PR Workshop for Chicago Organizations

PR Workshop for Chicago Organizations

Free for grassroots groups and individuals fighting state oppression and police violence.
Contact: @plussone on twitter or plusssone (at) gmail (dot) com


1. INTRODUCTIONS (10 min)

Describe your work with and the role you play in your organizations. Describe the interactions you have had with the media, including: in-person or telephone interviews with web, print, radio and tv outlets; fielding press calls; writing and sending press releases; collecting and promoting coverage; contacting reporters via phone or twitter; speaking at press conferences or to press at events.

2. WHO IS THE NEWS & HOW DOES IT WORK (15 min)

We will discuss the media landscape in Chicago, how the news process works at various outlets, and the challenges reporters face when dealing with staff and budget cuts, short deadlines and oppressive management/owners.

We'll compare and contrast at the following types of outlets:
	Giant corporations (trib, suntimes, TV, affiliated radio)
	Progressive outlets (truthout, firedoglake)
	Publicly funded outlets (wbez, wttw)
	Outlets funded by organizations or parties (progress IL / SEIU)

3. WHY SHOULD YOU DO PRESS WORK? (20 minutes)

What PR work is the group doing now? What are the group's PR goals? What are the benefits and risks of interacting with the media? Group members will each give their thoughts on the first three questions, then we'll discuss some of the pros and cons of doing PR work.

4. WHAT DOES A COORDINATED PRESS & PROMOTIONS CAMPAIGN LOOK LIKE? (1 hour)

We will look at the formula I use for an event or action, which includes:
	Facebook event and promotion via email, facebook and twitter
	Memes (images) for social media promotions
	Possible fundraising component
	Press release, sent via email, posted online, and promoted via facebook and twitter
	Tweets and calls to reporters and outlets
	Spokespeople and wrangling reporters at an action
	Possible press conference component
	Social media posts during the action or event
	Collecting coverage and promoting it via email, facebook and twitter

5. WHO SHOULD YOU TARGET? (15 min)

I will bring a list of reporters/editors at each local outlet that are interested in and/or covering issues your group is working on, as well as Chicago news workers who are friendly and approachable in general. We will talk about the best ways to reach & build relationships with them, mainly on twitter.

6. PRESS RELEASES THAT GET YOUR MESSAGE ACROSS (30 min)

We will look at examples of press releases from local groups, and talk about the key information that needs to be "above the fold," or visible in an email window without scrolling down. We'll also look at using MailChimp to format and distribute releases, and discuss the best way to format press release email subject lines.

Items that should be above the fold on every release:
	Organizational identity of event organizers, including website and social media links
	Contact information including at least one name, phone and email
	Headline and sub-headline
	Date release is sent and city it is sent from
	Location and time of event
	Who will attend the event
	Why the event is being held

7. YOUR GROUP'S COVERAGE (30 min)

We'll look at some of the news articles your organization has gotten, talk about how the coverage was generated, and how the group feels about it. We'll brainstorm ways the stories could have been improved, and discuss techniques group members can use to to get the best possible coverage.