This conversation with former ABC News White House Correspondent MaryAlice Parks and former U.S. Senate Chief of Staff Mark Bayer will reveal insider strategies for how to effectively pitch stories to major news networks and increase your chances of gaining national media coverage.
The ability to gain major media attention can significantly impact the success of an initiative, yet some organizations consistently achieve better coverage than others. Understanding how journalists and producers at leading U.S. news networks select stories for broadcast is crucial for anyone seeking media coverage. Often, small adjustments in the approach can determine whether a media pitch hits the target or misses the mark.
In this special conversation with two senior media and policy insiders who operated at the highest levels of U.S. politics, you'll discover the mindset and specific mechanisms for significantly increasing your chances of gaining major media coverage of your initiatives and priorities.
MaryAlice Parks, former ABC News White House Correspondent, and Mark Bayer, former U.S. Senate Chief of Staff and faculty author of eCornell's “Media Strategy for Policy and PR” certificate program, will share proven insider approaches for earning major media coverage.
What You'll Learn:
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Mark Bayer’s Media Strategy for Policy and PR Cornell Certificate Program: https://tinyurl.com/27t49ejl
Mark’s free newsletter “One for the Week” https://OneForTheWeek.com
080825 - Boost Your Influence
Chris Wofford: [00:00:00] On today's episode of Cornell Keynotes, we are going to learn some insider secrets for earning major media coverage on national network news. With the media landscape constantly evolving, the challenge for organizations and advocates lies in understanding how stories actually make it from pitch all the way to primetime.
And it's these proven strategies and insider knowledge that can make all the difference. So for this, we're joined by guest host Mark Bayer, who is a visiting lecturer from Cornell's Brooks School of Public Policy and who is also a former US Senate Chief of staff. Our host Mark is joined by Mary Alices Parks, who is former A BC News White House correspondent to discuss the real pathways to media success.
Mark is faculty author of e Cornell's Media Strategy for Policy and PR Certificate Program, and he has worked with Mary Alices in the past who is also kind enough to share her expertise in several core segments of Marx. So they're reunited [00:01:00] once again here on Cornell Keynotes. Mary Alice is a great guest.
She brings a unique perspective and has seen the network news business from every angle at a, b, C as producer, as presidential campaign reporter, deputy political director, and even as showrunner and interim executive producer of the Iconic Sunday program this week. So these two colleagues explore all the critical questions about breaking through in today's media environment.
And there's something here for anyone who's trying to influence public policy or shape public conversation. So if you're interested in learning more about media strategy through Mark's online courses at e Cornell, be sure to check out the episode notes for details. And now here's Mark Bayer with Mary Alice Parks.
Mark Bayer: And Mary Alice, let's get right to it. You know, you have seen the network news business from so many different angles. At ABC News, you producer, presidential campaign reporter, deputy political director, and other important [00:02:00] roles. And you also had. The unique experience of being a guest on the Iconic A BC News Sunday political program this week when George Stephanopoulos hosted it, and also being its showrunner and interim executive producer.
So that seems to me like just an amazing, very rare occurrence there. When you think about the various roles you've had, are there any themes that you find apply you know, sort of across the board in terms of the way that news actually gets on the air?
MaryAlice Parks: Oh, well, thank you. That's a kind introduction and I'm still like 25, right?
So I've done all these things. I, broad themes. You know, I, I was thinking about this as an opening question, Mark, and while there are absolutely key elements that make for a strong pitch, and I know we're gonna talk a lot about that today, I actually was thinking more and more that the answer is no.
what makes something get on the air is it being compelling news and compelling storytelling. And actually that can come in so [00:03:00] many different forms and varieties. And I think that what makes a segment actually make its way from either a producer's brain or a, or a reporter's brain onto television is a clear understanding of how it will look on tv.
And obviously that is different for every scenario. There are some times where the only thing that is needed to bring the latest scoop, the latest breaking news is the reporter's face on TV standing in front of the White House or standing in front of the hurricane disaster zone. But of course, there's other times for what's really needed to make sure that we can see it on TV is a clear understanding of, of characters that would be needed or video that would be needed to tell the story in a real way. so I guess my, my answer is that, is that no, there's not one perfect, uh, sort of secret sauce that makes sure that something gets on tv, but instead a very clear understanding of what that moment calls for and what the show and format is.
