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potentially PTAs is ideal. Presentations at PTA <br />events/gatherings should also be part of regular <br />outreach efforts. <br />Target City commissioners for specific outreach. <br /> Board members and commissioners play an <br />important role to not only represent the community <br />within the City governance structure but they are <br />viewed as City Hall insiders out in the community. <br />It is imperative that they are not only aware of City <br />goals, programs, projects and issues, but feel as <br />though they are treated as “insiders.” <br />Media Relations – Educate <br />residents via an active media <br />relations program to generate hard <br />news about City priorities as well as <br />feature stories that help to tell the City’s story. <br />4 <br />Being one of nearly 100 cities in the Bay Area <br />presents challenges generating media coverage. <br />However, media coverage continues to be cited as <br />the main source of local government information. <br />The San Leandro Times, East Bay Times, Patch, <br />broadcast outlets, business journals and non- <br />traditional outlets are viable targets for pitching. <br />That said, the shrinking news hole, fewer trained <br />journalists and the real and <br />perceived bias on the part of the <br />media against government means <br />that staff time and resources spent <br />on media relations should be <br />balanced with the City’s increased <br />capability to push content directly <br />to residents via social media and <br />other online or electronic tools. <br />Prioritize, focus pitching efforts. <br /> Story pitching should support <br />the major City goals for each <br />fiscal year, and City Council <br />goals should drive story angles. <br />Setting feature story placement <br />objectives for each staff member <br />who pitches to the media should <br />be incorporated into performance <br />reviews. Pitching requires <br />understanding how outlets wish <br />to be pitched, preparing the pitch <br />script and supporting materials <br />and identifying topic experts from <br />among the City staff, making <br />the pitch and following up and <br />coordinating with the reporter <br />during the story preparation. A goal of a minimum <br />of six feature stories per year per for the PIT <br />Crew would be ambitious but attainable. Pitching <br />requires understanding how outlets wish to be <br />pitched, preparing the pitch script and supporting <br />materials and identifying topic experts from among <br />the City staff, making the pitch and following up <br />and coordinating with the reporter during the story <br />preparation. A goal of 12 feature stories per year <br />per for the full PIT Crew would be ambitious but <br />attainable. <br />Produce video b-roll/interviews to increase <br />Northern California broadcast coverage. <br />Broadcast stations are in constant need of content <br />but have fewer resources to send a reporter to <br />“cover” news. Government communications staff <br />are increasingly providing “raw” background <br />footage, written content and pre-recorded <br />interviews to broadcast outlets to enable them to <br />create a “package” that is finished by a station’s <br />production team and aired. See section regarding <br />organizational structure of communications <br />functions, including additional staffing <br />recommendations. <br />Share news and feature media coverage. <br />Sharing or leveraging stories about San Leandro <br />gives much greater visibility than a single <br />appearance in a media outlet. Target audiences <br />16 | Strategic Communications Plan – City of San Leandro