Українською
English
How to get your NGO into international media
Learn more
Journalists and editors from various publications (Reuters, BBC, freelance writers from Germany, Spain, etc.) have given many useful tips to NGOs on how to make their organization known to the world.

What to offer to the media?
Offer the media a story, not just information about your organization. Explain why telling this story is very important right now.
If you have complementary materials that you want to add, write the super-brief intro on what you want to provide with this handout.
The story should have a main character or characters, a plot, and development of events, and of course, an explanation of why telling this story is very important right now.
Present it as a teaser or announcement that will arouse interest. Don't write the story for the journalist, write about the fact that you have a story to share.
If your news/story has a "picture" - a photo from an event, a photo of a hero or heroine, etc. - the likelihood of it being of interest is increased.
The copyright of pictures should be included so that journalists can use the picture without having to ask about the copyright.
Where to find journalist contacts?
Choose the media outlets you want to reach. Go to their website, there should be contacts or recommendations on how to get in touch.
Google who has already written about your country, look for that person on social media, especially on Twitter. Most of the journalists who participated in my survey have a Twitter account and recommend contacting them through it.
If you find a Telegram, WhatsApp, or email address - write to them.
In your country, there should be correspondents of international publications and fixers (local assistants who help journalists) - look for their contacts, look for them on social networks.
The most effective way is to contact a specific journalist, write to him or her personally!
Journalists do not recommend writing emails to the general mailbox of a channel or editorial office because most likely they will not receive a response. Too many emails are sent to this address.
The good news: if you establish good communication with one journalist, others may also pick up on it - something like a chain reaction will start.

You have a good speaker on the topic of how to interest the media

To "sell" the speaker, you need to create a description of this person, write about their history, and why they are ideal for commenting on this topic. Perhaps highlight a few interesting conclusions this person has made on the topic you want to cover.

Should you send a mass email to all media outlets, or choose just one?
If you know a specific editor or journalist from a media outlet where you want to be featured, write to them, emphasizing the uniqueness of the story you are proposing, and that it is exclusive and you are offering it to them first.
If there is no response, follow up with a phone call. Yes, you read that right - pick up the phone and ask (if you have found their phone number).
Don't spam!
If you manage to contact journalists or editors, don't try to bombard them with information. Don't include them in a weekly digest, etc. They will simply start to ignore you. Write only when you have something important.

Don't demand edits unless it is important

"Once I wrote an article about a man who was a daycare educator, and I referred to him as a teacher. He wrote to me and asked me to correct it to 'educator'. I did it, but this is not the time to spend my time on such edits,"

— says a journalist from an international publication.

His colleagues support this recommendation.

Understanding the local context
and mentality
It is important when you want to be featured in the media of a specific country to understand whether your message aligns with local context and priorities. For example, for Germans, these are women's rights, protection of LGBTQ+ rights, environmental issues, migrants, etc.
To understand this, you can find Ukrainian journalists or activists who are currently in the country and ask them.Invite journalists to events and actions in advance. For example, in Germany, it is standard to announce an event a month in advance (and that's at least).

It is important!

It is important to remember that journalists are not magical princesses in inaccessible towers. They too constantly need interesting topics and heroes. They are searching for you just as you are searching for them, especially considering how in-demand Ukrainian topics are in the world today!

To the top

These recommendations were compiled by Maryna Hovorukhina, a ‘Vidnova’ scholarship recipient and iac Berlin intern, and Darka Horova, a journalist for FOCUS weekly and graduate of the ‘Medien-Mittler zwischen den Völkern’ program from the Robert Bosch Stiftung.

Thank you to the organization N-ost for their assistance in arranging meetings with journalists.

The creation of this material was made possible with the support of

Design and layout by Olga Zarko
Ilustrations by iwat1929 on Freepik