Media Kit

From The Mental Health Foundation Communications Team

One of the best ways to raise awareness and educate the public about mental health research is to use the media. Local newspapers are a great way of getting your story into your local community. The local media like stories that are either happening in their distribution area, or that feature someone from within that area. It’s a good idea to let reporters know what you are organising in your area. About a week before your MHAW event or activity, issue a media release about it. Local newspapers often have free community listings of events – this is also a good way to get publicity. Contact your local paper and ask them to include details of your Mental Health Awareness Week event.

 Download the Media Kit as a PDF to share with others 

The Media Release

Media releases should be used to focus attention on a particular subject, for example, an event a person, some important research, a donation, an award etc.

Before you start writing

Certain types of stories interest media more than others. However, the difference between a story that gets picked up and one that doesn’t is often in the way that story is told. Consider the following elements when putting together your story: 

• Urgency – Ask yourself the big question ‘why’ – why must this story be told now? Think beyond “because we have an event happening” or “because it is Mental Health Awareness Week”. Why is your event or activity a piece of news that the community needs to know about right now? Obviously, this year it's because our theme coincides with the rugby event.
• Human interest/novelty factor – Once you have defined the issue and its importance, it’s time to attach a human face to it. Here is where you can give examples of individuals or communities that are training to be happy. You may consider enlisting the help of a local personality or celebrity to support your event or activity.It may be because what you are doing has never been done before or is so unusual it just has to be shared, or there is a problem out there that has to be solved.
• Timeliness – Tie your event/activity into Mental Health Awareness Week, and emphasize how the week is being celebrated both nationally and internationally.
• Shared values – Involve your audience in the story. Think about the training to be a good sportsperson relates to training to be happy. Ensure your story is relevant. Focus on the positive and use evidence to back your arguments/ideas.

Focus your message

Here is where you take the story elements identified above and craft them into four or five sentences – key messages – that you will use in your media release to tell your story.

• Outline the “problem” – You’ve identified the urgency of your story, now try and outline it in a few sentences.
• Propose a solution – How is your activity or event going to help contribute to the theme of Mental Health Awareness Week, and better mental health and wellbeing for the community?
• Call to action – Tell your audience how to get involved, and encourage them to do so.

Write the media release

Now it’s time to write your ideas up. The structure of a media release should follow the style that newspapers use. The most important facts such as who, what, where, when, why and how should be in the first paragraph. The least important information should be at the end - just in case the reporter is pressed for time and doesn't read to the end!

Key points to consider next

Headline 

• Make the headline lively and interesting - be creative. This will help to get the journalist’s attention right from the start, which gives you a better chance of getting your story covered. Give them a reason to be interested in reading on.
• Keep the headline short - no more than one line.

Opening paragraph 

• You need to get your most important information across in the first two paragraphs – and no more! These leading paragraphs must be clear, to the point and convey your key messages.
• You need to tell journalists the who, what, where, when, why and how of the story in your opening paragraphs.
• You only have a short time in which to get the facts of your story across to a journalist before they lose interest – so vamp it up! Ensure it sounds interesting but don’t go overboard!
• Keep your language simple – don’t use technical terms or jargon.
• Leave the extra detail for further down in the media release.

Use quotes

The media release should contain a quote from someone in your organisation or a relevant person in your community, reinforcing your key messages and bringing the media release to life. It is a good idea to place your first quote after your opening paragraph. 

Layout 

After establishing your who, what, where, when, why and how, add additional detail to the media release in priority order. 

• Set your media release to have line spacing of 1.5 and keep your media release to one and a half pages or less, including contact information. The fewer words you can use to tell your story the better.
• Headlines should have a font size of between 12 and 24 point and should be bold. The main text should be font size 11 point.
• Once you have finished the text for your media release write ENDS on the next line down so that the journalist knows that the main body of the media release has ended.
• At the end of the release you need to provide the contact details for the person who will respond to any media enquiries about your event/activities. This person needs to know all the details of the event and why it is taking place, and needs to be available at all times (this is most important) to take phone calls/enquiries from the media about the media release.
• If you are inviting journalists to an event, make sure you include specific information about where and when they can attend in a separate paragraph after the main media release has ended.

Revise and check 

• Make sure that you read the media release aloud. Does it sound interesting? Will it be of interest to other people – ask some other people whether they think it sounds interesting. If you are not sure, rework it until it is. Try to write for the ear.
• Do not send your media release out without proofreading it. Make sure everything is spelt correctly. Check your facts, and check them again. Ensure that the contact details for media enquiries are correct.

Distribute the media release 

• Find out what the deadlines are for the local media in your area. These may be well in advance of your event, and you will need to have your release ready early.
• Send the media release to a named journalist – if you know a particular journalist who is interested in mental health, send it to them. If not, find out who the health journalists are for the media in your local area.
• Smaller community based papers may not have dedicated health journalists. Give your community paper or local daily newspaper a call and find out the contact details of the right journalist to send it to. You may be advised to send it to a news desk email address – however if you are given contact details of a journalist, ask to speak to them and see if they are interested in you sending the release directly through to them.
• You will get better results if you take time to phone the publication and see if they are interested. Sell your story emphasizing urgency, human interest, timeliness and shared values.
• Send your media release to local radio stations and any local TV stations that are in your local area. Again, if you don’t know the contact details for a specific reporter give them a call, find out who they are and have a quick chat with them.

Sample Media Release

Using Social Media 

Remember to incorporate social media into your promotional activities – it’s an increasingly useful and effective information source for the public. Consider which social network, for example, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, would work best with your audience. For MHAW you can promote your event and key messages, while giving a boost to your organization at the same time. Using social media shows leadership, it is also a way to have an open dialogue with your supporters and an informal communication method you can use to ask questions, answer queries and get feedback instantly. 

Promote your event 

• Create an event page using Facebook where people can find critical information about the event, ask questions and register.
• Ask your friends and supporters to spread the information about your event to their networks.
• Find some social media ambassadors and invite them to the event. Be bold in asking them to tweet and blog about it.
• Have an image to accompany your event– the more enticing the better. Even better create an image people can use and share around.
• Ask registrants for a Twitter address and then follow them on Twitter. Retweet their messages from time to time. They’ll notice you and are more likely to follow you and retweet your event-related messages.

After the event

• Contrary to popular belief, the event is not done when everyone leaves. There’s still more to do to make sure the event leaves a lasting impression, especially if you intend to have future events or even an annual one. 
• Be sure to continue communication with all the attendees. Send them thank yous, updates and other information, and promote friending or following of your social media accounts. 
• Remember to share all the media generated by the event:
• Upload photos to a Flickr account or Facebook.
• Post videos on YouTube (Vimeo and Viddler are also good alternatives).
• Post recordings of your live video streams 
• If you want to get more in depth feedback on your event you could use Survey Monkey. This is a free service that provides a simple way to create surveys and analyse findings

More social media tips

• Ensure the communication flow is two way by commenting on other users' content or profile posts.
• Only share relevant links.
• Social media is a great way to collect data and capture event images and videos.

A Final Word 

If you have any specific concerns about writing or issuing a media release you can contact Martin Street, Senior Communications Officer at the Mental Health Foundation. Email: martin   "at" mentalhealth.org.nz We will not be able to write the media release, contact media or issue the media release on your behalf, but we can provide advice if you have any concerns or questions about any of the information outlined in this document.

Good luck!