Check On Your Media Friends: How COVID-19 is Impacting Newsrooms
While many of us adjust to social distancing and virtual working, take a second to consider the people working the front lines – including our friends in the media. Communicating with media during such a wide-spread and prolonged crisis can be tricky. It’s hard to strike the right balance of providing helpful information, moving business-as-usual announcements forward and avoiding that “ambulance chaser” vibe.
So, what can you do to reach media right now? The Three Box team shares tips for engaging media during the coronavirus outbreak:
LOOK FOR FRESH ANGLES AND BRING THE PACKAGE TO THEM.
Face it – coronavirus will consume the news cycle for a while. Newsrooms are looking at the issue from every angle… and the usual angles will get tired. Offer positive stories of brands bringing creative solutions to nonprofits, innovative ways of dealing with new issues like childcare for parents working from home, or neighbors going above and beyond to help each other.
THINK ABOUT VISUALS DIFFERENTLY.
Newsrooms have told us they’ve stopped all in-studio interviews for now. Instead, offer them a Skype interview or shoot a video to share by Dropbox. Provide them with photos or pre-designed graphics. Help them tell the story.
HOLD ON PITCHING COMPANY ANNOUNCEMENTS TO LOCAL MEDIA… FOR NOW.
Coronavirus will subside, and when it does, it will be appropriate to pitch your client’s news again. But for now, local media are doing their best to keep up with COVID-19 coverage. Don’t inundate them with news that they, quite frankly, will overlook right now.
INSTEAD, REACH OUT TO YOUR TRADE MEDIA CONTACTS.
Trade media, though, may be more open to covering non-corona news, as they are more narrow in their focus. They may be hungry for industry updates. Give your close contacts a call and see what they’re covering. You may be surprised at their availability and interest.
IF NOTHING ELSE, OFFER THEM A WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT.
Covering a 24-hour news cycle is exhausting – especially when you’re covering something that’s changing hour by hour. Check on your media friends. Send them a quick email or text to let them know they’re doing a great job.
This too shall pass, and we’ll get back to our regular media relations cadence. But in the meantime, it’s best to either offer a new perspective on what they’re currently covering or hold that announcement for a better time.