Promo-Chiro knowhow

Encountering the media

Your news message

It is important that you decide, before the interview begins, the key idea to be communicated. The key idea is your news message.

The news message is not :

• An itemization of all the elements ;
• The background arguments ;
• the detail surrounding the issue.
  

Rather, the news message is :

• Why this issue/policy/program is important ;
• What it will accomplish in the real world.
  

Now, frame your message in newsworthy terms.

Ask yourself :

• What is new and significant about this story ?
• Does my message tie in with a current issue in the news ?
• Is it a “spin-off” of a larger trend or event ?
• Does it add an interesting “wrinkle” to a current news story ?

Then, take your news message and turn it into a quotable quote for print or for a broadcast clip (also known as a “sound bite”).

In this way, you increase the chances that your news message will emerge in the story.