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Traditional Media

Highlight your work

Gaining media coverage for your AmeriCorps events, service projects or celebrations is a great way to spread the word about AmeriCorps. Media attention is also useful for recruiting volunteers, spreading awareness about an issue and inviting people to attend an event. Navigating the media system can be complicated so here are resources to assist you with sharing an AmeriCorps story.

  • 2011 AmeriCorps Week Media Toolkit (Microsoft Word)
    Is a complete guide to generating media coverage for your AmeriCorps Week event, including:
      • Key messages
      • Americorps statistics
      • A sample advisory
      • Sample press releases,
      • Sample letter to the editor
      • Interview Tips – Before, During and After
      • AmeriCorps Media Tips
      • 10 Ideas to Generate Coverage for AmeriCorps Week

If you want to approach the media, you will need to be ready with a compelling story. Below are a few things to keep in mind when trying to get the media to cover your event or program. You can get more tips on working with the media from the Corporation for National & Community Service's Guide to Working with the Media, available at nationalservice.gov/pdf/Media_Guide.pdf.

  • Build media relationships. Take the time to build personal connections with local reporters who will be responsive to stories about AmeriCorps' impact in communities.
  • Create a media plan that includes a mix of media outlets. When you create your plan, include a diverse mix of media in your outreach. Think of the small, local publications (including local online news sites) as well as the big news outlets in your area.
  • Understand what constitutes newsworthy. Pay attention to the specific characteristics or types of stories that attract coverage in your community. Then think of ways to pitch your story or event that fit these traits.
  • Get on Radio or TV: As you reach out to the media for AmeriCorps Week, don't forget public affairs and talk shows on your local TV and radio stations. Contact your local public radio, talk radio station, or a popular radio show (drive-time radio shows are a particularly good idea) and ask to be a guest on one of their shows.
  • Promote the AmeriCorps PSAs: Contact your local cable channel public service directors and ask them to run the AmeriCorps PSAs. These can be found on the AmeriCorps Impact Kit DVD and are of various lengths and approaches. find the public affairs shows on your network affiliates and cable channels, including the public access channels. Offer all stations AmeriCorps video including the PSAs and program videos in the AmeriCorps Presentation Kit to run during the segment. The PSAs are more likely to be used if a station knows it's important to you.
  • Send op-eds and letters to the editor. Have AmeriCorps members send letters to the editor of your local paper about their AmeriCorps experience or write op-ed pieces when the issues that your AmeriCorps program addresses are in the news. Letters to the Editor are one of the most popular parts of the newspaper. They are also easy to write and get placed.
  • Keep them short and personal. Write about your AmeriCorps experience, or thank AmeriCorps members for their service. Ask people or organizations that your AmeriCorps members have assisted to write letters relating their positive experiences. You can also submit a longer op-ed column. An op-ed can be written by a staff member, an AmeriCorps member, or someone who has benefitted from the service of an AmeriCorps member. Check out the editorial pages of your local newspaper for information on the submission process.
  • Develop action-oriented events or activities. Action-oriented events like service projects—building houses and community gardening projects—look good on camera, so they are more likely to attract media coverage. Invite popular local radio and television stations to broadcast live from these projects as a way to encourage their coverage.
  • Engage influential people or VIPs. Media are more likely to cover a story if it includes elected officials, celebrities, or other local leaders. It can be the Mayor, Governor, your Member of Congress, a local news anchor or weather reporter, or a business or community leader. Ask them to be an Honorary AmeriCorps Member for a Day - or an hour – to get a first-hand look at how AmeriCorps works. Work with their communications staff on media outreach. In addition to attracting media, this will also provide an opportunity for you to build support for
    your organization with elected officials and the business community.
  • Develop partnership roles for local media. By creating specific roles for local media, you can involve them in a number of ways in your AmeriCorps initiative. A media partner can run public service announcements in advance of the event, provide celebrity emcees, broadcast live from your event, and run stories about your projects and their impact in the community.
  • Identify niche media. Determine if there are publications, websites, or other electronic media that communicate directly to your target populations, and include them in your media plan. Invite a reporter to speak with an expert at your organization about the issue your program addresses or to speak with AmeriCorps members about the service they perform to address these issues.
  • Ask people where they get their news. Find out where people in your area or in your target populations get their news or hear about things that interest them. Then use these media outlets to get your message out.
  • Send a thank-you note. People often save handwritten notes and pictures of the event long after the routine e-mails have been deleted. So take the time to write a thank-you note, and include pictures of the day that will remind your media friends of your work in the community. They may come to you in the future if they need a story.