Sidebars

The Five Fs of Media Relations
The Journalist's Working Environment
Essentials of News Reporting
Going Off the Record
Countering Rumors About Family Planning


The Five Fs of Media Relations

In working with journalists, it is vital to develop good interpersonal relationships. How can you do so? One rule of thumb followed by experienced practitioners is to adhere to the "Five Fs"—Fast, Factual, Frank, Fair, and Friendly (16):
Fast. Respect journalists' deadlines. If a journalist telephones for information, return the call immediately, even if it is past normal office hours. A phone message returned the next day is too late. By then, the story already may have been aired or printed.

Factual. Be factual, and make the facts interesting. Stories are based on facts. Journalists also appreciate a dramatic statement, creative slogan, or personal anecdote to help illustrate your point. Give the source of any facts and statistics provided.

Frank. Be candid. Never mislead journalists. Be as open as possible and respond frankly to their questions. As long as there is an explanation of the reason, most journalists will understand and respect a source even if he or she is not able to answer a question completely or at all.

Fair. Organizations must be fair to journalists if they expect journalists to be fair to them. Favoring one news outlet consistently, for example, will lose the confidence of the others.

Friendly. Like everyone else, journalists appreciate courtesy. Remember their names; read what they write; listen to what they say; know their interests; thank them when they cover family planning.




The Journalist's Working Environment
by Usman Jimada

Journalists in developing countries face many pressures that affect their interest in and ability to report on family planning. Understanding these pressures can help you work better with journalists.

Competition for Audience

Journalists write for audiences that increasingly have many sources of news, information, and entertainment. Journalists must compete with each other and with entertainment programs to get the best stories and attract the biggest audiences. Also, while editorial departments are separate from those dealing with advertising, sales, and circulation, they are not immune to economic pressures. Editors and producers may feel pressure to make the news reporting exciting and entertaining as well as timely and credible to attract as wide an audience as possible. For this reason the family planning story may get bumped off the front page when a more popular story about a celebrity, politician, or athlete comes up.

Deadlines

Journalists must meet frequent writing and production deadlines. In television, for example, there are deadlines for morning, afternoon, and evening news programs. Radio stations may broadcast news as often as every half hour. Deadlines at newspapers may occur in both morning and afternoon. If you want your story to appear, it is vital to respect these deadlines and to recognize the pressure that journalists face. Newsworthy events occur at a moment's notice—the prime minister resigns from office, terrorists blow up a jumbo jet, a big business announces bankruptcy, a cyclone hits land. The news media must be ready to cover them all. Sometimes fast-breaking events pull journalists off one story—perhaps yours—to cover a more important one.

Government Relations

The political situation in a country shapes the relationships between the news media and the government and strongly affects how family planning organizations work with journalists. In some countries a free press exists based on the belief that the people have a "right to know" and value the news media as a watchdog. But in many countries the news media are still emerging from a tradition of government control. Some governments continue to pressure journalists to print what the government wants. Other journalists are locked in constant struggle with government officials who demand an uncritical and deferential news media. Some governments still resist independent newspapers and try to punish journalists who publicly disagree with official views.

Government control over the news media may not adversely affect coverage of family planning. It may even improve coverage if there is a national family planning program or population policy that the government wishes to promote. If family planning is not a priority for the government, however, government control over the news media may mean little or no news at all about it. Whatever the political environment, the more interesting and newsworthy the family planning story, the more likely that the news media will cover it.

Pressure from Interest Groups

Most journalists face interest groups who seek to influence what they report and how they report it. Groups opposed to family planning can be influential among journalists, particularly if their voices are not matched by those of family planning advocates providing factual information openly and regularly. To help journalists remain independent of interest groups, provide them with credible, objective sources of information so that they know the facts and can report your point of view as well as the opposition's points of view.

Lack of Resources In many developing countries the news media often lack the basic tools, access to good transportation, and so on. Video cameras, batteries, tapes, and films may be in short supply. Television news reporters, for example, may have to wait for a camera to return from an assignment before they are able to go on another one. These conditions make it difficult to attract good coverage except for top government functions, ministerial news conferences, celebrity appearances, major sports events, and other news priorities. With few resources, journalists cannot cover all the events to which they are invited. Thus, if an organization wants to attract more coverage, it should provide as much help as possible. For example, when planning events, make sure that they will be easy for journalists to attend and offer assistance with logistics, supplies, and materials.

