By Craig S. Beavers

We live in a world dominated by media influences. From news articles to social media, people are only a keystroke away from accessing current information about local, regional, and national events. As planners, we are not immune from the prevalence of media, as our projects, policies, and plans are often covered in news outlets or on Facebook pages. How the work of a planning department or specific planners is portrayed depends on your ability to engage with media to fine-tune your messages, ensuring nothing is simplified or misreported. In today’s digital age, effective communication is crucial for planners, and it’s important to strengthen our skills with media literacy.

Media literacy is the ability to engage constructively with media, including social media, as both a consumer and a subject. Knowing how to effectively engage with media empowers you to:

• Craft compelling stories and visuals that highlight your project’s impact,
• Build relationships with media representatives and secure coverage,
• Leverage social media platforms to engage with diverse audiences,
• Develop persuasive presentations and public speaking skills, and
• Enhance your organization’s image.

It cannot be stressed enough the importance of developing high-level media and communication skills as a planner. To help educate officials, the American Planning Association developed the Planners’ Communications Guide, which provides a thorough and interactive overview on developing media literacy. Below are a few key topics discussed in the Guide.

Developing a Message

The purpose of all communication is to convey some kind of message. For planning, our messages are the key points we want our audiences to hear, believe, and remember. When done effectively, a message can engage and educate listeners while providing a lasting impression on that topic. It can be thought of like a thesis statement in a high school paper, where your message provides your main argument or statement. It should be followed by proof points, or information that supports your message. For example, if your message is, “Active transportation promotes healthy lifestyles,” then a proof point could be, “Those who bike or exercise for 30 minutes a day have longer lifespans.”

Your message and proof points should be tailored to your audience to engage their interests and concerns. A wonderful way to practice crafting messages is to create elevator pitches for a project or plan you are working on; imagine giving a 30-second pitch to the general public, then imagine giving the same pitch to an elected council. What changes between the two? What interests are similar or different between your audiences? Learning these slight differences can help planners become more effective when developing their messages.

Working with the Media

As planners, especially in the public sector, we will inevitably be contacted, interviewed, or quoted by the media. This could be traditional outlets, like newspapers, television, or radio, or it could be more modern forms like webpages, social media, or video vloggers. Regardless of the form, planners must be prepared to respond and mindful of how it is portrayed. Our most critical communication tools involve knowing how to interact with journalists, either reactively or proactively.

An average request for information, such as a reporter calling about a new development, is a type of reactive media. While you are not obligated to reply immediately, or even at all, you should make a good faith attempt to reply in a timely fashion for their deadlines. Having a positive relationship with the media can enable you and your organization to build a strong rapport and outlet for communication. When replying to the media, keep the following points in mind:

• Reporters often have a preconceived idea of a story before they contact you for information. Positive or negative, it is important to keep this in mind when you respond.
• You/your organization also have a preconceived idea on how you’d like to be portrayed. Try to share information you want to disseminate in your answers.
• Practice! It is always helpful to prepare an elevator pitch on a project to share with the media. If you have advanced notice of an interview, prepare a list of key points you want to convey beforehand.
• If an interview starts to ask questions you’d rather not answer or you do not feel comfortable with, you don’t have to answer. Instead, you can use bridging techniques to steer the conversation back to a focus area you are more comfortable to talk about.

You can engage with the media proactively to share information with the media. Press releases, letters to the editor, and direct emails can get a reporter’s attention and provide them information about prominent issues. Developing a good relationship ahead of time increases the likelihood of your message being covered. Reach out to reporters ahead of time to introduce yourself and get to know each other; news reporters make a living by finding sources of information, and a dependable planner can be a valuable partner for a reporter.

Social Media

Planners have traditionally relied on town hall meetings, public hearings, and printed materials to engage communities and gather feedback. While these methods are still important, the advent of social media has revolutionized the way planners interact with the public. Social media platforms provide a powerful and dynamic tool for urban planners to reach a broader audience, gather real-time feedback, and foster a sense of community involvement. Incorporating social media into urban planning is no longer optional; it is essential for effective community engagement in the digital age. With thoughtful strategies and a commitment to accessibility and transparency, social media can significantly enhance the way urban planners connect with and serve their communities.

Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn offer planners the ability to reach diverse segments of the community. These platforms are widely used across different age groups, socioeconomic statuses, and cultural backgrounds, making it easier to disseminate information and engage with a wider audience. Compared to traditional outreach methods, social media is also a cost-effective way to engage with the public, reducing the need for printed materials and reaching more people without the constraints of time and location.

Before diving into social media, planners should develop a clear strategy on how to reach their target audience. What is your communication goal? What social media platforms are members of your target audience currently using? Different platforms are used by varying demographics, i.e., TikTok for younger audiences and Facebook for older audiences. Additionally, equity and accessibility considerations need to be made. This means using captions, providing translations where necessary, and ensuring content is accessible to people with disabilities.

Conversations are taking place with or without you. Planners need to take part in social media, or they will be left out of the conversation. Social media requires active management. Regular monitoring and prompt responses to comments and messages are crucial to ensure civil conversation and transparency. While social media is a powerful tool, it should complement, not replace, traditional outreach methods. Integrating social media with public meetings, surveys, and printed materials ensures a comprehensive approach to community engagement. Utilizing several media outlets to reach the public can help eliminate unequal access to information, opening conversations to different people with varying experiences and ideas.