Press Release
New Study: News Media Present Opportunities for Georgia Nonprofits
Atlanta, GA - 6/09/2004 -
A new study released by the Georgia Center for Nonprofits shows what metro-Atlanta editors look for in nonprofit stories and makes recommendations for nonprofits who want to do more effective media outreach.
“Georgia Nonprofits: Spreading the News” is the first-ever study of Atlanta-area media attitudes toward the nonprofit sector and contains guidelines for nonprofits as they determine their communications and media strategies. The detailed report demonstrates that while editors find many nonprofit issues and activities newsworthy, they express clear preferences for certain types of nonprofit stories.
Megan McAllister, the study’s author notes, “It’s long been understood that media coverage can be a very effective way for nonprofits to raise awareness of issues and attract donors. This study shows what local news organizations want in a nonprofit news story and how to deliver it to them.”
The study, which was conducted through the Nonprofit Studies Program of Georgia State University, surveyed Atlanta-area news editors from print, radio and television about what issues and story angles specific to nonprofits they believe have the most news value. It also asked how nonprofit organizations could improve their media outreach. Over sixty news editors participated in the study.
The editors said their readers, viewers and listeners are most interested in stories about education, economic development, infrastructure and transportation, public safety, children’s issues and health care. The majority also indicated that the public is interested in concrete ways that nonprofits are working to solve community problems and that nonprofit news items that emphasize a local angle are most likely to get coverage.
According to McAllister, “Nonprofits are largely in the business of grappling with community issues and solving community problems, so they are uniquely well-positioned to help local media cover their communities, and at the same time raise the profile of their own work.”
In rating the best ways to attract coverage, editors generally gave higher marks to well-crafted news releases and personal contact with reporters than news conferences or staged media events. In addition, 85 percent of the editors said they were interested in receiving information about the sector from a centralized nonprofit news service.
The study was based on a similar survey of California newspaper editors done in 1998, funded by the Aspen Institute. While that study focused exclusively on how print media view nonprofit news, the Atlanta survey included radio and television news organizations as well. “Spreading the News” is available on the Georgia Center for Nonprofits Web site at www.gcn.org (Cllick on ‘Services,’ then ‘Research,’ then 'Georgia Reports').
About the Georgia Center for Nonprofits
An all-in-one resource for and about Georgia’s nonprofit sector, the Georgia Center for Nonprofits works to serve, strengthen and support nonprofit, charitable organizations statewide. The center provides nonprofits with the resources and tools they need to be most effective; promotes partnerships between nonprofits and foundations, businesses and government to meet critical needs; and helps state and local policy-makers and the public understand and support the work of nonprofits.
###
Media Contact
Nancy Longacre
678-916-3030
nl@gcn.org