Low Wages

The low salaries paid to journalists in most developing countries sap their morale and diminish their zeal in seeking and reporting news. Even more troublesome, low salaries are the breeding ground for "checkbook journalism." In some countries some journalists at all levels have been known to accept payments in exchange for running a story. In some places the practice of checkbook journalism is so established that journalists expect payment even before covering an event or publishing a story. Because journalists' wages are so irregular and meager, many have grown to depend on this kind of payment for their very survival.

In some countries paying members of the news media to publish stories may be accepted and even necessary to obtain coverage because everybody does it. The long-term disadvantages of the practice, however, outweigh any short-term benefits. Whatever the reasons for checkbook journalism, it undermines news media credibility. When the news is for sale, the public cannot view it as objective or independent and cannot trust what they hear or read in the news media. For family planning programs, the independence and credibility of the news media are vital assets in providing the public with the facts that they need to make informed choices. Checkbook journalism cheapens these assets. Usman Jimada is Abuja bureau chief for the "New Nigerian Newspapers." He wrote this sidebar for Population Reports while he was a participant in the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program for journalists in 1995.


Return to Chapter 2.3 | Return to Chapter 5.3



Essentials of News Reporting
by Jawadur Rahman

Only recent and hitherto unknown events make news. Immediacy is the most important element of news. All other elements together will not make an event newsworthy if immediacy is lacking.

Other factors that impart news value to events are: proximity, consequence, prominence, conflict, drama, adventure, violence, sex, crime, novelty, oddity, humor, human interest.

Here are some of the qualities that make a good news report:

  • It is brief.
  • It contains small, well-arranged paragraphs, short sentences, and easy-to-understand, commonly used words.
  • It gives an objective and undistorted picture of what has happened.
  • It does not reflect the personal bias of the reporter.
  • It tries to answer as many questions as the reader may want answered.

Writing News

The conventional structure of news stories is called the inverted pyramid. A first paragraph, or "lead," summarizes the major facts. The rest of the story elaborates the lead and includes other important facts. The facts are arranged in order of decreasing importance. The last few paragraphs are least important and, in a lengthy story, could be omitted without depriving the reader of any vital information.

This structure has certain advantages: A busy reader can know the major facts by reading the lead and the next few paragraphs. Also, it allows the editor to chop off one or two paragraphs from the bottom of the story to solve a problem of space.

The lead is the most important part of a news story and the most difficult to write. A lead should not exceed 30 words, and it is often possible to write it in fewer words. A lead that the reader cannot read aloud at one breath is a bad lead.

There are different types of leads, but all have one common purpose: to make the readers read the story. Attracted by the headline, the busy reader glances at the lead. If the lead is effectively written, the reader wants to have a look at the paragraphs that follow.

The "summary lead" is particularly useful. This type of lead gives an outline of the event and its major facts—who, what, where, when, why, and how. A news report is not complete unless it answers these basic questions, which a reader may be expected to ask. Some of the answers may not be included in the lead, however. Sometimes we find "why" or "how," or both, answered in the paragraphs that immediately follow.

Working with News Sources

Often, government sources are reluctant to talk to news reporters if they consider some information sensitive. And one wonders if there is any information they do not consider sensitive. If a reporter wants to know something from the secretary of a ministry but the secretary does not cooperate with him, he will go to other officials in the ministry. If none of them talks, he may be tempted to talk to the typist or some other staff or even to some friend or relation of the secretary.

The ideal relationship between a reporter and his sources is that of mutual trust. Mutual trust comes from the past behavior of both parties. If the reporter does not enjoy the trust of his sources, he will not get their willing cooperation. And if he cannot trust them, he cannot write his story on the basis of what they tell him.

Jawadur Rahman is an editor of the "Bangladesh Observer." This text is adapted with permission from "News Writing," a training manual for journalists published by the "Press Institute of Bangladesh," January 1993.


Return to Chapter 4 | Return to Chapter 6.3



Going Off the Record

Going off the record in an interview means telling a reporter something in confidence with the explicit agreement that it will not be used in print or on the air (16). It is tempting to go off the record when you have information to reveal and want to be helpful but feel uncomfortable having it attributed to you.

It is rarely a good idea, however, to discuss something with a reporter off the record (22). There are several reasons:

  • Mistakes can and do happen. Thus you may be embarrassed to see or hear your remarks in the news. It may not have been clear to the reporter that your comments were meant to be confidential (45).
  • You may say something so newsworthy that the reporter or the editor will not honor your request for confidentiality.
  • The reporter may verify your information with another source and use it anyway.
  • If a reporter cannot use the information that you provide, he or she may go elsewhere to find information in the future.
Before you decide to go off the record, consider your reasons for wanting to do so. Do you feel unprepared to answer the question on the record? It is much better to tell the reporter that you are not sure of the answer but that you will check, and then to provide it as quickly as possible. Are you trying to avoid adverse publicity? If something is not intended for public consumption, what is the purpose of sharing it with a reporter at all? Do you want to provide newsworthy information without taking responsibility for it? This is not the way to establish credibility with journalists. Some reporters will not agree to take information off the record, and experienced news media relations professionals rarely provide information this way.

