How to pitch to The Independent

International coverage has always been one of The Independent’s priorities.

At our latest online briefing we spoke to Gemma Fox, Deputy International Editor at The Independent to hear more about the types of stories they are interested in and how to pitch to them.

“We’re all about spending time with stories, having those longer features, those analyses, those really important interviews, and making sure we’re telling the stories that do matter.”

Gemma highlighted that their audience has a strong interest in international stories, and discussed with our members the stories that receive the most engagement. They have invested significantly in their foreign coverage, with correspondents based all over the world and Gemma noted the importance of ethical, in-depth storytelling.

“If there’s an angle that you feel hasn’t perhaps received enough attention in the media, that is hugely important, do get in touch.”

Reassuringly, she also noted that generally the pitches she receives from NGOs are of good quality with the story clearly labelled and described, with information about access and interviewees.


Find out more in our ‘Meet the Editor’ interview below. Registered IBT Members can read the detailed briefing notes and watch the full briefing recording from the membership dashboard.

How to use Twitter as an NGO Trustee

Twitter’s Katy Minshall shares her 4 top tips for how NGO Trustees can make the most of the social media platform. 

We recently held a special training session for Trustees from IBT’s member organisations to look at how a Trustee can join Twitter and use the platform to promote the work of their charity, and help a charity to achieve its strategic goals. Here, our speaker Katy Minshall, Head of UK Government, Public Policy and Philanthropy shares her top tips for making the most of Twitter.

1. Tweet more

Don’t be shy to send more tweets. Don’t be afraid to retweet and experiment with tweeting at different times of the day, and tweeting different content. Just see what works. Sometimes it will get lots of engagement, sometimes it won’t, but don’t be afraid to tweet more.

2. Piggyback on trending hashtags

Sharing your unique perspective on a trending conversation will give you the opportunity to be exposed to new followers who are looking at that hashtag. It will ensure you are tweeting content that is relevant, topical and timely.

3. Have a voice

Define your style and be consistent about it. Where you can, tweet with personality. Even something as basic as using an emoji, or engaging more with your followers and replying to those who tweet at you. Having that voice, and tweeting with personality will go a long way.

4. Drive impact with media

Your best allies for impactful content are polls, videos, images and GIFs. The more, and the richer quality of media you can use, the more likely it is your tweet will be successful.

 


Watch our ‘Meet the Expert’ interview with Katy below. Registered IBT Members can read the detailed briefing notes from the membership dashboard.

Michael Herrod at ITV News on how coronavirus has impacted foreign news coverage

For our latest online IBT briefing, we were joined by Michael Herrod, Head of Foreign News and Tom Clarke, Science Editor at ITV News. 

ITV News has a longstanding commitment to bringing international stories to a mainstream audience, covering everything from big news events and political disruption to the human impact of climate change. During the lively discussion, Michael explained how he hopes that ITV’s foreign news coverage helps to bring international stories to an audience that wouldn’t usually hear about them.

“I see our role generally as opening people’s eyes to events, countries and stories that they perhaps wouldn’t otherwise be interested in, or know about.”

We also heard from ITV News Science Editor, Tom Clarke, who offered plenty of useful insights into how they plan to approach COP26 and climate change coverage over the coming months. The climate crisis is a key focus area for ITV News, and our members from Oxfam, Islamic Relief and Tearfund were able to share their thoughts on how climate stories could fit alongside the current coronavirus coverage.

“It’s a question about how we as journalists can keep climate change on the agenda.”

It was encouraging to hear Michael explain that there is still a healthy appetite for global stories amongst their UK audience, and both Michael and Tom were able to share advice with our members on how to best pitch them stories, as well at the types of stories that their audience is most interested in.


Find out more in our ‘Meet the Editor’ interview below. Registered IBT Members can read the detailed briefing notes and watch the full briefing recording from the membership dashboard.

 

Meet the expert: Twitter’s Katy Minshall on how INGOs can make best use of the platform

For our latest online IBT briefing, we were joined by Katy Minshall, Twitter’s Head of Policy and Philanthropy. 

Katy led a training session with our members, sharing best practice for how INGOs can make the most of Twitter. She noted two unique characteristics of Twitter that make it a particularly useful tool for charities: it is a platform for users to engage with public discussions, and it is fast-paced and reactive to cultural and news events.

