Involving the media

Your local newspaper, radio or television media can be very good allies. Often the media can help you to air your case and reach your audience.  Remember that local media need a local angle to the story. Make the most of your resources - i.e. yourselves! Make sure local carers are lined up who can talk to the media about carers' issues.

• Use local statistics - always say how many cares there are where you live
  
• Get your local MP's involved, they can sometimes help approach the media.
• Think visual. Print or television media will be more likely to get involved if you can give them a good photo opportunity. Local dignitaries or celebrities can help. Use your imaginations! 

Tips on talking to journalists

Journalists are interested in the experiences of carers, which can help to illustrate stories they are running or can simply be stories in themselves. They want to make their readers or viewers sit up and take notice and think that this experience could happen to them. That is why they want to talk to you.

Be as clear as you can with the facts and do not be afraid to tell reporters how your experiences made you feel.  Remember they are just doing their job – they are only human beings like you!

Remember that journalists are very busy, and they may want to call you back rather than talk through the story immediately. If you are contacting a newspaper, you should ask for the newsdesk in the first instance. If it’s radio or TV, ask for either the newsdesk or the producer of the programme you think may be interested.

 If you are talking to a newspaper journalist:

• they will usually arrive with a notebook and/or a tape recorder, so that they can keep an accurate record of what you say. Don’t be worried by this – they spend their whole working day talking to people and need something clear to refer back to when they write your story.
• they may also bring a photographer or send one to photograph you later. If you do not want your picture taken, you should specify this in advance – though they may feel a photo is essential to make the story work in the paper;
• while they will have time for a brief chat, they are usually very busy as they are working on several stories at once, so don’t be surprised if they do not spend a long time with you;
• be ready for them to call you later to check key facts;
• many journalists are so busy that they will have to interview you over the ‘phone from their desk – if this happens, they may call you and go straight into the interview – remember that they will be taking a note of what you say in exactly the same way as they would if they had called to see you.

If you are talking to a radio or TV journalist:

• check first whether the interview is live or recorded – if it’s live, you will be speaking to the presenter on air, if it’s recorded, they will slot the interview into the programme;
• before the interview, think carefully about what you want to say and how you will say it clearly – if it helps, write down some key points you want to make;
• again, remember the interviewer is just another person, who wants to chat to you about your experiences – you know more about that subject than they do!
• with recorded interviews, it is common practice to do a couple of takes to get it ‘perfect’ – but this will not always happen;
• radio and TV stations will very often use only a small part of a pre-recorded interview – so if it’s recorded, you should not necessarily expect to  hear the whole thing – it may even be a couple of sentences only;
• competition for space on TV and radio is very tight and they tend to record more than they need – so don’t be too disappointed if your story is cut altogether;
• if the interview is on TV, you may want to ask advice on what colours you should avoid wearing – this will depend on the setting in which the interview takes place – stripes and checks are usually best avoided.