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Message and CommunicationsDigital Strategies 101October 18, 2011
This Lecture1. Theory on Messaging (Building Blocks)
2. Exercise on Putting a Message Together
3. Online
4. PR—Talking to the Media
You talking to me?Who is your audience?
Other ActivistsSupportersContributorsOpinion ElitesLeadersConstituenciesThe Press
Everybody Has A Context Language
History
Religion
Family
Education
Class
Race
Income
More…
Your Task: Change the Constellation
Building Blocks of A MessageSymbols
Emotions and Unconscious
Framing and Naming
Clear, Concise, Contrast, Convince
Breaking Through—Sticky Repetition
Context, Motivation and Competing Motivations
Stay in Control—Choose your battlespace
SymbolsSymbols come from our culture, our media, our
history and our life experiences.
Every symbol has a set of values and feelings associated with it that you can borrow.
"That will unleash the Barack Obama as Abe Lincoln narrative. Lincoln delivered his "House divided" speech at that historic spot and the announcement is on Lincoln's birthday weekend. Obama is expected to vault over to Iowa, home to the first-in-the-nation 2008 caucus, after the announcement. ”Lynn Sweet, Chicago Sun Times
Emotions and UnconsciousPeople respond primarily to feelings. Feelings are usually not
conscious right away.
Most feelings are about people.
Framing and NamingWhen news happens, people look for
meaning…
…we tell them what the news means.
Example GOP: Tax Cuts Grow the Economy
Example Progressive: Tax Cuts Take Food From the Mouths of Poor Children in Order to give Millionaires a Tax Break
Four CsClear: You aren’t Shakespeare—you write for
USA Today.
Concise: I stop listening after a minute at most.
Contrast: Why should I care if it is the same?
Convince: Why is this important to my life?
“Less is more.” Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Breaking Through is HardSticky = Memorable
Find an Emotion and Drive it Home
Surprise Us
Confusion Flunks
Structure the Story
Repeat
Context: We All Have It
Stay in ControlA key goal of your work is to maintain as much
control of the conversation as possible. You decide what you’re talking about. Don’t allow your opponent to control the conversation
Example
Option 1: Debate How to Cut the Debt
Option 2: Debate How to Create Jobs
Exercise: The Message Box
What We Say About Ourselves
What Opposition Says about Themselves
What We Say About Opposition
What Opposition Says about Us
OnlineWhat’s different? Less personal. Less
persistent.
Most people are over consuming online.
Polling: What is it good for?A measurement tool.
But polls aren’t fate IF you have a messaging theory for how to change them. Study history to learn about what shifts polls.
PR: Talking to the MediaBroadcast and Print
04/10/2023
DIFFERENT MEDIA, DIFFERENT NEEDS
Different parts of a story are appealing to different media.
Print needs are different from TV needs are different from radio needs.
Modify your pitch accordingly.
04/10/2023
PRINTPrint reporters are
looking for a compelling narrative arc for a story.
Specific local interest.
Highlight the “man bites dog” newsworthyness – why is this different from the everyday?
DEADLINESCall a newsroom between
10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.Reporters most likely not
in planning meetings or working against a 5:00 p.m. deadline.
Try to pitch at least a day before the event, though two is fine with a reminder email the day-of.
04/10/2023
TELEVISION Visuals are always the lead
concern for television reporters.
Duh.
But seriously, visuals are always the lead concern for television reporters.
Your pitch should lay out in its first sentence the visuals you have to tell your story.
Ideally, the visuals will also encapsulate local involvement.
DEADLINES Doesn’t have time to focus on
anything beyond the day-of. The person at a television station
to talk to prior to an event is the Assignment Editor.
Call the assignment desk early (even if you get the night editor), between 6 and 8:30 in the morning, just to confirm that they received your advisory prior to their morning meeting.
If you do want to try pitching earlier than the day of, you can call the assignment desk or the beat reporter after the morning meeting, between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., but not in the hour or so before a noon newscast.
04/10/2023
RADIO News radio pitching is mostly similar to print
pitching.
Maybe you can mention if there will be interesting ambient sounds, (i.e. chanting, etc.) but it’s less important.
Talk radio is all about relationships – esp. the compelling back and forth between host and guest.
There’s no substitute for building talk radio relationships.
DEADLINES Best time to call is early—around 7:30 - 8:30 a.m.,
and then again after 10:00 a.m. News directors, reporters and producers are often
gone by the afternoon. If a reporter is not able to attend the event, offer
to have one of your speakers or interviewees do a taped interview.
Attribution RulesJournalistic Ethics and You
04/10/2023
ATTRIBUTION RULES FOR PRINTThe single most important rule: never say ANYTHING to a
reporter that you wouldn’t want on the front page of the paper.
However, protecting sources is a key journalistic ethic.
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ATTRIBUTION RULES FOR PRINTThat said, under journalistic ethics you can request to have
something you say be: “not for attribution” “off the record” “on background”
For any of these to go into effect: You must tell the reporter BEFORE you say whatever you wish to
be under these conditions, AND You must get verbal agreement from the reporter before
journalistic ethics are binding.
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ATTRIBUTION RULES FOR PRINT“Not for Attribution”
Relatively straightforward. Means that the reporter can use the information you give them,
but you cannot be sourced as a specific individual. The reporter may ask to clear with you a descriptive phrase, such
as “One representative of a community-based organization said…”
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ATTRIBUTION RULES FOR PRINT“Off the Record”
Means what you’re saying shouldn’t be written down by a reporter.
Information should not be attributed to you in any form.
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ATTRIBUTION RULES FOR PRINT“On Background”
Useful for giving a reporter “a tip.” Useful for relatively long technical explanations, which can be
helpful to a reporter but where you don’t want to worry that every word is perfect.
In general, best used for directing reporters to sources of information (people, reports, websites, etc.) where you don’t want to be seen as involved.
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ATTRIBUTION RULES FOR PRINTREMEMBER:
These are just ethical rules, and journalists can and do break them all the time!
Journalists MUCH prefer that you talk on the record wherever possible, especially post-scandals.
If you don’t give notice BEFORE you talk, Journalistic ethics don’t bind the reporter, no matter what they say.
If you don’t get verbal confirmation from the reporter BEFORE you talk, Journalistic ethics don’t bind the reporter, no matter what they say.
THE KICKERNo two reporters agree on the definition of any of these terms!
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ATTRIBUTION RULES FOR BROADCASTThe mic is always live.
Live radio or TV is live.
If you are being taped for later use, they can use whatever you say, but it is sometimes possible to let them give you another shot. Television and radio producers want good tv and
radio. If you tell them that you can do it better with one
more try, they may just let you.
04/10/2023
HELPFUL TIPS Never make anything up.
Never use jargon or acronyms.
Support your messages with anecdotes, statistics and soundbites.
Speak in short sentences with pauses between them.
Repeat, repeat, repeat.
Repetition is good, improvising off-message is bad.