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Impact of CMW Workshops
Residents win coverage
‘We were doing media outreach all wrong,” says Cheryl Johnson, executive director of People for Community Recovery in the Altgeld Gardens public housing complex on Chicago’s Far South Side. “We were just sending out press releases and waiting for someone to call us. We learned we needed to build relationships to get coverage.”
Johnson had been trying for three years to raise awareness of a simple but frustrating problem: no washing machines. As part of a Chicago Housing Authority plan to renovate nearly 400 apartments, residents were forced to haul their clothes to nearby coin-operated laundromats. In February 2007 with a grant from the Woods Fund of Chicago Johnson and colleagues attended the Workshop’s Professional Media Relations class.
After picking up a few tips on how to pitch a story, Johnson attracted the attention of the Chicago Tribune, which ran a 1,200 word story highlighting the residents’ plight. Four days later, the story was also picked up by the local Fox TV affiliate. And while the struggle to secure washing machines is not done yet , Johnson says the exposure helped.
“The Workshop is a vital organization for groups like mine who need to know how to work with the news media,” she says. “[Dealing with the media] is a whole different world than what we’re used to.”
Big Picture hones message
Adriana Maria Cardona of Big Picture High School in Chicago’s Back of the Yards didn’t want to go down without a fight. In 2006, mediocre test scores and a lack of direction from Chicago Public School administrators placed the school at risk of closing despite progress and strong buy-in from the 100 mostly Latino kids enrolled and their families—especially for the school’s renowned internship program providing students with real-world experience.
A colleague recommended Community Media Workshop, which set up a custom training for Cardona, her principal, and senior teachers and staff to provide the tools they needed to rally the community and present their side of the story.
Students, teachers, administrators and community members plus more than a few reporters came to the school’s open house in January 2007, and the school got out their side of the story in print and broadcast reports, including high-profile items in the Chicago Sun-Times, Catalyst magazine and on Chicago Public Radio. The exposure raised awareness of the school, and increased the willingness for everyone involved to resolve the school’s future.
“The Workshop always let us know how to be really direct and get to the point without being too aggressive,” Cardona says. “The relationship we have with CMW was really helpful in defining what we wanted and what our purpose was.”
Tell us your story: Email Diana Pando at diana@newstips.org to share a recent communications success
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