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Amateur Radio always tries to expand its ranks. Hams already know its fabulous rewards and we know that there's strength in numbers, so we want to get the message out. In today's shrinking world-a world we help shrink-that means the mass media: publicity, broadcast airtime and ink on the page.
Your club gets bonus Field Day points for publicizing itself. Maybe you've tried promoting the hobby outside Field Day and had limited success. You want to score more often, get the hobby before the public, gain more exposure and more members.
Yet, the mass media doesn't always seem interested. You can't understand why. "If it isn't death, destruction, mayhem and muck," you grumble, "those stinkers don't want it."
Ham Radio is No Big Deal
I'm one of those stinkers-I've been called worse-and in many ways, you're wrong. It's all in how you play the game. You don't make the rules, the media professionals do, and you're not likely to change that. That's one fundamental truth hams don't usually understand. There is another.
One year, at the Dayton HamVention, I wandered into a publicity workshop. On the panel were a half-dozen luminaries from the national press and TV, who also happened to be hams. These people were heavy hitters, at the top of their professional game. Yet, try as they might, they couldn't seem to get one fact across: To the public at large, Amateur Radio isn't that big a deal.
There, I said it. It wasn't easy, but it needed to be said.
Hams know how important it is, or how important it can be in a crisis. But Amateur Radio doesn't shake the world every day. Shrink yes, shake no. We're justifiably proud of ourselves, but to typical outsiders, Amateur Radio is just another hobby. It's a specialized, arcane hobby, at that. We can't beat our breasts and expect the world to exclaim how great we are, because they don't see us through our eyes. We need technique.
Put away your pride when dealing with the media. They talk every day with men and women who spend and earn your tax dollars, put out fires, keep your streets safe, chart society's successes and sweep up after its failures. Don't lose perspective. But does that mean the media don't want to hear you?
Not at all! Newspaper pages and television airtime are insatiable gluttons, demanding a never-ending stream of stories. On the grand scale, however, Amateur Radio isn't very high; you've got to wait for a slow news day and be ready when it comes. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to do that.
Start Early, Be Patient and Know Your Turf
Don't worry about Page One of the Sunday metro edition or 60 seconds on the evening news. You have to work at winning, and the little things count. It's too late after the earthquake starts. And you can't expect to win right away. It's a long season.
What outlets cover your area? You can score big with a major daily paper, but there are smaller neighborhood or suburban weeklies that count on local news and they may be a better touch. It's the same with television. Sure, there are network affiliates, but UHF stations and cable access have burgeoned to where nearly every community in the country falls into someone's minor league park. Know them all, and what kind of pitches they swing at.
Know the Right People
Every media outlet maintains a stable of sources. Most are in the public arena ---politicians, bureaucrats, civic and business leaders, police officers, firefighters and so on. Reporters deal with these sources every day, but they need special sources for those once-in-a-while stories. Be one.
How? As a reporter, I once attended a zoning session where a contractor asked to build a controversial VHF radio tower. He told the committee he needed the site, "because it's higher and offers more effective radiated power, which we engineers call ERP.- Hah! I knew what he meant, but that's not what he said. He tried to dazzle the folks with double-talk. As a ham, I knew that-but I also knew one of the commissioners was a ham, so I solicited quotes from him. Other reporters rode my coattails and Amateur Radio got a nice plug. Equally important, a new source ended up in a lot of newsroom Rolodex files. With a little finesse, somebody from your club can be in a Rolodex, too.
Be Available
If you're a source, don't be out of town when the reporter calls, especially not the first time. When reporters need to know something, they need it now and they'll only get burned once. Get backup coverage and take the same care choosing a backup as you did a primary. Technical knowledge isn't enough. Look for the articulate person who can condense complicated subjects into a clear sentence or three.
Just because you're always trying to get Amateur Radio into the news doesn't mean it can't jump in by itself. When that happens, it can be in a potentially damaging context, and you can pitch relief. Antenna disputes, flagrant abuses by the inconsiderate ham-you never know. Reporters strive to find responsible sources for both sides of an issue; it's fundamental to their craft. If you're known as a responsible source, you'll get a call.
