Media relations

Media relations involves working with media for the purpose of informing the public of an organization's mission, policies and practices in a positive, consistent and credible manner. It can also entail developing symbiotic relationships with media outlets, journalists, bloggers, and influencers to garner publicity for an organization. Typically, this means coordinating directly with the people responsible for producing the news and features in the mass media. The goal of media relations is to maximize positive coverage in the mass media without paying for it directly through advertising.

Many people use the terms public relations and media relations interchangeably. However, media relations as a practice is part of the overall set of public relations skills and techniques used to disseminate information. "Media relations" refers to the relationship that a company or organization develops with journalists, whereas "public relations" extends that relationship beyond the media to the general public. There is also integrated marketing that is related but not the same, integrated marketing attempts to unify all aspects of marketing communication. This can include advertising, sales promotion, public relations, direct marketing, and social media to create consistent, customer-focused messaging.

It is possible for communication between the media and the organization to be initiated by either side. However, dealing with the media presents unique challenges in that the news media cannot be controlled — they have ultimate control over whether stories pitched to them are of interest to their audiences. Because of this fact, ongoing relationships between an organization and the news media are vital. One way to ensure a positive working relationship with media personnel is to become deeply familiar with their "beats" and areas of interests. Media relations and public relations practitioners read magazines, journals, newspapers, and blogs to improve and relate to one's practice.

Organizations often compile what is known as a media list, or a list of possible media outlets who may be interested in an organization's information. The media can consist of thousands of magazine publications, newspapers, and TV and radio stations. Therefore, when a "newsworthy" event occurs in an organization, a media list can assist in determining which media outlet may be the most interested in a particular story.

Working with the media on behalf of an organization allows for awareness of the entity to be raised as well as the ability to create an impact with a chosen audience. It allows access to both large and small target audiences and helps in building public support and mobilizing public opinion for an organization. This is all done through a wide range of media and can be used to encourage two-way communication.

Possible reasons an organization may reach out to the media are:

Information subsidy consists of information that is provided to the press as supplemental material to help present their reporting. This includes information such as press releases, advertisements, and videos of related news events. An advantage of using information subsidies is that they can decrease or eliminate the need for completing additional research on the part of the media. Subsidies can be a good source of information for the media, however, it is important that the media vet the source for accuracy and bias.

By presenting ready-to-publish data, information subsidies can save journalists time and money. A study completed in 1999 estimated that nearly half of the information reported in newspapers came from information subsidies. Yet another survey suggested that most of the information received by journalists is never published. Trust in the source and content of the data are the criteria journalists use when determining whether or not they will use the material provided.