Key Takeaways

  • Earned media is a free way to get coverage of your organization's activities.

  • The more time you spend researching the right media targets for your pitch, tailoring the pitch, and making follow-up calls, the greater your chances.

  • Our guide to earned media walks through how to build a media list and pitch reporters in your community.

Earned media is the opposite of paid media; it is any free media coverage secured by approaching (“pitching”) reporters. Earned media can be a great, cost-effective way to get the name of your organization and its services out to a broad audience.

NCOA's guide to earned media walks through the steps you’ll need to implement this approach, including:

  • How to build a media list 
  • What to put in your sample pitch
  • How to conduct outreach to producers and reporters
  • What happens—and what to do—when you get booked on a television/radio news segment
  • Appropriate follow-up