When I started working with Hispanic media more than ten years ago, I remember that Spanish-language media reporters were very grateful to receive information in Spanish and to have someone who spoke the language call them directly. At that time, there were a few Spanish print outlets — mostly weeklies but a few dailies — and Univision did not have local newscasts in many markets. At the time, most companies provided materials in English or developed literal translations of releases. In fact, most of the time the Hispanic market was an afterthought and companies reached out to Hispanic media days after the “news” was released. Fortunately, things have changed and as Jorge mentioned in an earlier blog, providing media releases in Spanish through services such as Hispanic PR Wire is now the norm. In addition, there are many more bilingual and Spanish-language outlets, including dailies in Los Angeles, Dallas, New York and Miami; and Hispanic radio and TV newscasts have the highest ratings in some markets. Overall, Hispanic media is much more sophisticated.
Reading a recent article by Margo Mateas in “PR Tactics and The Strategist Online,” which focused on the myths of working with ethnic media, all I could think of was what I tell my team: the number one rule to success in working with Hispanic media is respect. In other words, we need to show the same respect to Hispanic media as we do to reporters in general market media. That means:
- providing stories that are relevant and of interest;
- delivering quality materials (i.e., no typos and correct grammar in both languages);
- being respectful of deadlines;
- understanding how a story impacts the audience; and
- providing bilingual spokespeople and experts as needed (this last one is usually the most challenging since not all companies and organizations have individuals who are fluent in Spanish.)
At the end of the day, we have to remember that media relations literally means managing relationships with media… and I think these tips are what most would call media relations 101.
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