You know, I will say too that every, um, you know, I think about somewhere like ABC [00:04:00] which has not only four network television shows, but also a variety of podcasts and newsletters and digital and streaming. And I think that really strong reporters pitching to show executives as well as outside organizations pitching to reporters deeply understand and appreciate and respect that every one of those shows and platforms has a different need in different format.
You know, I'll give you an example that I, I've often had to turn away even sitting members of Congress and senators and folks around Washington who have great pitches and desperately want to be on television and, and where I'm inclined to put them on. But they would, for example, demand that they're only on World News with David Muir.
And I would remind them, well, they should watch World News with David Muir because that show's not an interview show. It doesn't do interviews, um, unless it's like literally the president. whereas we have plenty of shows that are structured around interviews. So I think that having a clear understanding [00:05:00] of the format and respect and acknowledgement of various platforms, how they actually look day to day, what those producers would be looking for.
It helps grease the wheels and helps make folks feel like you're at least paying attention to what the networks are offering.
Mark Bayer: Yeah. So important and you've mentioned a lot of different elements here and it's just great to be able to take people kind of behind the scenes on how things actually work with all of these different pieces that need to be put together.
So I'm gonna ask you a little bit more about that because I'm sure there are different pathways from pitch to on the air and, you know, it's not like you just get, you or your team, you know, would get a press release, you know, or the general assignment desk would get something and then send it to you, and it was like one pathway for that information to get to you and then to decide how, you know how to package or whether it was worth getting on the air.
Can you walk us through some of the typical stops along the way, or the critical decision points that happen behind the scenes in the newsroom? [00:06:00]
MaryAlice Parks: Yeah, I think that, um, most newsrooms are set up where there are both reporting teams, beat reporters as well as the show teams and platform sort of execs and managers.
So if you think of a TV newsroom, take for example, a team that is dedicated to getting Good Morning America or World News with David Muir on the air every single day versus a team that is dedicated to reporting on the White House or Capitol Hill or the Justice Department or, or the weather team every single day.
and I think that there's there's not always an appreciation of the fact that pitches are coming from both teams and often for a pitch to really work, it has to come uh, kind of from both places. In an ideal world, a White House reporter has an idea and says, this is what needs to be on the air today.
And the Good Morning America producer says, I was thinking the exact same thing, right? And that doesn't always happen. Often, there's a lot of internal debate and pitching [00:07:00] between teams. But nothing really gets on the air unless both the reporting team and the show team agree and want to make it happen and feel dedicated.
And, and, and in some ways it's designed to be a backstop, right? So the White House team can say, I know you think that's a great idea, and it would probably make good television, but what I know is actually what's gonna happen tomorrow, right? So the teams are a backstop and a check for each other. or the Good Morning America team can say you know, I understand that you've gone down this rabbit hole as a White House correspondent, and you're really convinced of this pitch that I'm telling you, that's way too wonky for the audience. It's not gonna work, and I know that your source thinks they have this huge scoop, but like GMA audience is not gonna understand that yet.
and so there, it's designed to be a check and balance. But it also means that there are a lot of steps between, um, an idea being in a reporter's head or a pitch that a reporter might receive, or a phone, you know, that could be in any form, um, from a source or an organization [00:08:00] and how many steps it actually takes to then getting something on the air.
Mark Bayer: Yeah, I mean, if I'm looking at this from the outside and I'm trying to figure out even how to get a pitch to you, to your team, to a producer, to the right, you know, place, it can really seem bewildering. So, I'm wondering if you can share some of the best ways that you found to reach you and your team with pitches.
I mean, you get email press releases, all these other things flying around. You know, you're of course out there covering stories. People see you doing your thing and reporting and so forth, putting together packages. But from the outside, if I'm thinking, how do I even get their attention?
Can you share some thoughts on that?
MaryAlice Parks: you know, it, it is a challenge. the number of emails that a reporter gets every single day is, you know, in the hundreds, thousands, uh, absolutely daunting. I think the real key is relationships and [00:09:00] longstanding relationships.
