Make It Public:
Creating a Public Engagement Plan

Public engagement is one way of letting your audience know about your America Goes Back to School event and partnership, what its purpose is, who's involved, and how others can get involved. The media can take your message to thousands of people at once.

Getting your story out through the media can help you:

• Recruit participants, volunteers, and audiences;
• Educate the public about the event and partnership; and
• Highlight what's happening in your community in support of children's learning.

Effective relations with the media can greatly enhance the impact of your event and partnership. Reaching the news media starts with doing some homework and planning a strategy. When making decisions about media outreach, remember that you've got a lot of newsworthy competition. Several characteristics make information newsworthy. Reporters and editors respond best to timely news stories and ideas that include:

Local interest. You always have a better chance of making the news if your story is based in the community, centered on a local activity or individual.

Widespread appeal. People respond to stories that involve a topic currently in the news, such as getting ready to go back to school, or a common human characteristic (for example, courage or triumph over adversity) shown in a new way.

A local angle to a national story. State and local reporters like using a "hook: to illustrate the significance of a national story to their audience. Your hook would be the connection of your event and partnership to the national America Goes Back to School initiative and the thousands of other events and partnerships happening all across the country.