How can I approach the media?

It is a question that we have all asked ourselves at some point.

What I fight for deserves more attention and recognition, and other people can greatly benefit from knowing, understanding and creating their own opinion on the subject.

But how do I start?

It is not easy to contact the press, but, apart from social networks, they are our best way of reaching the general public. Therefore, the first thing is to have a wide, revised and easy-to-use database to contact as many journalists as possible.

That is why today is your lucky day.

At YouMove Europe we have been working in this field for some time, and the result is that we have plenty of experience making lists of contacts. Here are some tips you can use to create your own:

• First of all, check whether your national government (through their Communications Bureau, Press Relations office, etc.) publishes some kind of guide or directory with all the main media outlets in the country and their editorial staff. But, beware! They may “forget” some independent ones.

• Regional and local governments will often have a ‘Media guide’ or ‘Press Information’ section on their websites including the outlets covering that region/area, and the contact details for those outlets. While these are usually less comprehensive than the national catalogues, they also tend to include a lot more local colour and digital-only media.

• Failing the above, national, regional or local press associations’ websites might be helpful too.

• Sometimes, the hardest information to find out is the names of those in the editorial staff, particularly anyone between the writers and the CEO/President/Top Person in the hierarchy. Whether you found a name in the previous resources (and want to verify it) or not, Linkedin is a good place to get that info (in [Media outlet profile] > People, for example).

• In Spain for example, the e-mail address to contact the newsroom is, almost invariably, “newsroom”@whatever.com (or small variations thereof). If you can’t find a publicly-available email address (other than the advertising or the subscribers one), run a search in your search engine by typing“newsrooom@” (in Spanish is “redacción”, for example) AND “name of newspaper”.

• At local level, when deciding which media to add to the list, appearance can be incredibly deceptive: some slick websites that seem proper and well-established newspapers turn out to have just a couple of thousand followers on Facebook, while websites that may look almost like cave art turn out to be really popular media outlets.

Got it? Great! Go for it!

Once you have it well organised, you can use your contact list to send a press release. Now, all you have to do is be sure that the text you send will be received with interest and curiosity.

We also want to help you with that.

Newspapers receive hundreds of letters a day, but only have the time and capacity to publish very few of them. It sounds complicated, but sending a short, attractive, compelling text is within everyone's reach - if we know some of the tricks for it.

• The most important thing to keep in mind is to make sure that we are being fair and correct. Has the newspaper to whom we are sending our text NEVER published about the subject? And, if it has, was its opinion really different from yours? When you have verified the above, and are sure that either the subject has never been discussed, or it has been done without arguments that you consider sufficiently valid, coherent or adequate, then, let's get to work.

• Keep it SHORT. Yes, it is very difficult sometimes to condense certain topics, but it is essential that you try, both in the press release itself, and in the email that you are going to send with the attached note. What you have to say in the email is simple and clear: Who are you, why are you qualified to talk about the topic you are going to talk about, and what is it. Two or three short paragraphs will be enough, then attach the pdf with the text you want to be published (signed with your name and/or the data and logo of the organization you represent).

• The world of journalism has certain unwritten rules, and this is one of them: PUBLISHED TEXTS HAVE TO BE ABOUT 800 WORDS. A little more, a little less, but don't go over 1000 or under 500. This is essential for your text to be considered formal and appropriate to the format.

• It is very, very important that the text is well written, has a clear and fluid structure, does not have spelling mistakes and is pleasant to read, understandable and direct. I know it seems complicated, so the best thing we can advise you in this case is to soak up all kinds of news - read, read a lot - to get an idea of the tone, terminology, rhythm... And, if you can, it is always much better to have more than one person review the text before sending it. More than one point of view, more than one reading comprehension, more than one pair of eyes to detect and correct errors. It is always to be appreciated.

• Start BIG. Do not leave what is really important, interesting, shocking or relevant until the end. Highligh what you know will challenge the reader the most, and do it at the beginning! Once you have their attention, you will have time to clearly explain what is happening.

• Whenever you cite or reference something, make sure you have checked and double-checked that it is a real and reliable citation or reference. And this is not only good advice for sending a letter to an editor or any type of media, but for all your public contributions, whether on social networks or at public events: Make sure that no one can refute your sources, nor your words. You are the expert. Prove it.

• Lastly, you can brainstorm title ideas and submit photos if you have them, but don't expect them to be used. Journalists have their own way of doing things, and their own methods to get audiovisual material. So, take it as if you were sending them suggestions, nothing more, nothing less.

Well, here we are!

In this document you have everything you need to do a magnificent job, so let's get to work! We hope to see your name and your fight soon in all the newspapers that fall into our hands. Now it is your turn.

Good luck!