- Prevention and safety information to help Americans stay safe from fire.
- Fire prevention resources for America’s career and volunteer Fire Service.
- Coloring pages, puzzles and games that teach kids how to stay safe from fire.
What Is the Media "Package"
and Why Is It So Important?
Reporters are always looking for the key elements they need to create a good news story. This is called the "package." A great news media package includes four pieces: a news event or "news peg"; data or information to show relevance; an interview with a credible source or eyewitness; and an engaging visual. Another way to look at these pieces is to think about what the viewer or reader wants:
- "What's new?" or "What should I know?"
- This is the basic information about the event or "news peg," known as the 5 W's: who, what, when, where, and why. It may also be the element that explains why this story is important now-for example, a fireworks safety story that appears just before the July 4th holiday.
- "Why should I care?"
- This question is often answered with statistics or data that show why an event matters and how the problem concerns everyone in the community, not just the people who recently experienced it. Statistics can be boring or confusing-or they can be compelling and meaningful. Use "social math" to make data easier to understand and more powerful. Making sure your community understands a problem is a very important part of public health and safety.
- "What should I do?"
- Answering this question is arguably the most important part of a news story. If we simply tell the community that there is a problem, and we don't give them any steps to address it or prevent it, then we lose them altogether. People will tune out unless they think there is something they can do to make things better. This is why adding a prevention or safety tip to any story greatly increases the chances your audience will listen.
- "Grab my attention."
- For any television story, and many print stories, visuals are vital. Visuals grab the audience's attention and communicate a lot of information in a very short amount of time. Video footage or a photograph increases a new story's chance of being aired or printed.
As a trusted spokesperson in your community, you can build a great story by quickly providing these pieces to the media. When you give all of these important elements to a reporter or during an interview, you increase the quality of the report, increase the chances that your community will listen, and increase the likelihood that your community will care and take action. And each time, you increase the potential to save a life!