I was thinking about this moment, I was covering a New Year's Eve party at Mar-a-Lago that President-elect Trump was hosting right before the inauguration. And I was standing next to Maggie Haberman and I have not asked her if I could use this story, but I'm doing it right now, in this moment. But I think that it's okay because it's super flattering of her.
If you don't know her, she's one of the single best Trump reporters ever, from the New York Times. and, uh I wish I could have put every brand new reporter next to her and us in this scrum of reporters that were there to cover the event. Because what was incredible for me was watching how every single person that walked into this party knew her and she knew them, and not by name, but by face, right? She's the best reporter of what she does because because she knew everyone actually knew everyone. You know, I'd like to think that I have some pretty good sourcing and and, [00:10:00] uh, reporting too.
And when I think about, um, the longstanding relationships with sources, sure there are plenty of stories that I've done, um, where I only know a source through Signal app and connections and, and we've met through a long, twisted sort of turn of events, or, you know, someone's introduced me to someone who's introduced me to someone.
But I get a lot of information from people who I have known for a long time who stayed in touch and as reporters, you actively, um, sort of make an effort to stay in touch with. And I think that people kind of underestimate just how powerful it is to have really met someone in person, whether at a, at an event, at a happy hour on in the hallways of Capitol Hill, to have actually exchanged a phone number to have actually shaken hands, to have learned something about them as a person. those relationships help break through the noise so that then when it's a press release or a little scoop or a little [00:11:00] nugget that's coming into your inbox. It's, you know, connected to someone that you actually know.
So that's a, that's a i a long answer mark, but there's something about, um, about relationships that will still always help break through the noise.
Mark Bayer: Yeah. It's so important, Mary. So thanks for going into some detail. I'm gonna ask you some more about that.
Like how do you do it? Because I think most people, they see you on TV and they don't really think maybe about, I could actually talk to this person if I saw this person, you know? Um, and then of course, how do I even find, like if I'm in DC or wherever, like how do I even go to places where this person might be in a, in a non-creepy way.
Right. You know, go to some sort of happy hour or whatever it is. Um, so I'm gonna ask you a little bit more, more about that. I also would love for you to share more detail about a story that you did on food stamps in the military, because I think that it really illustrates well this idea of a package that you alluded to earlier in our conversation here about.
You know, what is a [00:12:00] package and how to put together a package and the different dimensions that can meet, really increase the likelihood that someone could get their idea, their priority, their story on the air.
MaryAlice Parks: Oh yeah, I, um, we were talking about this example. I like this example because it was a real, you know, pitch that I got from an, an outside organization.
I will say to the point of relationships, I had met the comms person for this organization at a symposium on Hunger in America, um, that I went to as a reporter 'cause I thought found the topic so interesting, so crucial and undercovered under reported on. and this comms person was good at her job and, uh, made a point of identifying every reporter that was there in the room and exactly like I was saying, introducing herself in person, being a dynamic enough that I remembered her as a person. and fast forward, I, I don't remember looking back, but weeks, months, uh, we had stayed in touch and she had a pitch, her organization was working with a [00:13:00] congressman at the time to set up a hearing on Capitol Hill about hunger in the military.
And I thought, wow, that is really fascinating. That is an interesting, sort of devastating issue. I'd love to find a way to tell that story about this being a problem in America. a hearing on Capitol Hill was like. Sometimes we all know, sometimes interesting enough to make TV on its own. This was a little wonky.
It was kind of a small subcommittee. It wasn't really any high profile players. I knew that probably I couldn't get a piece on the air that was just about a hearing on Capitol Hill. but I thought it was an interesting in to an issue that I had been looking to cover more and. So I worked with her and asked, help me tell the rest of the story. I'm gonna need characters, real people who have either experienced this or can speak to it in a personal way. I'd like to go to some of the food banks that are on bases or near bases that you're talking [00:14:00] about. I need to tell this story in terms of video and scenes and places to go. and we did. And, and again, being very good at her job ,she didn't bat an eye and worked with me to help identify people that would talk and identify other people who might have ideas for other people who would talk to us. so it was a longer process. actually so long that then we came up on the Memorial Day and I remember thinking, oh, actually this is the perfect special sauce for a pitch.
