5. The journalist’s profession

If you have to contact journalists, it is best to know how they work and how, where they are concerned, they see things. To be sure your information will have a good feedback, it is necessary to understand their realities and to take their needs into account.

Hereafter, therefore a few succinct notions of journalism.

5.1. The star questions : who, what , where, when, why, how, how much ?

Every lesson on journalism begins with this reference on the seven fundamental questions that see to it that a information is complete. In English it is easier to remember them because the first five questions begin with W : who, what, where, when, why.

In principle therefore, a journalist will seek information until he has a reply to all these questions.

If you want to communicate information to a journalist, it will therefore be necessary to ask yourself the same questions before you meet him. A kind of rehearsal before coming on stage. You will then realise perhaps that certain important information are lacking. (When did the project start ? How many youngsters have taken part ? etc.)

The answers cannot be vague either. Here a few examples :

Too vague	Let’s be precise
There was quite a crowd	We gathered 500 people
We organised various activities for the young	We organised a rap concert, a karate show, a football match youths-educators
A long time ago	Two years ago
We need funds to finance the premises	We need 300 Euros to adjust the premises
The project has well progressed	The project is half finished, we still have to paint the walls and the window frames

 

Social journalism... the poor relation? Though the object of this guide is to motivate social street workers to communicate with the media, one has to bear in mind that the social agenda is not always well thought of among journalists. Considered as hardly marketable by salesmen, it does not (or seldom) belong to the topics that are viewed as " eye-catching " by journalists themselves. The social agenda is indeed not the favourite topic of ambitious journalists. You may probably meet journalists having a passion for social issues, some of them do. Such journalists are however often marginalized within their own editorial office and must really struggle to have their articles published. And above all, you will meet journalists covering the field until they find something better. The fact is that (unfortunately) it is more prestigious in this profession, as for public opinion, to be the one who socializes with politicians, heads of companies, movie stars or famous sportsmen than to be seen as the street workers` friend. It is more rewarding to have an article about the war in Iraq published on the front page than one on page twelve about the opening of a new youth centre in the suburbs. You may thus well be faced with a rapid rotation of your contact persons, which will not make it easier for you to create, and above all maintain, your media contacts network. Having said that, brought back into fashion by the alterglobalist movement, social issues, and especially street issues enjoy renewed popularity among the media everywhere in the world. This new trend is a real source of hope....

5.2. The law of proximity

The law of mileage dead end

It is perhaps a pity, but each human being has its weaknesses. What is nearby arouses his concern more than what happens further away from him.

A car injury in his street will concern the citizen more than an accident at the other end of the city. A fire killing five people will have more impact if it occurs in his district, rather than a

fire killing 50 people on the other side of the world.

The feelings

This geographical law also applies at affective level : the citizen will feel more concerned if he knows the people, if the event is related to themes near and dear to him.

Knowing this, the journalist will analyse the information using the filter : is this going to interest my readers ? Is it not too remote from their interests ?

If you speak to a journalist from a local paper, he will be interested by the local dynamic of your project. A journalist from a national media will probably have more interest for the theme, the example value, the global political impact of the event. A European media will be more attracted by the international appreciation of your action.

5.3. Trains which arrive on time interest nobody

A train which arrives in due time, does not make news.

One will more easily talk of what goes wrong : accidents, attacks, riots, crashes, natural catastrophes, etc.

From this perspective, social street work will interest the media because it attacks real social problems. This is good news but is also a trap since the media risk neglecting the positive and optimistic message of street work to focus only on the sensational aspect of the problems it intends to fight.

5.4. Man bites dog

Another saying goes "dog bites man" is not news but "man bites dog" is news. What is out of the ordinary, the normal course of events arouses people’s interest.

Records of all kinds belong to this category. Same as surprising, previously unreleased or original information that can constitute a hook to talk about social street work.

5.5. The inevitable quartet of information

Next time you read a paper or look at the news on television, observe carefully who are the actors of the interviews. You will probably recognise the following quartet :

- the witness or the victim (of a fire, of an attack, of an accident)

- the representative of the official authorities (the minister, the lord mayor of the town, …)

- the field expert (fireman, police officer, doctor, …)

- and of course (but one does not always see him) the journalist who more often contents himself with letting the various actors of the event speak out.

As social worker, you will more often play the part of field expert, the one who will explain the behaviour, the problems, the hopes of the youngsters, the homeless, etc. You will more seldom be asked to play the part of the witness requested to simply relate the facts.

