How to contact local medias?

[Frenchsalesadministrator]

We are a partner of an educational festival organised by a secondary school near Liverpool. It will be open to local schools only.
The festival will be focused on languages learning with language games, talks on the importance of learning languages, benefits of travelling abroad etc.

To raise the profile of the school, I am thinking of inviting local medias (local newspaper, radio, tv news) for the day.
Neither the school or us have any experience in doing something like this.
Would this event be the kind of things local medias would be interested in? How to contact them? Do they charge for their service?

Thanks

 

[The Byre]

The plural of media is media and not 'medias'.

No, they do not charge for running stories.

 

[Scalloway]

Strictly speaking media is the plural of medium.

One thing you can do is write a press release. Local media are usually desperate to find something to fill their pages that doesn't involve them in too much work.

 

[bigbuzzbelfast]

Media also likes stories that have an angle so give it one, find out something interesting or quirky that may stimulate their interest. Just having the event may not be enough to bring them along. But a story that gives the event and interesting angle may just encourage their interest.

 

[Frenchsalesadministrator]

One thing you can do is write a press release. Local media are usually desperate to find something to fill their pages that doesn't involve them in too much work.

Media also likes stories that have an angle so give it one, find out something interesting or quirky that may stimulate their interest. Just having the event may not be enough to bring them along. But a story that gives the event and interesting angle may just encourage their interest.

Thanks.

Can you develop on this?
What do they find quirky? Can you give examples?

 

[billmccallum1957]

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/228361

 

[bigbuzzbelfast]

Can you develop on this?
What do they find quirky? Can you give examples?

Maybe quirky was a bad wording perhaps I should have said something that has a "human interest" angle. I am sure the media gets lots of requests asking them to go to events you need to have a reason why yours may stand out more that anybody else's event. Give them a reason to come to yours more so than any other.

I can't tell you what is quirky or what human interest angle to give them but give them a reason to want to go to your event. If it's only local community-based media they may come anyway but if it's bigger media interest you are looking for then a "human interest" story or "quirky" angle may help.

 

[The Byre]

Some time ago, an artist friend of mine decided to hold an exhibition in London. Almost nobody important came and he didn't sell a single painting.

Then he put the same paintings in a different gallery and had the drinks and snacks handed out by naked women. He sold several paintings, got media coverage in two dailies and everybody agreed that he was one of London's more important painters!

 

[bigbuzzbelfast]

So you can see where the "quirky" angle was in that.

 

[Frenchsalesadministrator]

I suppose that in a country where the majority of voters has decided to leave the European Union, the importance of learning or not a foreign language could be an interesting topic to cover?

 

[TheConsulter]

Local media can show interest in the educational festival that you write about. However, you need to pitch it in a good way so they will show interest.

 

[ethical PR]

We are a partner of an educational festival organised by a secondary school near Liverpool. It will be open to local schools only.
The festival will be focused on languages learning with language games, talks on the importance of learning languages, benefits of travelling abroad etc.

To raise the profile of the school, I am thinking of inviting local medias (local newspaper, radio, tv news) for the day.
Neither the school or us have any experience in doing something like this.
Would this event be the kind of things local medias would be interested in? How to contact them? Do they charge for their service?

Thanks

If you want to raise the profile of the school, rather than attract pupils to your event....

Decide which media you want to be in front of and what the schools wants to achieve by raising it's profile

1. Draw up a list of named media contacts at your target media
2. Invite journalists and challenge them to learn to ask for directions/order a meal or whatever in five languages in a day
3. Commission a photographer and get him/her to photograph pupils taking part in language games dressed up in costumes from different countries. Create a photo caption story and send it to target media same day/morning after
4. Invite photographers/journalists to be part of the day that could be visually interesting Send out invite with background brief on the school/event/why school thinks learning a language is important/careers requiring languages.

Link to growing career opportunities abroad/benefits of learning languages.