Look Behind the Scenes
Don't overlook the folks behind the cameras and microphone. Invite technicians to a club meeting with a program on something that's calculated to interest them. They're technically oriented and may become hams (or may already be, so check it out). They interact with the front-line
reporters and there's nothing like an ace on the inside. Maybe they'll bring a reporter with them! Don't give up-keep trying. Be cordial and low key.
Get Input
Maybe you can get a news staffer as a meeting speaker. Then you can learn from the source what makes a good story. If they field questions, keep to the subject. Ask nonradio questions over coffee at the break. See if you can arrange a one-on-one meeting with your publicity chairman. Work hard to see through their eyes. It'll pay off.
Stick with the Basics
Our tendency is to try selling the whole hobby at once. Recognize that Amateur Radio is a broad subject, a real dazzler. Confused reporters write lousy copy. Spoon feed them without seeming to do so; don't patronize. Reporters are not dense by nature, but they may be young and inexperienced, especially at small local outlets. Perhaps they don't know what questions to ask. You're not on their beaten path, so you may have to work hard explaining things.
Highlight Individuals
You'd like to hype ham radio as a whole, but sometimes it's necessary to spotlight a single person. For instance, one reason the hobby appeals to the handicapped is because in Amateur Radio they're not handicapped. From the media perspective, this is a wonderful "news peg," although it can only be exploited at wide intervals and with great care by all hands. This is an area where a long-term relationship with a media representative can pay big dividends. You don't want just anybody handling this kind of story, but played right, it has "home run potential."
Reflected Publicity
Does someone in the club appear regularly in the news? A politician or civic leader? Maybe you can sell the papers or TV on a story about his/her "other" life in Amateur Radio. Regular news sources are used to handling the attention, too.
Back-Door Publicity
Don't overlook the "soft" pages of the paper, the Living or Lifestyle sections. How about a feature on "hamming and homemaking?" It would make an alternative to those "juggling home and career" stories. What about talk shows? Pick your speakers with care.
Highlight Narrow Aspects
The media have television and satellites, and everybody knows it. We hams have television and satellites, but how many people know it? Try pitching a segment on those. Packet radio might not sell-virtually every American relates to satellites and TV, but how many outside hamdom recognize the word "packet" as communications?
Don't Direct
You can suggest stories, but if the reporter wants to go a different route, let well enough alone. Reporters value their independence. It can be a pain, but there's nothing you can do about it beyond having a long-term relationship. If that foundation's carefully laid, you stand a chance of steering things, because you have a track record.
Think Small
Many small papers, "shopper" tabloids, and radio and TV stations accept community bulletin board items. Take advantage of them. Get your listings in on time; deadline means deadline.
People are the Key
Circumstances alter cases, and you have to learn to play the game where you live. It's a game, or rather, a never-ending season. We think so much about the equipment we use, we sometimes forget that the people in Amateur Radio are its greatest resource and we can never have enough good people. We never will, unless they hear about us-and word-of-mouth isn't enough.
Free Publicity
Free publicity for Amateur Radio is terrific. Imagine if your local newspaper ran a full-page story on your club's hamfest, with six photographs.
When the News Editor of the Smithfield (North Carolina) Herald asked me, a Herald staff writer, to come up with a feature story for the upcoming Friday paper, I jumped at the opportunity; my club, the Triangle East ARA, was holding its second annual hamfest the following day.
I particularly enjoyed writing this "teaser" item for the front page. Smithfield, North Carolina (like Smithfield, Virginia) is known for its tasty country hams.-Pete Hulth, N4SXG
Not his kind of ham
In a last-minute effort to direct visitors to the Triangle East Amateur Radio Association's annual convocation at the Smithfield Moose Lodge, some of the local hams eased out before daylight Saturday to erect sheets of plywood beside highways 1-95 and 70-A proclaiming "Hamfest."
One motorist came to the event not knowing it was a get-together of hundreds of radio buffs.
