Have you received a telephone call or email from a journalist requesting an interview? Congratulations! Your organization’s work has caught media attention.
Are you ready for that interview that will promote your organization, your people and your work to the public? Use the checklist below to review or prepare a media kit ready for that moment of fame.
Every organization should have a regularly updated media kit for use when the media contacts you. The media kit contains the latest information about your organization that you can readily share with the world.
In general, a media kit contains:
1. An organization’s background – a simple brochure containing frequently asked questions (what, who, where, when, how and why) and answers about your organization. The brochure should answer these questions:
- What is your key business? What are your core activities and your latest products / services/ achievements?
- Who started the business and its operations? Who is on your management team? Who are your employees?
- Where do you operate? How do you provide the products/services? Remember your contact details including your organization’s name, street address, telephone and fax numbers and website address. A location map is also useful.
- Why are you in that line of business? Where is your future direction?
2. Profiles of management staff – a brief biography (in about 200 words) on your President, Vice-President and other key management or operations staff provide valuable background for the journalist to include in the news story. Professionally-taken photographs (available in hard or soft copy) are also useful.
3. Flyer on your latest achievements – has your organization recently won an industry award? Have you released a new product or service? Did your organization provide a charitable donation or community service? Perhaps one of your employees climbed Mount Everest or spends her spare time in the last 5 years volunteering at the hospital?
A one-page flyer or press release on your latest achievements could add interesting information or a human interest angle to the news article.
4. An annual report – key financial data and your organization’s performance in the past year is usually the information people are interested in. If your annual report is a brief document, including it in the media kit will be useful.
Remember your ABCs. Journalists are incredibly busy people working on tight deadlines. Handing them a thick media kit containing more than 10 brochures, flyers or reports will NOT help them write the story better. Keep the information accurate, brief and concise.
If the journalist enjoyed writing the article about your organization, he or she will look forward to the experience of contacting you again.
Remember to respond to the journalist promptly and prepare for the upcoming interview. Good luck!
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
i would like to ask one question. If a deaf person who married and have kid which prefer to look this job from home, likes urs but difficult for deaf unable communicate via phone. so how?
thank you
vinci – Have you checked out http://eHomemakers.net? I worked on a project with them previously and learnt that they provide teleworking opportunities for people with physical disabilities.
Please confirm with them but I think you may need to:
a) become a member of eHomemakers,
b) fill up a skillset form and
c) be able to commit your time on a daily basis.
From my experience, working from home is not easy and is much, much more demanding than working from an office. Be prepared for an uphill climb, ok?
All the best to you!