When I think about a pivotal moment of building For The Menstruator, one thing that stands out to me is my interview with BBC.
Picture this: It’s June 2019, I am in grade 11 and it’s been just over a year since I launched my organization.
We have a team of around -10 volunteers, have empowered -350 people and worked in -5 countries (for context, we are now 150+ volunteers, 25,000+ people empowered in 10 countries).
I have just found out that I won The Diana Award: the most prestigious award a young person can win for social impact.
But what do I do next?
Here are the 5 steps I used to get media for my work:
Step 1: What is “The Story”?
Before doing anything, it is important to figure out what is “The Story” you will be pitching.
Based on my experiences, I created the MINT framework for a compelling media story:
Match: How does your story align with the interests of the media company you’re pitching to?
Example: BBC ran a series called “What’s New?" to highlight stories of young Africans across the continent.
Important: Why is your story important for people to know about?
Example: Period Poverty was a stigmatised issue in Kenya and Africa as a whole
New: What is unique about your story and how will it generate eyeballs?
Example: It was unique for people to see a 17-year old boy in Africa work on menstrual health as an issue
Timely: How is your story relevant to ongoing issues around the world?
Example: People around the world were going to celebrate Princess Diana’s birthday and legacy in July
Step 2: Writing a Press Release
This is probably the most important step.
A press release is a 1-2 page doc that outlines all the information media will need to run a story.
Guess what? I am sharing the template that I used here.
Here’s 6 things you want to make sure you always have:
Headline: Think of this as “Breaking News” on the front page of a newspaper. Make sure it is clear and attention grabbing.
Introduction: Your first paragraph should include the 5 W’s (Who, What, Where, When and Why)
Body: Go into more detail here to give more context to the audience. Use numbers, research and statistics here. Use the inverted pyramid style (most important to least important)
Quotes: Include 1-2 quotes. This can be from yourself or a testimonial from a relevant stakeholder to give the story a human voice.
Media Collateral: create a drive and include a link of pictures, logos and videos of you work. This is something they will ask for at some point, so it’s better to have it before hand.
Contact Info: press releases are usually circulated among people and platforms in the industry. A lot of people usually forget this. Include your/ your teams info at the start/end of the doc
Step 3: Start at “Home”
At the time (just like most of us here), I didn’t have any connections with people in the media.
But I didn’t let that stop me from sharing my story.
So I reached out to the communications team at my school.
In the early days, you can reach out to the marketing department at your school, university or even work. Consider also reaching out to people like me who you know have already had some media engagement in the past.
The comms teams decided to post the press release on the school website and sent it to some of their local media connections.
But how did the BBC find out about our story?
Step 4: Building Momentum
A couple local outlets covered the story.
That led to national outlets writing pieces.
And then global outlets in Europe, Asia and North America were writing about it as well.
The story had caught fire. I was having my “15-seconds of fame”.
And this is when it landed on BBC’s desk.
It was a random Tuesday evening, I get a call from the comms team - “Ziyaan, BBC just called. They are flying in tomorrow from Nairobi, prepare your team and we will inform your teachers, you will be missing class”.
And the rest is history.
Lesson: Media works really fast. You will have no traction for a long time. But when someone picks up a story, it moves fast. When you’re in this stage, make sure you build momentum and leverage the early features. Post them on socials, reach out to more connections, etc.
You can watch the interview here:
Step 5: Maintain Relationships
This is something I wish I knew earlier.
You see, people in media are super hard to access. People are always pitching them something.
So when you do have an opportunity to engage with them - it’s important you maintain a long-term relationship.
Here’s some ways you can follow up:
Thank them: after the story is released, send them a personal note thanking them for the opportunity. Share with them feedback and what you liked about working with them speifically.
Engage: follow them on socials, and engage with their content (like, share, comment, you know the drill).
Leads: if they liked your story, they will probably like similar ones to yours. Share it with them, it will make their work so easy (don’t be spammy though)
Update: keep them updated once/month about progress since your story. They love to keep tabs and see impact of their work.
Meet: Try meet them (preferably in person) once/ quarter. Use this as an opportunity to get to know them more personally and understand their “pain points”.
To summarise the above, here’s a quick cheatsheet you can always reference in the future:
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