He smiled sheepishly when it was explained that the only hams on hand were amateur radio operators -and they had no sugar-cured, salt-cured, or peppered country hams to sell.
Today's Feature Page, by the way, has more information about last weekend's gathering of radio hams.
To be effective in your public relations efforts, you must get your message to the right place, at the right time, and in the proper form. If any of these elements is missing, your message may not accomplish the desired results.
The Right Place
If you are trying to publicize the election of officers at your local Amateur Radio club, for example, there is little point in sending a story about it to your local network-affiliated TV station because the station is unlikely to consider it as having enough significance. Try a community newspaper instead.
The Right Time
Even if your story is one that does have substantial significance, there is usually no use in sending it after the actual event. By then, the opportunity for reportorial or photographic coverage (in cases where those may be appropriate) will have been lost. Get your story to the right place in a timely manner as set by the medium's own standards.
The Proper Form
Always use the proper form for your submissions. For example, newspapers generally shun color photographs because they do not reproduce as well in that black and white medium. Unless you are really proficient with a camera, you are going to need all the edge you can get for a newspaper to consider your photos of high enough quality to use. So, the proper form for your submission of photographs is B & W film (except Polaroid, which is not of sufficient quality for this purpose).
Much of this may seem like common sense - and it is - but you would be surprised at how many times these basic considerations are overlooked. And, generally, when they are, it is at the cost of having the opportunity to tell your story lost.
There are guidelines for dealing with the needs of various media which we will cover, but there are few hard and fast rules. For example, you might be considering how to approach a newspaper editor with a story. Should you make a request of him to send a reporter to cover an event or would it be better to send him a press release describing it? The truth is that some editors respond better to one approach while some prefer the other. Most editors will respond to either, however, depending upon how a particular story idea strikes him at the time.
Newspapers are generally considered to be print-oriented black and white news media but to stop there would be to sell them short. In addition to the news aspect, every newspaper has sections or articles devoted to things like neighborhood news, community events, feature articles and the like, some of it in color with handsome graphics.
If your article isn't big "front page news," don't be discouraged. Cast your story in a way so that the editor might find a place for it in one of these other forums.
The story in the box on the next page appeared in a big metropolitan daily, The Philadelphia Inquirer. It is a homely story by "news" standards but it earned space in the newspaper's weekly Neighbors magazine which regularly carries a potpourri of local interest items like garden clubs, people, hobbies, women's groups, and civic activities.
The point is that you should not be afraid to try to get your story across. Editors respond in different and very individual ways. What works in one instance may not work in another and there are no absolute, sure-fire answers.
There is really only one rule you should keep in mind and that is:
Not every effort you make will be rewarded with success but be sure to put your best into every effort you make.
Get To Know The Media
It is important to get to know your local media. If it is a newspaper, what sections offer the best opportunities for your story? If it is a radio or TV station, where would your story "fit" best?
Try to think like an editor and, when you sit down to plan your approach, consider the "style" used in presenting similar pieces and try to cast your story in a similar mold. If you are calling an editor with a request for coverage, name similar stories you have seen him/her cover when you make your appeal.
The important thing to remember in considering the special needs of the media is not so much a set of rigid rules that should inhibit your efforts but that your target is pretty broad and can be approached from many different angles. With a little common sense consideration of how the various media work, any of several possible approaches can be successful with the application of a little imaginative, intelligent and timely effort.
And, finally, remember the old adage, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained". Failure comes only from not trying.
We have been looking at the "big picture" in an overview of "public relations." As you can see, this covers a wide spectrum of means and techniques to communicate newsworthy things about your activities or your organization to others in our communities. It means developing an on-going relationship with various public media, including radio and TV and print publications up to magazines with wide readerships.
In the real world which nearly all of us inhabit, however, the possibility of our ever gaining access to the national media is both beyond our means and the intended purpose of this publication. That's a job for experts and not even they are always as successful as they would like to be.
Our actual possibilities are considerably more limited but the truth is that very few Amateur Radio organizations will ever even approach those limitations. Most of us, in fact, are not meeting the potential we do have and that is something on which we can realistically focus our efforts.
