About Seafood

Identifying Key Media Outlets and Creating Media Lists

The use of earned media is one of the most critical tactics for reaching your audiences.

Key Media Outlets

Following are brief descriptions of each of the five different news
organizations. Included in each description is basic information about
how each organization operates and covers the news.

• Newspapers – There are more than 1,600 daily
  newspapers in the United States, providing many people with their
  primary source of news. Dailies circulate in the morning or evening,
  usually seven days a week. Weekly newspapers usually are either
  suburban or rural newspapers that provide more remote areas with a link
  to the nearest town or large city. NFI works with all major dailies and
  many regional newspaper reporters.
• Wire Services – Wire services are news
  organizations that provide print and broadcast media with
  up-to-the-minute news. Wire stories, especially those concerning out of
  town news, are frequently picked up and run verbatim by print and
  broadcast outlets. Mid-size and smaller news organizations rely heavily
  on the wires for coverage outside their area. Every large news
  organization subscribes to at least one wire service to keep up-to-date
  on news and to back up its own news-gathering staff. For that reason –
  and because wire services provide access to many media outlets – it is
  important to be included in wire coverage.

  The top two wires, both of which have bureau in major cities
  throughout the country, are the Associate Press (AP) and Reuters. In
  addition, there are several other news services that are run by major
  publishers of newspapers around the country. When reading your local
  paper, look at the by-line on smaller stories to determine what service
  your newspaper subscribes to or what publisher owns the newspaper. This
  will help you determine which news service to contact in your outreach.
  NFI uses extensive media lists to ensure newswires receive our
  information.

• Magazines – Magazines generally offer more
  comprehensive coverage of a subject than newspapers do. Consequently,
  they demand longer lead-times – the time from the start of the story
  until it is published. Getting coverage in magazines requires advance
  planning and a long-term media strategy.

  Many magazines have editorial calendars that provide information
  about special issues or features planned for the year. To find out what
  a magazine has planned, request an editorial calendar from the
  magazine’s advertising department at the beginning of each year.

  There are several types of magazines that may be appropriate for
  your outreach. While NFI will conduct outreach to major national
  magazines, there also are many opportunities in local magazines in
  large urban areas including publications about local business, local
  recreation, family living, etc.

• Television – Television demands visual
  presentation of your message. Beyond simply identifying who to contact
  about television coverage, you also must be creative in making your
  news more visual. Action events, such as fishermen reeling in a haul,
  are visually more interesting than a speaker standing behind a podium.
  When conducting local television interviews, NFI suggests the reporter
  use a local fish market as the background.
• Radio – The influence of radio broadcasters
  in Americans’ daily lives is often underestimated. Radio reaches people
  in their cars, their homes, their offices, even while they exercise.

  Radio programming offers a variety of formats. The most common radio-station formats and their primary audiences include:

  News Programs which provide a vehicle for
  releasing important and breaking news. Radio newscasts usually air at
  least twice every hour, allowing your messages to be used in sound
  bites repeatedly throughout the day.

  Regularly Scheduled Programs, including
  interviews and talk shows, which offer a public forum to discuss at
  greater length and in more detail than radio newscasts.

  Call-In Shows which often serve as the
  modern equivalent of a town meeting. The most common topics tend to be
  issues of controversy and community concern.

  Public Service/Public Affairs Programs that are specially designed to inform and educate the public on issues of concern.

Media List Development

One of the most crucial steps in media outreach is determining the
most appropriate reporters to cover your issues. This research can be
done as part of your regular day-to-day activities.

As you read the newspaper, listen to the radio, or watch the
television news, take note of the individuals covering seafood-related
topics and issues you feel comfortable discussing. Many of these
outlets will have one person that covers food, nutrition or health
“beats.” The longer you track the media, the more you will notice the
consistencies in who covers particular issues.

For example, in large markets – and therefore, in large newspapers –
you may notice that there are several reporters covering business,
food/nutrition and the environment. However, each reporter may have a
niche within the topic.

In smaller markets and in weekly newspapers there may be one
reporter covering food and health or a single editor that assigns
stories to whichever reporter is available. Whatever their role is, you
should understand their level of knowledge about seafood-related issues.

Many smaller newspapers depend upon wire services for stories that
their reporters are not able to cover. In cases such as this, this
newspaper may print the wire story verbatim or may tailor the story for
its community and audience. Therefore, you may reach out to wire
services for coverage.

For television news programs, you may want to build a relationship
with the business or food reporter or correspondent as well as the
assignment editor. For radio, you will want to contact the news
director or the producer of the specific radio programs.

In addition, remember that part of your task is to bring
seafood-related issues to the attention of people who may not read the
business or food pages or listen to seafood-related programming. Look
for ways to create seafood-related stories that can appear in different
sections of the newspaper (sports, local news) or on a variety of radio
and television programs (e.g. “human interested stories”).

You will need to include the following relevant information on your media list:

• Name of reporter
• Title
• Name of publication or station
• Address
• Phone number (get a direct dial or cell phone number if you can)
• Fax number
• E-mail address

If you are unsure about the appropriate reporters and producers to
be contacting, call the news desk. That person will help you determine
the most appropriate people to contact and the best way to reach these
individuals. Depending on the outlet or the individual, you may have to
mail, fax, call, or e-mail your information.