Dial "M" for Media

Today, the Clinton Global Initiative held media training...except no media were allowed. It was bizarre for me...media without the medium. As a recently accredited member of the press (my shiny yellow badge proclaimed this), I felt a little excluded from something that I thought would prepare me for the week ahead. I decided to take up the security on their offer and waited to see if some participants didn't show. Luckily for me, my patience brought a positive result. I slipped into the almost "exclusive" media free media training....only to discover that its aim was to teach NGOs / Foundations how to get positive notice in the press. As the moderator put it "Great deeds need their own poets" as positive media coverage is apparently a vital ingredient when applying for grants. He stressed that media used to be a closed world but is now open due to new media, bloggers and technology. Since times have changed, CNN now analyse twitter. This new shift has been dubbed the "democratization of media". But why couldn't journalists be present for this (question still baffled me).

"Media all about the attention business!"


Well, apart from house keeping announcement (APCO is on 2nd floor and each member is entitled to one press release). It was pretty tame. They discussed...what are journalists looking for? They gave a few guidelines such as know your Audience (You need to know your audience and the audience of those in the media you approach. Do your homework). The most interesting question they answered was....how to get attention?


1. What is most important
2. What interests people
3. Ethos
4. Topics you chose should be ones that interest you (so do homework to approach right journalist).
5. Find your audience.


They also suggested learning from organisations that are successful. Develop news and that ever company should think of itself as a media company. They stressed that before you do something...think: How would this look on the internet? This thinking could make you rethink everything you do.


The moderator discussed the way that "news is anything that happens around an editor" yet also argued that we are entering a post shame world. A example he gave, was noticing a tweet from McCain to Snoki about "Obama taxes causing increases in her tanning salon. He mentioned McCain's 1.3 million twitter fans. Which is scary if you think about it. Who really knows that many people?


The lessons that stuck with me were:


1. Keep it simple
2. Unexpected
3. Concrete
4. Story to tell as we love stories (provocations...someone to root for / against / for hope).
5. People want the same but different (local slants on stories...i.e telling people they already know but presenting it in a different way...e.g DCs Aids epidemic is worse than Port au Prince)

Well, my first taste of Clinton Global Initiative has made me even more excited. Tomorrow, we kick off the event with Obama and Bill Clinton. I can't wait!!! I will bring you LOADS more. So, keep reading.