Resources

Introduction to Media Relations for Churches

In addition to what you share with other churches and organizations about what you've learned about worship renewal, consider opportunities to have your story told by your local news media. This brief guide can help you get started; see the end of the guide for further assistance from CICW staff and other resources.

Why work with our local media?
How can we interest the local media in our story?
What should I know about talking to a reporter?

Why work with our local media?

1) The media exist to tell stories, and your church has stories to tell.
2) The media like stories about faith, because they touch on themes of hope, tradition, and cooperation.
3) Most importantly, the media represent an opportunity for ministry-not necessarily through explicit testimony, but through communicating the mission and work of your church to a mass audience.

Sample articles that have been written about Worship Renewal Grant recipients:

Holy Communion breaks down barriers, clergy say
United Methodist News Service, May 4, 2005
(on Zion Korean United Methodist Church, Warwick, Rhode Island)

Grant helps church members get in tune
Grand Rapids Press, March 19, 2004
(on Home Acres Reformed Church, Kentwood, Michigan)

Bringing the Bible to Alzheimer's patients
Chicago Tribune, July 16, 2004
(on Friendship Village of Schaumburg, Schaumburg, Illinois)

Grant will help area churches train to help those with disabilities
Grand Rapids Press, June 5, 2004
(Hope Network, Grand Rapids, Michigan)

How can we interest the local media in our story?

The best way of gaining a reporter's attention is usually not a press release-though reporters do refer to them when writing their articles. A better approach is a brief (about five-sentence) "pitch," or story suggestion, by e-mail. This pitch should say why your story idea is worthwhile and timely, and how you're willing to work with the reporter (by granting an in-person interview, inviting them to an event, etc.). Ideally, your pitch should also refer to a recent article or segment by the reporter you're contacting. (Reporters' e-mail addresses are often printed at the end of their articles or on the website of their publication or station. Personal addresses are much more effective than general addresses like "local@dailynews.com.")

You have the best chance of hearing back from a reporter if your pitch is brief, cordial, clear, and shows that you're thinking of the story's value from the point of view of a reporter and reader or viewer, not just your own.

Sample pitch e-mail

Dear Ms. Robertson,

Would you be interested in writing a feature story on a unique project our congregation is working on? We received a grant to create an art installation in our sanctuary that will relate to a series of worship services on hope. Our members have found the art to be a meaningful and creative way to deepen their worship. We think your readers will be interested to know how our church is using this medium to make worship more engaging, like your article last month on how First Church is using ethnic instruments in their evening services.

We'd be happy to arrange to have you and a photographer meet our pastor, Bill Bibleman, and me at our church to view the installation and interview us about it.

Thank you for your consideration,

Amy Artwork
Project Manager, Art For Hope
Main Street Church

Consider assigning one of your church members-perhaps someone who works in publishing or public relations-to maintain occasional contact with local reporters, in order to reflect your church's interest in their work and arouse their interest in yours.

What should I know about talking to a reporter?

1) Reporters often take handwritten notes, even if they're tape recording the interview. Speaking slowly helps to avoid being misquoted.

2) When giving factual information, historical background, and explanation (objective information), be specific, precise, and complete.

Sample question and answer:

Reporter: When did your project begin?

Ineffective answer: Some of us got started a few months ago.

Effective answer: Three volunteer members and me, the project manager, began meeting last May after our grant proposal was funded. We spent the month looking at sample drawings from artists, and commissioned one of them to take two months to complete the installation. We unveiled it in our evening service on September 15.

3) When giving general overview, analysis, summary, and commentary (subjective comments), be direct and to the point. These are the statements most likely to be quoted. Reporters usually only have room or time for a 2-3 sentence quote. By keeping each quotable comment to this length, you prevent the reporter from selecting a portion from a longer answer.

Sample question and answer

Reporter: What do you hope your project will accomplish?

Ineffective answer: We hope to accomplish a variety of important objectives in many different areas. To begin with, ...

Effective answer: We hope to show how visual art can play a central role in the experience of worship. Church services are more than the words we say; they shape how we think about God and see his world.

4) If you wish, ask the reporter to review with you any key quotes and crucial facts that he or she has written down, either at the end of the interview or by a follow-up e-mail. (The closer the reporter is to his or her deadline, the less likely he or she is to be able to comply.) This is one of the best ways to avoid being misquoted or having inaccurate information reported.

5) Avoid going off the record. Don't say anything you wouldn't want to be printed. The occasional exceptions are cases where providing confidential information or comments is necessary for the reporter's understanding of the story, or to strengthen a bond of trust with the reporter, but these should be rare.

6) Offer the reporter supplementary materials about your church or organization, but only ones that are clearly related to your grant project or the history of your church. Materials that are not clearly relevant are likely to be ignored.

7) Refrain from direct solicitations of a reporter's conversion or inquiries about her church attendance habits. If the reporter is already religious, she may resent the suspicion that she is not. If the reporter is not religious, he might think that conversion is the sole purpose of your church's public communication. The primary objective of having your story told in the media is to have a public record of your church's life, work, and worship. Arousing curiosity about these things among reporters and readers this way is the most promising first step toward possible eventual attendance and spiritual questions.

For more assistance:

- CICW communications coordinator Nathan Bierma is a professional journalist and can help you work with your local media (contact him). Betty Grit is program manager of the CICW's Worship Renewal Grants Program and can provide advice on communicating effectively and succinctly about church grant projects (contact her at worshipgrants@calvin.edu).

- The Calvin College Media Relations department's Working with the News Media guide, written by Calvin College media relations director Phil de Haan, is a helpful introduction to building and maintaining good relationships with the media.

Other resources
Alban Weekly, the newsletter of the Alban Institute, has an online series on congregational publicity. Its first two articles in this series are on advertising and publicity, and it offers a resource list for publicity.