5.6. The sources of the journalist

The information sources of the journalist are very variable. By nature, the journalist is inquisitive. He reads a lot, is always tending an ear, on the look out.

His inspiration and his information will come out of books, news letters, press releases, television broadcasts, reports from competitors (journalists sometimes copy one another) but also, and this is important for you, through direct contacts.

The journalist privileges direct information via another human being… He prefers to find out by meeting the people on the field who will trigger for him the idea of an article, the building up of a file, an interview.

Therefore, it is not incongruous to contact a journalist directly and suggest a subject. This does not mean he will accept it. But if you chose carefully your journalist and suggest an interesting feature, anything is possible.

And even if he does not make use of the subject, you will have had the opportunity of meeting him (at least by phone). On the other hand, journalists scrupulously keep their address book up to date and if you are in it, perhaps he will get in touch with you one day as field expert. Everything is consequently not lost. And nothing prevents you from returning to the attack some time later with another subject. Whilst being careful not to insist too heavily.

From one interview to another Interviews carried out to write this guide have enabled us to meet several journalists at leisure and outside any topical question of the moment.A few days later, one of them contacted us to take part in a direct radio broadcast, on the very theme of our work, which is youth protection, theme that was at the very moment in discussion at government level. What we had previously discussed about, has allowed to rapidly mark out the message of the interview and to arrive fast at the essential part. Edwin de Boevé, Dynamo International, Brussels Following the unexpected death of a person treated in our services, a TV report was shot. The methodology used during the shooting was negotiated between street workers and journalists (coming first without any TV camera, for an initial contact, getting to know the young people …). One week after the report was broadcasted the NGO was given its first grant. Michèle Villain, ICAR Project, Liège, Belgium. A touch of hope in a country at war A number of journalists often come to the Democratic Republic of Congo. They are interested in war and coups, but they are not insensitive to " what is still standing ". This positive element is a touch of hope, even in a country facing a catastrophic situation.During my work as a guide for foreign journalists, I met a significant number of them. It enabled me to inform them and to keep them posted on a regular basis about our association’s activities.The principle behind our association is a simple one: underprivileged young girls who wish to do so join our group and become cheerleaders. They are given a uniform and sent to school.It all began ten years ago, thanks to the support of the then Coca Cola Congo’s managing director, who found that my initiative was a nice one. He provided T-shirts to the first cheerleaders as uniforms and a small financial support.Today, we have 425 cheerleaders and a school to educate them. The various cheerleaders’ groups take part to openings of shops, football matches, etc. We charge representations to the customers, which at least makes up for the cost of uniforms and transport.We have received more support since then and the media who have followed us since the very beginning have played a determining role in mobilizing support abroad. A movie about "Multicarte"’s ten years of work has recently been produced.Our impact has been so big that the initiative is currently being reproduced in several other African states. Bernadette Moukendy, director of Multicarte, Kinshasa, Republic of Congo.

5.7. Expectations — Replies in short

The journalist’s expectations facing any person wishing to transmit information, such as the street workers or press attachés should not condition or distort the behaviours or the speeches.

To communicate is not just an exercise of excessive seduction. If some expectations are not satisfied, so be it/ or so much the better.

In the following table, you will find a brief survey of said expectations and the replies that the press attaché tries to give .

RELATIONSHIP

JOURNALIST	PRESS OFFICER
Put new into perspective	Promote information
Get a good story	Provide quotes, create images
Get links	Provide other sources
Appropriate the info	Coach the contact

THE TIME !

10 expectations from a journalist :

- Quickly find an angle

- Work timely

- Find good quotes

- Put news into perspective

- Need good (useful) sources

- Get data from computer

- Get quick answers to phone calls

- Don’t travel for nothing

- Need tailes-maid information

- Need illustration

10 answers from a press officer :

- Never disappoint them

- Never lie

- Don’t be scared

- Don’t be naïve

- Adapt to their constraints

- Respect their work

- Well know the issues

- Give before asking

- Don’t disclose internal issues

- Put yourself in their shoes

Since the re-unification, unemployment rates have remained particularly high in the eastern part of Germany. Unemployment hits a significant number of young people, which leads to violence, racism and political extremism. This has been a source of concern for journalists. Many of us decided to direct TV reports on the issue. For my part, I got in touch with street workers working with hooligans, which made it possible for me to demonstrate in a TV program called " Plein cadre " that a solution can be found through hard educational work. This point is essential and is actually supported by many people in Germany. Sabine Rau, Journalist at the WDR — German TV channel.