The joys of working with local media

Back in the day, working on the big stuff, the stories that attracted national media attention delivered the biggest career kicks. Not all those stories were positive. Sometimes I was in crisis or issues management mode - from handling product recalls to merger discussions.

But the luxury of departing the corporate world and being able to pick and choose with what causes and purpose I align my work, my greatest source of satisfaction is gaining coverage and building awareness in my local community.

Hidden behind my formal role as a director and Treasurer for the UNESCO-endorsed Mornington Peninsula Western Port Biosphere Reserve, is a PR gumshoe wrangling local media outlets servicing the communities within the reserve boundaries.

To be honest, I’ve been amazed at the impact coverage in these local newspapers can have. Increased coverage is noticed by stakeholders well beyond the Western Port Biosphere Reserve - people in positions and with resources that materially affect the future of the internationally recognised ecosystems that we are charged to protect and sustain.

For the Foundation, it has supported an increase in annual funding of around 250% since 2020, considerable in the context of a traumatic period of extended COVID lockdowns in Victoria and reduced capacity for project delivery and community engagement.

If you’re working within a small organisation, the plight of under-resourced local media is a great enabler for effective community PR. It gives enormous scope for forming strong relationships and partnership to the benefit of both your organisation and your local journalists.

But there is a big proviso and prerequisite for success - you must build stories that are in the community interest and benefit. This does not include pushing your latest new line in pillows or cat collars (unless their truly weird).

There’s a skill in building stories and it’s something you should nurture in yourself and within your team. In fact, winning coverage in local media can be a fun way to engage staff in building awareness of your organisation and community value, with obvious positives for the team’s pride and esteem.

In the work I’ve been doing recently, I have had the advantage of working with a board that has been absolutely committed over the past three years to regular strategic review, including a clear articulation of our purpose. In some ways, the latter is easier to do authentically in a not-for-profit organisation, as its reason for being is usually reflected in its actions and behaviours.

Being clear about your strategy is important to guiding your communications and PR. It defines your destination and allows you to frame your messages to garner the support and community goodwill that every community needs to reach it.

Strong and consistent storylines sell themselves, which is critical to standing out from the pack with journalists who receive literally hundreds of media releases and news leads a week.

What I have emphasised within our Foundation has been the importance of good quality photography to support stories in community newspapers. In local news, there is an unusually high proportion of readers and viewers who will recognise their family members, neighbours, friends and colleagues.

You may recall I used the term ‘PR gumshoe’ earlier in this piece. My moonlighting generally involves wearing runners with camera in hand chasing pictures at various Foundation events and projects . Very early in my career, I worked as a freelance photojournalist, so I’m enjoying a return to my roots and it comes pretty naturally.

Good photos have been a key part of achieving thinks like getting our CEO, Mel Barker, featuring on the front page of the Western Port News holding an Orange Bellied Parrot - a threatened species on the road to recovery in south-eastern Victoria and Tasmania.

I’ll admit, doing PR for an organisation focused on existential issues like climate change and biodiversity loss puts me in vogue for news coverage - and it helps to have props like furry or feathered animals. It’s much easier and naturally newsworthy than flogging pillows and cat collars.

Above all, successful local PR means dealing with local journalists with respect and understanding of their priorities and constraints. Their role is to choose and prioritise relevant stories for their community. Most do not have the final say on what appears in their publications or websites. Your media release will often not be published verbatim and one of your cleverly crafted quotes may be omitted due to space restrictions or because it wasn’t seen as so clever or relevant.

Working with local media on worthwhile news, causes and stories is rewarding in more ways than financial. What appears in local media influences what happens in the community in which you live. You a more likely to see the results of this, whether it be in the growth of your organisation and its beliefs, changes in local government policy, or positive contribution at a local level to resolving the big issues of our time.

I’m glad to have rediscovered community media. It’s satisfying to see your organisation and its people recognised for their contributions.

And it’s a hell of a lot of fun for your entire team to get involved.