Innovative media relations to build
credibility and fund base: presenting social
problems in a matter-of-fact manner
By Bhupesh Joshi
Director
Communicators India
Social problems in a matter-offact (straightforward) manner!
• We will NOT cover fund-raising through creative events as
this must have already been discussed
• We will rather focus on ways to make use of our in-house
team capacity to raise funds in a cost effective manner
• Can there be cost effective ways of remaining in the news
and thereby generating attention among funders?
• Experience suggests social problems presented in a matterof-factly tone helps us achieve many of our media visibility
objectives within limited resources
Presenting social problems in a
matter-of-fact manner
FIRSTLY
• Realise that in developing countries it concerns almost
everyone-consciously or subconsciously-governments,
corporates, citizens (We are not living in Beverly Hills!)
• Interestingly, most rich people in the liberalised India of
today have had humble middle class beginnings
• So how do we call a spade a spade?
Do we need a strategy? May be, but our observations and a
sensitive take on social problems is enough to start off!
Why this works?
- There are many unfinished tasks and unsaid
promises to feel concerned about
- Famous writers & filmmakers have proved that
stories on serious societal subjects not only sell they
also win accolades
- Finally, media education and journalism are based on
the premise of nation building- some call it Fourth
Estate, others promotion of plural voices. So our
target group is far more sensitive to social issues
than we can ever imagine
Ingredients
a) An in-house team having a flair for external
communication and writing
b) Regular supply of newspapers, magazines and round the
clock TV room, if possible
c) Media monitoring becomes a daily exercise
d) Analysing coverage and developing an understanding of
where the organisation stands within a plethora of
issues and events
e) A small media relations firm if the budget permits
Case studies presented in a matter-of-fact manner:
some examples from the social development field…
A) Ashish Foundation
B) Sri Ram Ashram
C) Early Childhood Care & Slumdog Millionaire
D) Timely reactions by CSR, NCPEDP
E) Field Visits & Case Studies for TV
Case Studies…
The Times of India, New Delhi
This orphan is now a Gates scholar
Shreya Roy Chowdhury /, TNN | Apr 29, 2011, 05.06AM IST
Fairy tale story of an orphan.
NEW DELHI: She was just three days old, when she was left to die in a lonely alley in the temple town of Haridwar.
Dumped to her fate, she lay by the roadside sobbing and gasping for breath amidst the ebb and flow the Ganga nearby.
But destiny had something else in store. Soma Sharan was picked by a good Samaritan. That was 1993. And from an
orphanage in Haridwar to heady Los Angeles to being the prestigious Gates Millennium scholar - it's been a giant leap of
fate for the 18-year-old girl.
Eight years later, it's homecoming for Soma Sharan. She has come to India to be alongside her 70 brothers and sisters.
Well, she has a very large family at Sri Ram Ashram, Haridwar, where she grew up after being abandoned.
Soma is now going places. She is now a Gates Millennium Scholar. Her undergraduate course atUniversity of California at
Los Angeles is being sponsored. And she has also earned a scholarship for her graduate studies and even her Phd.
Media's Response- Slumdog Millionaire & front Page
coverage on allocated budget for children; victims of
violence talk to the press
Plan-TOI- Front Page- 24th
February ,2009
Media's Response-Front page story in The Hindu
following a field Visit to SOSCVI Village for Disabled
and Orphaned Children in Khajurikalan (Bhopal, M.P)
TV Stories
SOS Village for persons with disabilities in Bhopal
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/bhopal-sos-village-a-support-systemfor-orphans/214066-3.html
Ashish Centre- CNN –IBN under citizen journalism.
http://cj.ibnlive.in.com/fullvideo/cnnibn/294245
Outreach: basics of effective media relations
• Create a database of journalists
• Add them as friends, networks
• Strengthen relations through carefully drafted mails
and stories
• Visit their office, meet them in person whenever there
is an opportunity
Tools that come in handy…
•Press Release: learn to draft them. 1st para should cover
what, where, when, why and how
•Background notes for interviews, features, etc
•Creative invites: examples- Children’s invites, etc
•Emails: give them the story
•Media briefings by beneficiaries/survivors
Importance of effective story telling…
• Present things in the simplest way possible. Human interest
and emotional connect are important
• Develop issue-centric not just organisation-centric view
• Newspapers and TV channels look for case studies- create
good case studies and present in simplest way
• Know your calendar and keep abreast with current events
- Coincide your announcements with important occasions
- Feed info that goes with current news stories
Conclusion:
• Ensure two-way communication and build trust
• Media and communications people may need to work as partners
as they often stand for a common cause
• Understand how media operates before approaching them
• Invest in relationships. Create events for journalists, invite them
as speakers at events, etc.
• Develop an issue-centric not just organisation-centric approach
So how are we benefiting?
• Securing millions of rupees of media space through
effective communication and knowledge based approach
• Building journalists as our friends/partners in change for
any support in the future
• Becoming a credible source of information on issues
• Getting recognised by policy makers and funders as
credible organisations and individuals
• Generating news clippings and TV stories for fund raising
meetings and social media promotion
THANK YOU
Communicators India
G-68, Ground Floor,
East of Kailash, New Delhi-110065.
www.communicatorsindia.com