Media Advisory
Purpose
By sending a media advisory to local media outlets (newspapers, radio stations, and television stations), you are alerting them to an upcoming "newsworthy" event on which they should report. This advisory informs them of the who, what, when, where, and why of your event, and if alerted early enough, will allow them to assign staff to attend.
You should send the media advisory to arrive 3-5 days in advance of your event. Whenever possible, follow up with a phone call to the assignment editor the day before the event to encourage coverage.
When you call, be ready with more information about your event. Don't just ask the editor if they received your alert. Tell them how important your event is to the community, what you hope to accomplish, how many people you hope to reach and, how their organization can play a vital role in letting the community hear your message.
Make sure that your contact person will be available. Your contact person need not be your executive director, but it should be someone who can take phone calls and answer requests for information.
Sample
(Insert your organization's logo here)
|
For Immediate Release
[Insert date when released] |
Contact: [Insert name of appropriate contact person]
Phone: [Insert your organization's phone number]
Fax: [Insert your organization's fax number] |
MEDIA ADVISORY
[Insert name of your city] Observes
[Insert "A" -- Name of HIV/AIDS Observance Day] |
| [Insert "B" -- Date], marks [the Insert "C" Chronological Reference if known, of] [Insert "A"] which is observed around the world and in [your town] as coordinated by [name of your organization].
|
| What: |
The [insert name of your organization], one of the area's leading HIV/AIDS service organizations, along with [insert name of local leader, such as your Mayor, if available] will hold a news conference [or another suggested event] to acknowledge the impact of HIV/AIDS in [insert name of your city]. Past and present challenges will be addressed, and solutions and action steps necessary to continue to fight this disease will be discussed.
[Insert name of local leader again], along with members of the city council, health officials, faith and community leaders, and individuals living with HIV/AIDS will sound the alarm that the HIV/AIDS epidemic is far from over and there is still much local work to be done in battling this disease.
[INSERT IMPORTANT FACTS ABOUT "A" AND HOW IT IMPACTS THE COMMUNITY YOU ARE TRYING TO REACH.] |
| Where: |
[Insert name of location, street address, city, state, zip code, and telephone number if available] |
| When: |
[Insert date of your activity and time of the event.] |
| Who: |
Presented by [insert your organization's name and a one sentence description of your services.] |
| Activities: |
A [insert specific activity], immediately followed by a question-and-answer session for the media. [Or whatever you will be doing in the order it will occur.]
Photo op: Local leaders and community members. |
| Directions: |
[Insert specific directions to location of event] |
For more information, or to schedule an interview, please contact [insert name of appropriate contact person for media-related activities] at [insert phone number].
|
Use the following information to fill out the above Media Sample.
| Insert "A" - Name of HIV/AIDS Observance Day |
National HIV/AIDS Testing Day |
Latino HIV/AIDS Awareness Day |
World AIDS Day 2004 |
Insert "B" - Date
|
June 27, 2004 |
October 15, 2004 |
December 1, 2040 |
| Insert "C" - Chronological Reference |
skip |
2nd Annual |
17th Annual |
|
