Preparing for a News Conference

Crystal Garrett  //  November 9, 2012

Please note: The title of this article is Preparing for a News Conference, not Preparing for a Press Conference. It’s a subtle difference in semantics, but the term “press” specifically refers to the print media, the term “news conference” is more inclusive to all members of the media.

When you are preparing for a news conference, you’ll first want to know WHY you want to gather members of the media together in one spot. You must have something pretty important to say. And you must have somebody pretty important to say it.

So, why hold a news conference?

Well, it’s an efficient way to reach a number of media outlets at the same time. It allows you, as the PR practitioner, to have a fair amount of control over a message, plus it saves you time and energy in managing interviews and photo opportunities.

There are two main reasons to hold a news conference:

1) You want to drum up media coverage. Your organization needs the media to spread your message to the wider world. You may or may not need to have strict control of the message; you just want coverage and as much of it as possible. Usually, this is good news, or at least, neutral news.

2) You want to manage a (wanted or unwanted) deluge of media attention because you control the media’s access to a particular person or a particular bit of information that they want very badly.  For example, you may be hosting a celebrity who’s coming to town (good news!), or, you may be responding to a crisis in your organization (bad news!) Either way, you want to have strict control of the information getting out to the media, and you need to strictly control the media’s access to your organization.  Sometimes, this type of news conference is not much more than a statement being read to the media by a spokesperson. This often happens at a news conference being held by the police in response to an ongoing criminal investigation. The amount of information being released, and by whom, is very strategic.

So let’s start with the first kind of news conference: the kind where you hold no power at all over the media, really. You need to entice them to come to you. This often requires some brainstorming to creatively frame your event so that it has some element of newsworthiness. Some of the tried and true ways to do this include: commissioning a study or poll related to your message, then releasing the results to the media (possible news pegs: timeliness, possibly significant), inviting a celebrity to participate (ooh, celebrity!), inviting a person with a really good story to participate (human interest), creating an interesting visual spectacle (good visuals can trump newsworthiness), or, when all else fails, involving animals or really attractive people somehow, preferably in costumes (you won’t be the lead story, but you’ll likely get some coverage as a kicker.)

It’s best to rely on the strength of your well-framed elevator door message, and not attempt to bribe the media to your event with gifts. When I used to work in arts and culture in Montreal, I used to have so many people vying for television coverage that unsolicited gifts would often show up on my desk. Maybe gifts is too strong a word; these were usually just freebies from larger organizations, hoping to get a busy reporter’s attention. However, a strange fan once mailed a plastic Darth Vader to the newsroom. It was filled with candy, with a love letter taped to the bottom. (It was not a gift to me, by the way, but to a rather buxom weather lady.) Needless to say, this did not result in media coverage, but instead was handed over to the police as possible evidence in an ongoing stalker investigation. I digress, but the moral of the story is clear. Do not send gifts. They will not result in media coverage.

Also, the jury is still out on whether or not it is acceptable to offer refreshments to the media at a news conference.  Personally, I’m thrilled to have a free coffee or a small, crustless sandwich within arm’s reach; a reporter’s day is so busy, he or she rarely breaks for lunch. However, I know that some mainstream media outlets frown upon reporters or camerapeople noshing at a news conference, as it is seen as a low-grade bribe. I would like to think that a free cookie is not going to impact my news judgment, but I can see their point. The bottom line is, if you do offer refreshments, keep them low key. And no booze.

Once you know what you want to say at your news conference, and you have a clear, focused elevator door message to deliver, you need to select a venue. A place with relevance to your event with built-in visual appeal is great, e.g. a new building site, or a related exhibit, etc.  Ideally, the place should be fairly easy to access, with parking nearby. Choose your site to complement your message. Make your venue as pleasing to the eyes and ears as possible, and do whatever you can to create an appropriately lively atmosphere.

Now, you need to decide who’s going to speak at your news conference. Assuming you don’t have the budget for an A-list celebrity, go for the next best thing: a person with a really compelling story to tell. Find a person who’s a good talker, who’s friendly and charming, who is willing to speak on behalf of your organization. Now, even if that person is you, find another spokesperson. Any journalist worth his or her salt only talks to the PR practitioner as a last resort. The best spokesperson is an unofficial person with a good story. The next best spokesperson is the most powerful person you can summon from your organization. The more recognizable, the better. A good friend of mine used to work for CTV News, but now does PR for a non-profit organization. He recently hosted a press conference where he had invited a number of dignitaries to attend, hoping to lend credibility and weight to the event. He also invited some people who had personal experience with the organization: some were cancer survivors, some were family members of a person who had cancer. When the media showed up, they gravitated toward the ordinary people with extraordinary stories. While they didn’t intentionally ignore the dignitaries, the media just weren’t as interested in hearing what the dignitaries had to say.

Now that you have selected your spokespeople strategically, prep them to speak to the media. Give them boundaries, but encourage them to use their own words to sound unrehearsed. Nothing’s worse than a spokesperson who is clearly reciting a prepared statement.  We journalists call that “message track.” It is boring, predictable and obvious. However, I understand that in crisis management, such control over the message is sometimes necessary. The best speakers know how to deliver the message track message, but somehow make it seem conversational.

Speaking of crisis management, it’s time to talk about that second type of news conference, the one where you hold ALL the power over the media. You’ve got what they need, and they’ll take whatever scraps you can give them. In this case, you really need to have a clear, elevator door message. And you need to decide who is going to speak on behalf of your organization (or, who’s NOT going to speak). Every nugget of information you release to the media will be inhaled immediately, then delivered to the wider world as quickly as possible. So be sure you know what you want to say, and release that information strategically. Stay cool, collected and co-operative, and don’t let the media boss you around.

How to get the last word: You want to exert control over that message to the bitter end, so have some well-written resources available to the media to take with them when the news conference is over. A press kit is always appreciated, including a news release and relevant key information in the form of fact sheets, backgrounders, etc. Even if you offer hard copies, include links to electronic resources on all documents. Sometimes, organizations give links to online video or photos which can be helpful for context. In some cases, if the quality is high enough, some of these elements will be included in the journalist’s story.

And don’t turn off your phone when the news conference is over. Be available for the media to call you and ask questions. There is nothing worse than being a journalist on deadline who needs to ask a very important question, but can’t get access to the PR professional who is listed on the news release as the contact person. Be accessible to the media until the end of the conventional window for the supper hour news – say 7 p.m.-ish.

Good luck with your next news conference, and may your ensuing media coverage be plentiful and positive.

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Crystal Joy Garrett is a professor at MSVU. She is currently also employed as a TV journalist with CTV News in Halifax.  She has also worked as a broadcast journalist for CBC, Global television and CityTV in Quebec and Ontario. And “Joy” really is her middle name.