don’t know the answer, say so but tell the journalist you will get the
information and call them back
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41. It’s all in the Preparation
When preparing for an interview do
the following:
 Understand the media outlet, its
audience and past coverage on the
topic or a similar story
 Have an agenda for the interview –
what would you like to cover in the
interview
 Plan to deliver compelling messages
 Practice, practice, practice!
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42. Media Landscapes
In Palestine
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43. Media types
Print
Broadcasting : radio
television
Online: news websites
Social media

44. Print media: or written press
• Alquds daily • But now it is retreating, as a
source of
• Alayam daily information, between 7 to 9
• Alhayat aljadida percent of the population
read the news papers,
• Filistin (gaza)
• Alquds is number one with a
• Other smaller weeklies circulation of 30 thousand
issued by NGO’s, media copies,
schools etc. • Alayam , 12 thousands
• It used to be the main • Alhayat with 6 thousands
type of media

45. Broadcasting –radio
. More than 60 Local FM radio stations in the West Bank and Gaza.
. Voice of Palestine ( the official radio ) week ?
There is two major radio networks which cover the whole
Palestinian territories and partially Jordan and Israel :
1- Ajyal network – ( three radio stations – Ajyal ,Angham , Tarab).
2- RAYA fm network
There is other major stations in each governerate who cooperating
with other stations in other cities under different names and
sometime in certain programs :
1- Maan radio network
2-pnn radio network

46. RADIO
• RADIO IS THE MAIN SOURCE OF
INFORMATION IN PALESTINE IN
GENERAL
• It is the second media type after
internet as a source of information
for youth ,

47. Broadcasting –Television
•Most of TVs in Palestine are Terrestrial Stations
•Palestine TV is the official TV
•Mix tv –maannews network
• There are around private thirty stations broadcast each in its
governorate,
*. many is in the edge of closing for economic reasons,
* . very few are stable or achieve slight success, depending on
their service to the community like:
Wattan TV – RAMALLAH
Nablus TV –NABLUS
Alfajr TV -TULKARIM
Farah TV – JENIN
The educational TV – Alquds university – which a satellite time
slot shared with other Arab TV .

48. Palestinian Satellite channels :
• Official TV ( Palestine tv) – Ramallah based , .
• Alaqsa ( official Hamas satellite channel and terrestrial in Gaza )
Major Palestinian satellite stations based in Lebanon and Jordan :
. Alquds TV – Pro Hamas channel- Lebanon
. Falestin Alyawm (Palestine today) pro aljihad – Lebanon
. Awda tv – Pro Fateh - Jordan .
Many other –with low profile channels just started , with unclear
programming policy and sustainability measures .

49. TV competitors
TV as a media type is facing a challenge of competition
with regional channels. Mainly
For news sources :
Aljazeera
Alarabyyah
BBC Arabic
For Entertainment
Mbc , Abu Dhabi TV
.But those who deal with daily life issues that affect the
citizens can survive.
Audience of the television vary from area to another

50. Online
Hundreds of news websites were launched but there are several who attract users
and they are news oriented sites ,
The Palestine News Agency (WAFA) is the official government news agency. It
delivers news in Arabic, Hebrew, English and French.
(WAFA) is A major source of information for 100reds of other websites and social
media in regards of local news .
MaanNEWS network
Alquds.com ,Sama news and kufiya press.
But each outlet has a website as well, where some post news, audio and
video reports , stories such as
The Palestine News Network (PNN),
Ajyalnetwork , Raya press , Wattan news .

51. SOCIAL MEDIA /MOBILE
• MOBILE and fixed
• Internet connectivity – at least lines
58% of the Palestinian have
internet • Jawwal have 1.8 million
• Social networks – facebook subscribers
mainly /youtube /others • Wattanya reached 500000
• As mentioned in the social in a year
media presentation, 910,000 • Many Palestinians still
users on the facebook in connected to Israeli
Palestine which means 23
companies
percent of the population or
36% of those adults. • More than million fixed
• These facts through light on the lines in Palestine
importance of the social media