Now I have a good issue. Some good characters and a good peg. Memorial Day was a great inn to talk about an issue that was obviously we were talking about military families and . It's funny, I, this is a, such a, like a tough, heartbreaking story and I'm talking about how it was like really good tv.
that was just a very strange thing that happens with reporters sometimes. so that's, excuse me. 'cause I feel like that sounds offensive, but I was really proud at the end that we got this on TV and looking back and on Memorial Day, which was actually really important. It was a good, [00:15:00] it was, it did turn out to be a really good peg and it was important and we actually got quite a lot of coverage for that piece.
We had it on probably three network shows. And looking back, that initial hearing on Capitol Hill, um, that the congressman did aired five minute, we, the mention of it aired five minutes into the segment. We filled five minutes of TV before that, before we even mentioned the initial pitch, five minutes of instead talking to military families and people that run food banks and, um, and the larger issue shown through real people on the ground. And so anyway, that's me talking. I probably talked for longer than the whole piece was but I do really like that as an example because, the pitch was a good one, but it took time to develop, to make into network television.
Mark Bayer: Yeah. And you know, I hear your passion and excitement. You want, you believe this issue's important, um, and that's why you wanna get it on TV and you're getting these different pieces of it. which, you know, as I think about it might not be obvious to folks, but some things [00:16:00] you've underlined is like, do your research.
Like what makes good tv? It's almost like the person or the organization pitching needs to have that in mind. Like they actually have to see like, how would it look on the air? Like, who are the di where, where are the, like you mentioned locations, like, you know, do you have other locations? Do you have other people, you know, examples that you can use in your package, like thinking like a journalist.
MaryAlice Parks: Thinking like a journalist. I mean, of course there's plenty of times where we find all those people on our own that that is, um, our job. I have plenty of examples, but, but it can be incredibly helpful in a time when journalists are so inundated. There's so much news. Um, there's so much to get on the air.
I guess that's what I was getting at, is that it can be incredibly helpful if as an organization, uh, or someone pitching, they can, um, come with some ideas or at least a place to start. Now that said, I do think that there, uh, there's a few caveats there. I've also worked with some organizations that have said, oh, you don't need to go to the food bank.
Here's our [00:17:00] video from the food bank. Just use that. And that's also, you know, that, that no journalist sort of worth their weight is gonna just take someone's own video or take their own interviews. People want to of course, go do the work, do the reporting themselves. That is essential. but I guess, I mean, having ideas about people to actually talk to, places to actually visit scenes, to shoot on camera can really, really help a pitch land.
Mark Bayer: Yeah. You know, Jennifer has a really good question here. She's asking, what's a typical timeframe to get a pitch on the air, the overall timeframe, understanding that urgency and timeliness are obviously a thing. And you touched upon this peg, like you had the hook of Memorial Day too. What are your thoughts about how to manage that?
MaryAlice Parks: Gosh, I would say there is absolutely no rule of thumb there. I have had times where a scoop or a story is so big we have been live on the air and we [00:18:00] have changed the rest of the rundown because something is so big that we have to change the entire show. uh, something we've just learned or something that someone has just said and news that has just broken.
I have other times where pitches have taken months and months. and I think that organizations, people that are pitching who are willing to have patience of course understanding that sometimes there are just deadlines. If you wanna cover this, it's happening next week. Right.
and but being extremely clear, I think with a reporter about that. If you'd like to cover this story, we are having a really dynamic protest next week. Get a camera there. Like a reporter can make a judgment call. Actually, that's a great scene. I'm gonna work really hard to move some mountains and move some resources and get a camera to that protest 'cause I think that's gonna help me get this story on the air. But I, I think so being really clear about sort of deadlines and things that are actually happening, you know, I'm thinking back to another story. Um, I did pretty recently. It was about a law that had passed in Oklahoma, an education [00:19:00] law that teachers and the local ACLU were suing over, um, the ramifications of this education law that they thought it was too sweeping that it was gonna really impact what could be taught in schools, um, especially around race and gender. that it was gonna be really limiting that they were taking books off of their, you know, syllabus and reading list. And so, you know, one of the plaintiffs was a history teacher, an English teacher, um, saying they they couldn't do their jobs.
