Radio Actualities
From Democratic GAIN Wiki
A radio feed is like an audio news release, limited to one solid sound bite. It usually comes from the candidate but may occasionally come from the manager.
Two to three times a week, the campaign should send feeds to radio stations across the district and place bites in voice-mail boxes and on the campaign website easily available for stations to retrieve. If you keep the statements short, radio stations can incorporate the sound bites into news stories. They should be no longer than 20 or 30 seconds and can include a lead-in and a concluding line (by you) providing context.
For example: Candidate Jane Doe today called on Congress to reject the House Republican welfare proposal:
“Reform” does not mean putting single mothers out on the street. “Reform” does not mean hungry children and low birth-weight babies. The GOP proposal Congress is voting on today creates more problems, not solutions.
Doe, a member of the Salem city council, is the Democratic nominee for Congress from Oregon’s 5th congressional district. Her opponent, Bob Small, has endorsed the GOP welfare reform proposal.
Actualities
Radio feeds are often referred to generically as “actualities,” but there is a difference. The term “actuality” implies that the sound bite was taped at an actual event — a debate, a news conference or a speech, for example. It is live, not staged. Be forewarned: If you pitch a canned feed as an actuality, you are liable to incur the wrath of news directors, who can tell the difference.
How to Create a Feed
Mechanically, the process is simple. You need as least one tape or recorder, a microphone and stand, and headphones. Once recorded, the feed can be delivered either via a telephone, with a cable or wire to bridge the recorder to the phone, or via a digital file e-mailed or posted on a Website. Editing can be easily accomplished on a computer with very inexpensive audio edit software such as Cooledit. Alternatively, simple editing can be done using two tape recorders.
Selecting Your Actuality
If you’re working with two cassette decks, use one deck to record the raw audio. Take it with you to every event or press conference. Use it also to record the candidate or spokesperson’s voice in a neutral setting or over the phone. Use the same deck to record your voice to create a wrap around the actuality. Use separate tapes for each of these recordings.
How to send a feed
The best delivery mechanism is posting sound bites on campaign Websites or sending digital files via e-mail. Alternatively bites can still be sent the old fashioned way over phone lines – using very inexpensive phone bridge devices and mini-jack cables from your computer or tape machine.
How to pitch a feed
Pitching the feed is at least as important as recording and feeding it properly. Call each radio station and ask for the newsroom. Introduce yourself, let them know the topic of the feed and its length (a little over one minute total, tops). Some stations will accept the feed right away, others will take a little persuading, others will reject it outright, usually telling you that they do not accept feeds. Make note of these stations in your media list. For those who need a little convincing, prepare a pitch beforehand highlighting the importance and timeliness of the candidate’s remarks, particularly as they relate to the listeners of that radio station. Your media targeting should prepare you to tailor a pitch to a variety of stations based on listener demographics. Do not try to send a feed of old news. Be current and pay attention to the day’s headlines. After you’ve sent the feed, stay on the line to make sure they received it and to answer any questions.
Satellite feeds
The use of satellite technology for informational or political purposes has been common in presidential campaigns, and for several years by members of Congress. Candidates for state office and elected state officials have also begun to take advantage of this media tool. Satellites reach people in media markets where the candidate cannot physically be. Via satellite, you can feed the candidate’s actions or comments to any television news department in the country or anywhere else you might assemble people to watch. For a moderate price, a campaign can reach hundreds of thousands — if not millions — of people through television, often on only a few hours’ notice.
Of course, what is a moderate expense for one campaign may be prohibitive for another. Smaller campaigns situated in only one or two media markets will find this technology less practical. In some cases, for less than $5,000, you can arrange to have professional video shot of your candidate or campaign, edited and fed by satellite to nearly anywhere in the country.
Before sending the feed, fax/e-mail out an advisory and call every station and wire service you’re targeting to pitch the story. Give them the details of the satellite feed (exact time and satellite coordinates). Stations can use the video in their local newscasts at no cost to them, as though they had gathered it themselves.
General: Communications | Earned media | Public News Events
Message: Defining Your Opponents | Debates | Defense | Inside Baseball
Earned Media Techniques: Communications Team | Press list | Radio Actualities
Paid Media Techniques (Microcast): Direct mail | Paid phones | Print advertising
Paid Media Techniques (Broadcast): Display advertising | Radio advertising | Television advertising
