For our farm and ranch Farm Bureau leaders having a microphone shoved in your face can suddenly intimidate, it can certainly cause one to pause. While on the national and state level, we provide resources to our leadership on working with today’s media, it doesn’t mean that you won’t feel a bit apprehensive. We’re even adding to our training toolkit by providing the Arizona Farm Bureau version of an Advocacy and Effective Communications workshop, hopefully on an annual basis. 

So, why is communicating with the media so important? Well, besides the fact that the public struggles with understanding Arizona’s farming and ranching practices, the Arizona Farm Bureau fields weekly calls with state and national media.

Through a highly sophisticated digital media monitoring service, Arizona Farm Bureau has captured 1,181 media mentions on the phrase “Arizona Farm Bureau” since October 1, 2023 (we’re following our fiscal year that ends September 30th). This doesn’t include the countless times Arizona Farm Bureau helps media connect with other agriculture groups especially if the media query is commodity specific (for example, if a media query is on the beef industry, we send them to the Arizona Beef Council). When the listening or reading audience of each mention is aggregated by the 1,181 mentions, so far, this fiscal year, we have garnered 2.6 billion impressions. Total impressions for just the month of June 2024 came in at 354,929,117. So, stay tuned for the final total after September 30th. Then, the media monitoring starts all over again for the new fiscal year. 

We’re confident that our reach with media is even higher since not every reporter interviewing farm and ranch leaders about agriculture in Arizona mentions Arizona Farm Bureau (they certainly are not obligated to mention the source of their story), but instead will mention the farm or ranch name after the agriculturalist being interviewed. Our role is simply to connect. 

Since it’s important to us to connect a farmer or rancher with the media as they help us tell Arizona agriculture’s story, here are five basic tips that help you think like a reporter if you ever get interviewed. These tips come from personal experience and from news reporters themselves. 

 

  1. Put a face to your story: News is about people. People love remarkable stories. Yes, a quote from an author, CEO, or board member can suffice, but it’s dull. Reporters look for a person who has been directly affected by the breaking news at hand. They will tell a much better and different tale. They can get to the emotion because they experienced something. It’s the connection to the audience. It’s all about the human factor. 
  2. Find something new. A good reporter will ask the question, “what’s new here?” Has something happened that we haven’t covered yet?” Look for new statistics, updates, or a fresh angle. Clue: In the word “news” is the word “new.”
  3. Answer the question. Try to answer the question, “Who Cares?” Every time someone pitches a story, the overriding, nagging question in a reporter’s mind is, “Who cares?” Why should the reporter cover this story? When Arizona Farm Bureau writes an email pitch, press release or simply calls the editor or reporter, we make sure we can answer that question. This is about the content the reporter or blogger provides to their core demographic, their audience. Consider this powerful statement: “How does my story affect and impact their audiences?” If you can understand their audience (readers and viewers), you can probably satisfy the reporter’s “who cares.”
  4. Understand the Medium. Some stories have great visuals and are perfect for TV, video, or print. For example, the demolition of a sporting arena is visually appealing but isn’t as impactful for radio news. Think about the elements available to you and how they can complement your words and storytelling.
  5. Give them the right tools. Like you, news decision-makers want things to help make their jobs easier. If a radio reporter, he or shee needs a voice or a sound bite for an on-air newscast. They don’t need a cheesy photo. It’s radio!

 

Bonus Tip: Just take a breath. When you get the call, take a deep breath, remember your prepared statement and enjoy the experience. Remember Arizona Farm Bureau will guide you along in the process.

Intimidated by the idea of the media interview but are willing to be part of our strategic communications efforts, contact Julie Murphree at juliemurphree@azfb.org and she’ll provide a toolkit of tips and keep you informed about future workshops on this topic. Arizona Farm Bureau hopes to host regular strategic communication workshops to help our county leaders.