Benefits of Local Media Engagement
Local, grassroots media are the lifeline for many of us to keep updated about local news, get informed on community developments and, increasingly, learn ways to activate and advocate. Many of these sites are savvy at social media, making it easy to engage with the content by posting comments and sharing story links.
This is a great thing for PR!
Local media can include weekly newspapers, online news sites and yes, even social media outlets like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, using local influencers. Perhaps one of the best leveraged news sites is the Patch, which after its debut seven years ago as an AOL property, now covers 1,200 communities nationally. Even sites like NextDoor, which started as a way to connect neighbors with local business services, news, recommendations and a place to sell stuff, have seen tremendous growth as a conduit for news coverage. Today NextDoor is in more than 200,000 neighborhoods across seven countries. As NPR reported recently, with local news outlets struggling, NextDoor has become, in many communities, a hub for local news and local political discussions.
PR pros are taking note. We are consumers and suppliers of content to these outlets and recognize the power of embracing grassroots media in building momentum. In my work, I always include a grassroots and local media outreach recommendation to my clients. Not only are our local journalists generally a pleasure to work with, they have a solid understanding of the market and implications as well as the local stakeholders and leaders. In addition, many grassroots websites have gotten very smart about letting users upload their own news, images and calendar listings, which go a long way in helping to share information.
Called independent journalism, local news sharing platform or community media – they are growing and filling a void for many Americans. According to the Neiman Lab Predictions for Journalism 2021, the COVID pandemic sparked the growth of local news sites as more workers are opting to keep operating from a remote worksite, leading to population shifts in rural areas. This creates the need for more local journalism, often in areas without a local outlet. Investments in grassroots media, such as digital news cooperatives to combat “news deserts” demonstrate this trend.
In the last six months (in my own community and around the country) we saw many hotly contested local school board and municipal elections. Usually somewhat of a snoozer event, one where even residents who will be impacted by it, don’t engage. The issues on the ballot in my town were elevated partially due to the grassroots efforts of a few high school and college students.
In this example, an Instagram post from a student was shared widely with parents and, consequently to the parent’s unofficial school Facebook group. From there, the candidates used grassroots community papers and outlets as well as social media to generate coverage and build awareness. (In this election, the issues were very timely, pitting candidates who claimed current teachers showed a left-wing bias versus those pushing for LBGTQ students’ and teachers’ rights). In addition, the students organized a rally that was covered by local media. However, some weren’t pleased when the coverage didn’t include all of the messages that the group intended.
This is the pro and con of working with the media – we don’t control the message. We know the journalist’s job is to present all sides of a story. From my experience, local media outlets adhere to the standards of the profession, in a way that some of the reporters on the national level have not.
As PR professionals, we know we need to give our audiences the message in a way and in a place where they can receive it. In the local school board election example, I was fascinated how the messaging was conceived and developed by high school students, who jointly put together a Facebook page, smartly realizing that the voters were mostly their parents and grandparents who use Facebook as a source of information, instead of TikTok. As NPR explained, Nextdoor, which discourages discussions of national politics, is playing an influential role in local politics. We saw it used as an effective tool for both sides to share their views in this local election.
At The Harbinger Group, we have the honor of working with grassroots media for many campaigns, including when we are sharing the great work of the Golden Apple Foundation. By working with local media, we are able to bring attention to important statewide issues of education inequity, examples of excellence in teaching and leadership and programs for local students to join to help train future teachers to serve in schools of need.
Moving forward, we’ll continue to rely on hyperlocal news contacts to help share client’s stories. Reach out if you need help sharing yours.