An EMB
website provides an efficient one-stop location for media, electorate and
greater public alike. An EMB website
will have many different sections, one of which should be media relations (or
public relations). This is a place to
post press releases/statements, pre-recorded audio and video material, news
articles of relevance (that are neutral or explain the work of an EMB), contact
information, invitations to press conference and briefings, election footage
and so forth. By maintaining a website,
a Media Relations Department can create, in effect, a virtual briefing pack.
Moreover, it is one that can be constantly updated by the addition of new
material as it becomes available. It will also be possible to run a results
service through the web site.
In
addition, EMBs are increasingly taking advantage of other new media to
communicate with the traditional media and the public. Many have active
Facebook pages and Twitter accounts. Some will respond to media inquiries and
feedback by email, or even SMS. Some opt for announcing press conferences by
SMS to their list of media contacts. As access by media and the public to new
media grows, so will the need and potential for EMBs to utilise it for media
relations.
Of course, levels of
access to the Internet and other new media vary dramatically from location to
location and this should be taken into account (See the section on New Media
for information on Internet access around the world, and on EMBs’ utilisation
of new media). It is important that any
information distributed via a website is simultaneously distributed via other
means, guaranteeing that outreach is nationwide and/or accommodates lack of
Internet resources. Something a Media
Relations Department might also want to consider is the provision of access to
a public computer(s) at EMB field departments, and subsequently inform media in
these areas that they can access EMB information freely at these locations.
