arts & business council

MetLife Foundation National Arts Forums Series

Arts & Business Council of Miami
Miami, Florida

Covering the Arts in Miami: The Media
05//2002

Panelists:

• Alejandro Aguirre
  Diario Las Americas
• Jordan Levine
  Dance Critic, Miami Herald
• Belkys Neri
  Entertainment Reporter, WSVN-Channel 7
• Michael Peyton
  Senior Marketing Manager, WLRN Public Radio and Television
• Howard Salus
  Editor, Entertainment News & Views
• Andrew Stark
  Editor, Sun Post

“Covering the Arts in Miami” brought together a panel of local media critics and editors for a behindthe- scenes look at local coverage of the arts in South Florida’s print and broadcast media. Understanding how editors make decisions about what to cover can help arts organizations secure more media attention. Panelists encouraged arts and cultural groups to consider that:

• Projects may be of interest to multiple editors within a publication. For example, the Miami Herald’s coverage of the Miami Light Project – one of the first Cuban music groups to perform in Miami since the United States’ embargo was lifted – focused on the story in both its news and arts sections because of its political and cultural relevance.

• Many publications consider local arts a critical part of their reporting. The Sun Post views its arts coverage as important to increasing readership and believes that the paper’s partnerships with the arts attract an upscale demographic that helps sell advertising.

• It is not effective to limit press releases to major daily newspapers, television, and radio. Weekly publications and papers with smaller circulations may address the interests of audiences seeking information specifically about arts and entertainment.

Television stations evaluate coverage of stories and events on a daily basis. On a slow news day stations are eager to find visually interesting stories – and the arts can fill that niche. One speaker underscored the importance of developing a relationship with news editors and the entertainment reporters, so that when opportunities arise, the editors will already be familiar with what your organization has to offer. Another panelist described Ticket Madness, a half-price on-line ticket promotion. The station advertises the Web site and the Ticket Madness promotion regularly during drive time on the radio and prime time on television, providing the 25 participating groups with repeat media mentions. Aguirre spoke about the importance of including the Hispanic media in marketing plans. He noted that there is a misperception that if a program is not in Spanish, or not about Hispanics, it is not of interest to this audience. Aguirre addressed this erroneous belief, reporting that more than sixty percent of his publication’s readers are bi-lingual, and emphasized that Diario Las Americas is interested in partnering with arts programs to increase Hispanic audiences – even for traditional arts programming.