In June of 2004 this Great Lakes Forever media kit was mailed to 180 media outlets (newspapers, magazines, radio & television) in Wisconsin. The outlets were selected based on coverage, journalism "beat," and likelihood of reaching our targeted audiences.
The kit featured a variety of fact sheets with expanded information on the campaign's four overarching Great Lakes issues - water quality, water quantity, habitat protection and invasive species.
Throughout the summer this media kit (and other Great Lakes-related media "pitches") received significant "earned" media coverage. Stories appeared in more than 40 outlets, including: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel , Green Bay Press Gazette , Green Bay News Chronicle , Duluth News-Tribune, St. Paul Pioneer Press, The Country Today, Great Lakes Sport Fishing News, Great Lakes Brewers' News, The Wisconsin State Journal and the Capital Times. Stories also ran on the Associated Press wire, Business Wire, Wisconsin Public Radio, Great Lakes Radio Consortium, and local network television news in Green Bay and Duluth.
The Media Kit in Brief
- Goals : Reach newspaper and lifestyle magazine readers with free or "earned" media stories on the Great Lakes. Secondary goal, to build relationships with regional newspaper editors and writers.
- Audiences : As with all Great Lakes Forever products, the target audiences were Great Lakes Lifestylers (for most magazines) and Engaged Frequent Voters (for most newspapers, local television and radio news). Research tells us that community leaders and voters are "news seekers" - they tend to read newspapers and tune into local television and radio news. Click here to read more about these target audiences.
- Distribution : Targeted mailings to editors and reporters throughout Wisconsin with additional distribution to regional magazines and national newswires.
- Outcome : Publication of Great Lakes Forever-placed stories in more than 40 outlets, including print, radio, television and Web outlets. 28% of Web site survey respondents reported visiting the site after seeing a media story placed by Great Lakes Forever.
Sample Content for Your Own Press Kits
Below you'll find titles of the press kit content and links to download the pages for your own use. You'll also find these documents and additional media releases on our Great Lakes Forever media pages:
- Press Release - Biodiversity Project Launches Great Lakes Forever to Rally Public Concern for Great Lakes
- Biodiversity Project Fact Sheet
- Great Lakes Forever Fact Sheet
- Great Lakes Fact Sheet - Clean Water
- Great Lakes Fact Sheet - Water Supply and Consumption
- Great Lakes Fact Sheet - Habitat Protection
- Great Lakes Fact Sheet - Invasive Species
- Great Lakes Tips for Homeowners
- Fast Facts - Quick Great Lakes Facts
- Visual - Selected Great Lakes Images (an online resource)
In addition to our general Great Lakes media kit, Biodiversity Project developed specific media releases for each campaign product, such as the BioBlitzes, our state park signs, the Governors' compact agreement, and our coastal coasters. Where appropriate, media releases included links to royalty-free "image banks" posted on our Great Lakes Forever Web site. Many of the images included on this CD-ROM were made available through those image banks. The successful placement of stories was based, in part, on maintaining regular contact with up to 180 television, print and radio resources that had already received the media kit outlined above.
Planning to Produce Your Own Press Kit?
We're happy to provide advice and materials to help you produce your own press kit! Contact Jeffrey Potter at jpotter@biodiverse.org or 608-250-9876. See "Terms of Use" for more details on using Great Lakes Forever materials.