“Twitter moves so fast, and so it’s important to be timely. If there’s a conversation that is relevant to your organisation, make sure your voice is there quickly as part of that discussion.”

Katy was able to share her top tips for how organisations can make the most of Twitter. Highlighting the importance of getting the basics right, she advised members to keep tweets concise, use only one or two hashtags, and include clear call to actions. She noted that whilst sharing videos and photos generally result in higher engagement, it is also important to be able to react quickly when relevant conversations are trending.

“It’s just as simple as considering what you like to engage with when you’re on Twitter.”

One of the biggest mistakes organisations make on Twitter, according to Katy, is to focus too heavily on posting whilst neglecting engagement. It is crucial to incorporate engagement into your social strategy if you are to make the most of the platform. Using Twitter polls, asking open ended questions, or engaging in other active conversations are good ways to do this.

Katy was then able to answer questions from IBT members, including Médecins Sans Frontières, DEC and Saferworld, who used the opportunity to ask more in depth questions about content optimisation, paid campaigns and scheduling.


Find out more in our ‘Meet the Expert’ interview below. Registered IBT Members can read the detailed briefing notes and watch the full briefing recording from the Membership Dashboard.

 

Meet the editor: Thomson Reuters Foundation’s Belinda Goldsmith on how NGOs should pitch stories

For our first online IBT briefing, we welcomed Belinda Goldsmith, Editor-in-Chief at the Thomson Reuters Foundation. 

The Thomson Reuters Foundation aims to cover the world’s under reported stories across a range of issues including aid, development, women’s and LGBT+ rights and climate change.

“TRF is completely unique because all of our stories go out on the Reuters news wire. So we’ve got that global reach and reputation of Reuters which is something you cannot buy.”

During the session, Belinda explained how TRF works, including their relationship with the Reuters news wire, and shared details of the types of stories they look for. She highlighted that they have a priority on original journalism and breaking new stories, and that they are keen to know what the latest trends are and to make their reporting forward looking.

“We find the best stories are always human led stories.”

She also shared her tips for NGOs hoping to pitch her stories. Explaining that the focus of much of their reporting is the impact of issues on ordinary people and vulnerable communities, so it is important to always think about the human angle when pitching to them.

Belinda was then able to answer questions from IBT members, including Save the Children, Saferworld and Islamic Relief, who had an opportunity to pitch their ideas and understand more about TRF’s global audience.


Find out more in our ‘Meet the Editor’ interview below. Registered IBT Members can read the detailed briefing notes and watch the full briefing recording from the Membership Dashboard.

 

Meet the editor: LADbible’s Joe Elsworth on how to engage young audiences

We recently invited Joe Elsworth, Account Director at LADbible to join us for an IBT member briefing. He manages LADbible’s relationships with government and the charity sector, working on branded content partnerships across LADbible Group’s range of channels and platforms. Joe spoke to us about their social strategy, how LADbible Group has evolved from a solitary Facebook page to one of the biggest youth media publishers in the world, and how they are successfully engaging with young audiences.

Following on from their award winning campaign, Trash Isles, LADBible now work regularly with some of the biggest global brands and campaign for good causes. Over the past year they’ve worked with the Army, the Home Office, RNLI, Amnesty International and many more. Joe shared some of their most successful campaigns, why they have worked on social, and how to affect behavioural change in young people or make them feel passionately about an issue.

“Every time we post something we try to think if it’s something that we would want to talk about down the pub.”

Joe shared insights into how LADbible choose the topics and content that will appeal to their audience, and feel relevant to them. He explained that they spend a lot of time looking at the comments on videos to stay close to their audience, using their 700,000 daily comments to identify key themes and trends.

 

“The first 5 to 10 seconds is crucial in social video. You’re fighting against people’s thumb scrolling.”

He also share his tips for optimising video content for each social media platform, highlighting the importance of keeping on top of the latest changes in algorithms and best practices.

To finish off the session, IBT members from Practical Action, Christian Aid and ONE Campaign had an opportunity to ask questions on how they can utilise their social video platforms to better engage wider audiences.


Find out more in our ‘Meet the Editor’ interview below. Registered IBT Members can find the full briefing notes and LADbible contact information here.