This law was gonna be too restrictive and an interesting, um, kind of element of the story at the time, um, was the story of the Osage murders, that were sort of
in
Everyone's sort of consciousness again with the Leonardo DiCaprio movie that right now, I'm think forgetting the name of Killers of the Flower Moon was the name of the movie.
And so some of these Oklahoma teachers were saying, I can't even teach this book that everyone's talking about right now. There's this big movie, a Hollywood, big Hollywood movie. I can't teach this book in my class. as I interpret this new law. I thought that was kind of buzzy. I pitched this story, we were gonna do it for one [00:20:00] show all set up.
The camera crew in rural Oklahoma booked all the interviews booked at the very last minute, I'm trying to remember what it was, but it was something like, literally like a hurricane. The whole, the whole shoot got canceled because the show is like, it's not gonna happen. It's not gonna air this week.
It's a hurricane. and, and I remember the, of course the sources were devastated. I was really upset. I thought this story was important. but like, what, what can you do? Like the hurricane's gonna make the air. The whole thing got shelved. It was like October. October we were gonna shoot it. And now I'm wondering if it was actually a hurricane.
'cause I said October. Anyway, we fast forward. I was so bummed, and a colleague of mine in the new year said, you know, you should still do that story. You should peg it to the Oscars. Everyone's gonna talk about the movie again with the Oscars. And so in the new year, I pitched the whole thing all over again.
Everyone bought it. We actually got more coverage than I think we would've 'cause it was like super fun to play up the, uh, political angle of the Oscars. And um, that's a very long answer to Jennifer's question, which [00:21:00] was that timeframe was very, very long, very long. but it worked in the end actually, it was probably stronger and probably more interesting.
Uh, so I think that organizations that are willing to be patient understand that the reporter isn't trying to mess them up or jerk them around, but that sometimes things happen. Uh, and that that doesn't mean that sometimes you can't go back and keep working. Uh, get another bite of the apple.
Mark Bayer: Yeah. You know, I think you've underlined so many things that the average person doesn't necessarily think about when they're pitching because you are so engrossed as an organization, say, in a particular issue. You think it's like intrinsically important to be on tv, but you're not thinking about it from a journalist perspective, like who's gonna, what are the stories and you know, when is what, what's the peg? You know, what's the hook? How are we gonna make this relevant at a particular time? so those, I think issues are so important for folks when they're thinking about pitching, like what does it look like on TV?
And MaryAlice, you've talked about the different platforms that ABC news [00:22:00] has and ABC has and maybe some are better than others for a particular pitch. So doing your research on that, like, could you talk a little bit more about that aspect of it?
MaryAlice Parks: I was mentioning briefly, you know, getting frustrated with lawmakers who only wanna go on real news and you're like, well, real news doesn't do that.
and I think people that are willing to be put in a little bit of work to think about, you know, where could this pitch land that would be different. and I think recognizing that there's a real blessing and beauty to the fractured media environment right now. In some ways it means there's just so many more opportunities. You know, maybe your lawmaker you work for has never actually done a podcast, but give it a shot.
Maybe you were really hoping that they would end up on tv, but actually to the point of Jennifer's question about a deadline. If you really just want the story out there, let the reporter just write it for. ABC news.com and if it's interesting enough and buzzy enough and you get your organization's CEO a quote in that story, maybe it'll [00:23:00] turn into a TV segment tomorrow because it broke some news.
so I think that, yeah, being willing to think, um, Being a little platform agnostic I think really helps organizations. And I think is actually acknowledged sort of where we are right now. I mean, somewhere like ABC, let alone the New York Times, is gonna do 10 push alerts before we get to the six o'clock, six 30 evening news.
So I think the groups that feel like they need to hold out for this one show or this one platform, it's often to their detriment.
Mark Bayer: Yes, so important. Alan has a great question. He's asking whether you have any tips on the medium or packaging for a pitch in a unique or fresh way. So, you know, the elements that really make up a pitch that makes you, you know, excited it's, it's well-rounded that maybe has some uniqueness to it.