If the reporter is someone that you trust and who trusts you, however, you may occasionally ask to speak off the record to help clarify a difficult situation or to explain a complicated news event. Even so, be careful. Be clear about when you are going off the record and when you go back on.


Return to Chapter 8.2



Countering Rumors About Family Planning

Family planning is often the subject of unfounded rumors, which can be damaging if they spread widely (8, 55). By encouraging accurate reporting about family planning, a strong public information program helps contain rumors before they spread. Once rumors have appeared in the news media, it is difficult to counter them, but it is important to try.

Avoiding Rumors by Working with the News Media

When journalists receive credible, authoritative information about family planning, they become more aware of contraceptive technology, the advantages and disadvantages of contraceptive methods, and their correct use. Such information helps them report accurately on family planning issues. For example, the news media could balance stories about the problems that some women face from side effects if they knew that for almost all women any risks are far less than the risks of unintended pregnancies (18, 48, 57).

Family planning rumors often build to fantastic proportions. For example, a Bangladeshi woman was said to have given birth to a snake after taking oral contraceptives. When this rumor reached a newspaper reporter, he set out to find the woman to interview her but was disappointed that he could not locate her—never thinking that she did not exist. Because he was not well-informed about family planning, this reporter missed an opportunity to report that the story was nothing but a rumor (34).

In some places false rumors about reproductive health are widespread and scare some people away from contraception—for example, "the pills build up in your stomach;" or "vasectomies are castration"; or "an IUD can travel to a woman's brain." Family planning service providers are trained to counter such rumors by counseling clients with the facts (15, 38). Help journalists also to counter rumors by reporting the facts. Such activities as preparing fact sheets and background reports on family planning methods and programs, arranging interviews with service providers and clients, and making family planning programs more accessible to journalists will help the news media see rumors for what they are. The more people who know the facts, the more who are in a position to stop rumors from spreading (8).

Correcting False Information in the News

When rumors are widespread in society, they often appear in the news media despite the best efforts of family planning programs. When journalists spread rumors about reproductive health by reporting them as facts, they keep rumors alive and give them more credibility.

Most journalists who spread rumors about family planning do so inadvertently because, like the reporter looking for the woman rumored to have given birth to a snake, they believe the rumors themselves. Some, on the claim of impartiality, report rumors without comment on their accuracy even though they know or suspect that the rumors are false. Still others may be prejudiced and do not mind spreading rumors that damage family planning programs.

Whatever the cause, after the rumor has appeared in the news, it is important to refute it as quickly as possible. Start with the journalists responsible. Be polite and do not accuse these journalists of ill-will or incompetence. Inform other journalists as well, or else they may assume that an uncorrected story is factual and repeat the rumor in their own stories. Even if journalists do not immediately use the information that you have provided, the next time that a rumor about family planning crosses their desks, they may check with you before deciding to run the story (30, 67).

In correcting a rumor that has been printed or broadcast, you can choose one or more of several options:

  • Discuss the rumor with the journalists responsible and ask for a correction.
  • Issue a news release or fact sheet to all news media in the area. Mention the rumor, present the facts to counter it, and support your facts with solid evidence.
  • Offer to put journalists in touch with community experts and to provide scientific evidence from international sources such as the World Health Organization.
Rumors can be overcome with objective evidence from credible sources. If your evidence against the rumor is weak or biased, however, journalists probably will not find it convincing. Look for respected, credible spokespersons among community leaders, medical associations, government agencies, university scholars, and international organizations experienced in family planning. The stronger the popular belief in a rumor, the more complete and convincing the evidence against it must be.

Often, a credible spokesperson can be found within your own organization, such as the director or a health care provider. It may be better, however, to find experts from other sources, if your organization or its work are affected by the rumor, because journalists may consider outside experts more objective.

Rumors usually reflect the real concerns of people in the community (8). For example, people's personal experience with contraceptive side effects often lies behind rumors that exaggerate health risks of using contraceptives. When responding to an unbalanced news report based on a rumor, it is important to reflect these concerns. In countering rumors, your purpose is not to conceal the disadvantages or side effects of contraceptives but rather to ensure accurate, factual coverage that helps people make informed choices.


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