A View from the Center:
Why Media Matters to Your Nonprofit
by Michelle Sedaca, Program Associate
South Africa Partners
 A staff member of a NonProfit Center tenant organization, Michelle writes this monthly column on life at the center, and the unique culture of a multi-tenant center created specifically for nonprofits. Photo credit:Michelle (left) meeting with Jackie Cefola, program coordinator at the NonProfit Center
“Media should be everyone’s second issue … [It is a] place for public opinion on issues,” said Thenmozhi Soundararajan, executive director of Third World Majority (TWM), an Oakland, Calif.-based media justice training nonprofit, during her keynote at the Women, Action and Media Conference held in Cambridge, Mass., last March. By raising awareness about the media’s critical role in molding popular perceptions about social and political issues, Soundararajan demonstrated the depth of media power.
Soundararajan urged organizations to actively engage in defining their own issues. Otherwise, mainstream media will define the topic according to its own agenda, she warned. “Negative, demeaning imagery. Media that renders us invisible. Too little funding and too few outlets from which to tell our stories. The connections between media – its form, content, and who owns it – is inextricably tied to issues of social justice, power, and equity,” states TWM's website.
Working Within a Nonprofit Budget
Denise Moorehead, communications director at Third Sector New England (TSNE), acknowledged that prioritizing media within a limited budget is difficult. However, she has been instrumental in organizing several workshops and trainings along with Jackie Cefola, the Nonprofit Center's (NPC) program coordinator, about making media efforts accessible to small and midsized nonprofits. “We are not going to move forward if we are having the conversation only among each other. We need to broaden the conversation,” Moorehead emphasized. “It is important to mobilize the public behind issues for change.”
In order to address the necessity for media relations training, Moorehead collaborated with the Progressive Communicators Network, a member-based organization of journalists, communications staff and activists, to organize A Mini-Conference Promoting Democracy, Access and Social Change at the Nonprofit Center last fall.
The conference brought together stakeholders across the media and third sector landscape, including reporters, producers and media activists, addressing central issues such as “How do you get traditional media and new media as tools to advance your organization’s issue?” and “How do you make progressive causes visible?”
Since TSNE’s mission provides capacity-building assistance to nonprofits, the conference perfectly aligned with TSNE’s prerogative to increase organizations’ skills, according to Moorehead.
Having an Impact
Citing many examples to illustrate nonprofits’ ability to use media to change public sentiment or policies, Moorehead demonstrated that effective media coverage can indeed move mountains. For instance, negative media exposure of Walmart’s unfair labor practices resulted in pressure on the company to amend its policies.
Another striking example involved the Unitarian Universalist Society East’s campaign to inform the public about the ties to Burma, a country with grave human rights issues, that singer Celine Dion’s underwriting company maintained. A few fliers handed out prior to the tour’s first concert avalanched into hundreds of fliers given out at the next stop. Finally, the outpour of negative press compelled the company to sever its ties with Burma. Clearly, media exposure possesses the power to tangibly change the world around us.
Andrew Cohen, community research coordinator at The Access Project, an organization advocating on behalf of those struggling with medical debt, knows firsthand how beneficial the media is to a mission. With recent articles in the Boston Globe, The New York Times, and interviews on BBC TV, NPR and Bloomberg TV, among many others, Cohen explained that the media is essential to both attracting funders' attention toward a cause, as well as increasing the public's awareness. “We are on the forefront of pushing awareness that medical debt is a problem,” he said.
As a result of frequent media coverage, more people have sought assistance with medical debt from The Access Project, according to Cohen.
Getting the Message Out
Cohen adamantly encouraged all nonprofits to use media as a tool to advance their mission. “[Using media] makes it is more likely that we can continue to do advocacy work,” he expressed.
According to Cohen, media is within reach for all nonprofits. However, he stressed that outreach must be sustained over time, emphasizing that “Coverage of one report isn't enough. Coverage and local groups organizing around the issue is effective.”
For those inexperienced in working with the media, Cohen offers the following suggestions:
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build and maintain relationships with reporters and editors
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craft talking points which relate to other timely, broader issues
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link the issue to a personal story
“The media needs you as much as you need them,” he reminds us.
Keep up-to-date with Michelle’s latest columns - sign up for the TSNe-Bulletin, a monthly e-newsletter providing tips and ideas to help you strengthen your nonprofit’s impact with and for the communities you serve.
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