Using local media as part of your campaign strategy can help you:
raise awareness of your issues with people in your community
build recognition of your campaign group
catch the attention of your local decision makers
Getting media coverage
You can approach local media to share your campaign and its asks, recruit to your group or share a campaign win.
Your local community organiser can offer support to help you use local media as part of your local housing campaign.
Email housingrightsdefenders@shelter.org.uk to be connected with your local organiser.
Find tips for:
Creating a press release
It's always a good idea to work with your campaign group to write your press release, so you are all on the same page.
Before you write your press release, think about who the press release is for. You should be aiming, where possible, to tailor your press release to the journalists or newspapers that you are hoping to cover your story.
You never want a press release to be too long, filled with irrelevant detail or lots of leading language. Stick to the facts, and use the following prompts to help guide your press release's structure.
Headline
Your headline should be punchy and clearly set out what the press release is about.
Who
Say who is involved. Be clear about identifying your group and who has the power to make the necessary changes.
What
Explain the issue you are campaigning on. Be clear without over-complicating it. You should explain the issue in no more than 2 sentences.
Where
Include where the issue and campaign are happening. Remember you are approaching your local media, so you want to bring a local angle to your story.
Why
Explain why your group was formed, why the issue is an issue and the solution that you are calling for to fix the issue.
When
Provide any relevant dates, for example:
when the issue first began
when a campaign action is happening
when you won your campaign ask
a timeline of when things will be fixed
Quote
Discuss amongst your group and pick just one person to be your spokesperson and provide your quote. This is where you can be hard hitting, and talk about feelings rather than facts.
You should make sure that your spokesperson is happy to follow up with any journalists who may be interested in an interview.
Editor’s note
Include contact details at the end of your press release.
If you feel you need to add more information and context, add some bullet points and links under the header 'Editor’s note'.
Example press release
Homeless scots asked to move to England as new statistics show Scotland’s homelessness system is on the brink of failure (headline)
Housing and homelessness charity Shelter Scotland (who) says that its clients in central Scotland (where) who become homeless are being asked to move hundreds of miles to the Highlands or the north of England as Scotland’s local authorities run out of options to help (what).
Local authorities say that they do not have the homes needed to support the unprecedented number of people in the homelessness system. The charity says that the situation is the worst it has ever seen and that council homelessness services appear to be on the brink of failure (when).
The charity is calling on First Minister Nicola Sturgeon (the target) to get a grip of the crisis in homelessness which they say is certain to get worse in the months ahead. Shelter Scotland Director, Alison Watson, pointed to the combined impact of covid-19 related rent arrears, rising evictions, the cost-of-living crisis, and the need to find accommodation to welcome Ukrainian refugees, as issues which are yet to show in the numbers published today.
Shelter Scotland is urgently demanding that the First Minster leads a new national initiative to ensure local authorities find the homes they need and guarantee every citizen their legal right to a home if they become homeless (why).
Our Director Alison Watson said (quote):
"When I learned that councils were asking our clients to leave jobs and family in the central belt to take up accommodation in England, I did a double take. Surely it has not come to this; that today in Scotland we appear unable to provide for the most basic of human rights, the right to a safe home. Scotland was in the grip of a housing emergency before the pandemic hit. The political will to get people off the streets showed what can be done but instead of pushing on and finishing the job of getting people a permanent home, we have gone backwards. Homelessness today is no longer characterised by people sleeping on the streets. Instead, it is children trapped, sometimes for years, in temporary accommodation.
"Accommodation, which is often damp, miserable, and completely unsuitable for anybody much less a child.
"These statistics show that with more people becoming homeless, more people stuck in the homelessness system for longer and more people likely to become homeless as the cost of living crisis bites, Scotland’s homelessness system is now on the brink of failure. That is why we are calling on the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon to lead a new national initiative to ensure every council has the homes they need and to guarantee the legal rights of everyone in Scotland to a safe home if they find themselves homeless."
Now that you have created your press release, send it on to local journalists, and keep an eye out for publications!
Contacting journalists
Find local news outlets
Google is your friend. Google 'Newspapers/radio stations in XXX' and find your local news outlets. You can usually find contact details on their websites.
Your email
Use your headline as your email subject line.
Paste your press release directly into the email body instead of adding it as an attachment. This makes it easier for journalists to read.
Always include contact details for your group so journalists can follow up with you.
Next steps
Follow up with your journalists if you do not hear back. If you can find a number you can give them a call. Let them know what the subject header was of your email and that you want to make sure they got it. Don't be afraid to be persistent!
Have a spokesperson ready and willing to speak to a journalist. Some journalists will just copy and paste your press release, and some will want to do an interview, so it's useful to be prepared.
If your story gets published, share it on social media and tag the newspaper. This helps get you more reach.
Doing local radio interviews
Provide the radio station or presenter with a short briefing on what you are doing and why you are doing it. If you have written a press release, you can use that. If you don’t have a press release you can use the same structure to write your briefing.
Prepare a spokesperson
Make sure you have someone who is happy to be interviewed and knows your key messages well. It's likely that a station will be more interested in an interview, rather than reading out a briefing or quotes.
It's a good idea for your spokesperson to practise being asked questions and how they might answer them. A top tip is to practise making sure that no matter the question, your spokesperson always manages to bring it back to your key points.
Although you want to convey your key messages, your spokesperson should also make sure they speak from the heart. Ask them to consider why they are passionate about this issue. What experiences led them to get involved? What impact would winning the campaign have on them? Local radio stations love passionate local stories!
Sharing your media coverage
If your article has appeared in print, take a photo of it and share it online.
If you feel comfortable doing so, make a 20-second video clip on your phone to explain what you are doing and why. Share it with a link to the article on social media.
You might want to ask local community centres or places that have been involved in your campaign to display a clipping of your article.
If your coverage was about meeting with a decision maker, send them an email thanking them for a meeting and include a clipping or link to the article. They may decide to share the news on their own social media channels.
You can find more tips in our guide for using social media.