MaryAlice Parks: That's a great question. I think, uh, you know, reporters are reading all day long, often on their phone, like everyone racing around [00:24:00] between meetings and events. so I think often less is more, uh, short and sweet. I've seen a lot of pitches that get extremely bogged down in, um, the research behind an issue or data around an issue, which of course, a reporter is going to need but good pitches that can kind of
say like, for for more of this, we will supply it, or it's attached or, or here's the data you'll need, but here's the top line. Um, and, and then the things we've been talking about, real people that help humanize a story. And that's on everything. I think it's easy for people to think about
those feature pieces, you know, I'm talking about a six minute piece on hunger in the military, but even for a breaking news sort of segment, even if it's just a reporter talking in front of the camera about a hurricane, about a war, about tariffs, how often actually when you listen, they still refer to
the family they met, the small business owner they met , the real house that they [00:25:00] saw. so it's not just on the longer feature story that you worked on for six months, but even in a breaking news situation. The human element is what everyone needs and always is what's gonna make for good storytelling.
So I think that strong pitches are short and sweet, have a human element. for tv, a good pitch. I can read it and I can picture it. I can picture what the segment would look like. And, and a peg helps. Hey, it'd be smart idea to peg it to the Oscars. Like, I didn't think of that a colleague of mine did.
And, and I would say pitch in as many forms as possible. Send an email with a longer pitch. And if you met that reporter once 10 years ago, but you still have their cell phone number, text them too and call them if they don't answer. And, If you think they blocked your number, message them on signal.
Like I think that actually people that break through are people that work very, very hard to break through.
Mark Bayer: Excellent advice. You know, I wanna look at this from a little bit of a different angle now because, you know, pitches are coming in all the time. [00:26:00] You and your team are also always on the lookout for stories that you want to cover.
You know, I mean, like you've got all this incoming and then you're also out there in the field and of course of your, your colleagues are tuned in to hear, you know, to figure out what would make good tv. So thinking about stories that you reported on and that actually aired or featured on other ABC platforms.
Maybe give us a sense of the, the rough proportion of stories that, that are pitched to those that started with proactive outreach from you or your team.
MaryAlice Parks: Yeah, we talked about this question. I'm glad you asked it actually, we talked about this question ahead of time. I, I think this is actually a really important question because with probably a devastating answer to people in, in your, um, that you're teaching Mark, because I think The amount of stories that were pitched from the outside solely that make it on television is probably. Like 5%. Teeny, teeny. Like we are reporters at the end of the day doing our [00:27:00] jobs, finding the news, talking to people, putting stories together, looking for the themes and the thread and, pulling the interviews together till we see the nugget that's the real thing. And so it is very little, very little. But I also think, I guess back to that idea of relationships. Um. I wouldn't say that, that, that doesn't mean don't keep pitching all the time in every situation. In, in anticipation of this possible question I was thinking about a story I worked on, a scoop that I had real bonafide breaking news. Actually, I was proud of this one. Um, that was about, about whether the US government was actually gonna support using frozen Russian assets to give back to Ukraine as part of a potential sort of fund to help them rebuild if the
if when the war ends. I was at a cocktail party ahead of a reporter award ceremony in Washington, DC. Walked up to a member of Congress that I've known for a long time and was like, what are you working on? Anything [00:28:00] interesting? And he was like, I'm not working on this, but this is a good story that's gonna come along soon.
One sentence. I like worked on it for a bit. Thought that was kind of interesting. Made some phone calls to other people in the administration, treasury, the White House, Senate, and a lot of people were like, nah, I don't know, farfetched don't really see it happening. You'd have to get all these other countries on board, maybe, maybe down the road.
And I was like, oh, well maybe it was wrong anyway, but I kind of kept working on it. Kind of kept working on it, kind of thought. So kind of had one senator that wrote. Anyway, fast forward, I was looking back, thinking about this example. When we actually did that story. 'cause he wasn't wrong actually when we actually did that story.
That member of Congress isn't even in the story. Like isn't even in the story. Looking back, maybe that wasn't so great of me, I probably should have given him a quote. Maybe he didn't want to, I don't remember at the time actually plenty of other sources, you know, weeks later that I had talked to. So would you count that story as a pitch that made it [00:29:00] on ABC news?
I don't know. No, I would kind of count that as me doing the legwork and talking to a bunch of people and being a reporter. But you could argue that actually it was very much just like a smart savvy congressman at the right time who was like, no, look into this. so I guess I would say that, you know, that happens every single day and the concept of pitching is, um, nebulous.
Mark Bayer: Yeah, for sure. And I wanna ask you two que sort of questions related to this. One is, uh, relates to the research you were talking about. Like I talk about in the course about like, understand what these reporters cover. What's their beat? , what are they often, you know, what are they interested in?
What have they done in the past as a way to think about what they might be interested in the future if they've done a lot of work already. and the other is the, the relationship building. trying to think about what that might look like for the average person or organization and how to get into that sort of network in some way, shape, or form.
And you had a really good idea that we talked about previously [00:30:00] offline, regarding like pulling people together and, you know, being proactive and how it actually was beneficial to the reporter when organizations did that.
MaryAlice Parks: I've, um, told many, many young reporters, uh, new reporters, you know, you need to go, like physically go to absolutely every single thing you're invited to. and I don't just mean the congressional hearing or the press conference. I mean that happy hour that you, that you got invited to, the Hunger Symposium, even though you've never done a Hunger story, the. The protest march that you're not assigned to cover but you kind of thought was interesting or someone told you would be good.
That's how if you need to build sources and you need to meet people and you need to have relationships with people, you have to go show up. Then I guess the same advice would apply to right. The people that you're teaching that there's absolutely no substitute for meeting people in person and being bold with a handshake and, and inviting people.
And I have seen organizations do this effectively. You know, I, I mentioned, uh, that hunger's symposium was representatives [00:31:00] from I, I would say a dozen organizations around the country. They were trying to lobby the White House to hold a conference and their, the White House to hold their own symposium on hunger, uh, a conference on hunger.
Um, and so they did it by coming and kind of holding their own. But you know, I've seen that in the. Climate space where organizations have sort of banded together to hold a big event, invited reporters. Um, I think it can be a really effective way to meet people. And, and even if the pitch that you have for them that day doesn't land, um, investing in the long-term relationship, like I've talked a lot about.
Mark Bayer: I'm gonna ask you now, MaryAlice as we start to wrap up here. You know, the TV. News businesses just changed so much, uh, over the years since you broke into the business. You've seen it evolve, and of course, it's continuing to transform itself. Trying to look into the future here, which is always difficult, but given all your expertise, I, I figured that if anyone could do it, you would be that person, you know.
Where do you think the future of network news is headed, particularly from the [00:32:00] perspective of groups that are trying to get through initiatives, their stories covered by a network news outlet?
MaryAlice Parks: Yeah. Wow. I really, I really wish I knew. everyone is grappling with this. it's not gonna look the same changing all the time, you know.
Um, ABC just launched another show on Disney plus. Right. I think that what counts as network television is so different than our regular linear broadcast, how big some of these organizations have gone, uh, gotten, how many different shows and platforms, how exciting that is. such an incredible opportunity to meet audiences where they are in a new place.
Uh, someone who maybe has never watched my age, maybe who's never watched Good Morning America on their own, but. But turns on Disney Plus for their kids every single day and is like, very grateful that now for their kid goes to bed, there's the show. so incredible, exciting opportunities to meet new audiences and build new platforms.
But that also comes with, you know, but as the, the networks are gonna. [00:33:00] Continue to be taking a lot of risks. Some things won't work. You know, there will be, there will be shows launched that flop. Uh, no doubt, podcasts launched that will die. But I think it's a, a really interesting moment and opportunity.
like I said, especially for groups that are willing to kind of take some of those risks with journalists and, and who may be. You know, say, okay, we don't, we don't know how many people are gonna listen to this brand new podcast yet but it'll be good for our organization just to try to get their name out there at all, to also take the risks and try to meet new audiences.
I think that it's, definitely a moment for sort of being willing to, package news in as many different sort of shapes and sizes as possible.
Chris Wofford: Thank you for tuning into Cornell Keynotes. Now, if you're interested in learning more about media strategy through Mark's online courses at Ecor, again, check the episode notes for details on that. As always, I want to thank you for listening and please subscribe to stay connected with [00:34:00] Cornell Keynotes.