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Scrappy Ways to Get Your Museum in the News

Category: Alliance Blog
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Media relations are a daunting prospect for many museums, but getting coverage can be a game-changer for attendance and reputation. Here are some practical tips on how you can get journalists interested in your work, no matter what size or type of institution you are.

For many museums—especially small- or medium-sized institutions where everyone wears multiple hats—a marketing department is a luxury, let alone dedicated media relations staff. For those without experience dealing with the press, the process can feel opaque and even scary. When it comes to a museum’s reputation, the stakes are high.

And yet, media coverage can be a game-changer for museums in so many ways. It can generate ticket sales to events and exhibitions, build your reputation among supporters (especially funders), and boost your Google ranking.

To help more museums gain these benefits, I presented a session at AAM 2024 in Baltimore called “Scrappy Ways to Get Your Museum in the News.” It was a practical, actionable flash talk full of tips for generating (free!) media coverage of your institution. Attendees learned how to think beyond promoting exhibitions to find the many potential press opportunities that museums naturally contain.

These tips came from my experience as an independent public relations consultant for several Philadelphia-area museums, as well as arts organizations and non-profits. My clients don’t have huge budgets to advertise, pay to play (e.g., sponsored content and influencers), or hire large out-of-market agencies like bigger museums do. They don’t frequently have blockbuster exhibitions coming through or buzzy capital projects. And yet, they are doing great work and have compelling stories to tell. That’s where the scrappy part comes in. We look for unique angles and work together to find ways to get their activities, accomplishments, and stories in the news.

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In this blog post, I’m going to share the tips from my presentation so that more museums can take what I’ve learned and apply it to their own institutions. This guidance is ideal for institutions without large marketing and communications departments, but will likely spark inspiration for busy professionals in a variety of roles at any size organization.

Going Beyond the Exhibition: Eight Story Ideas

The bulk of my presentation encouraged attendees to think “outside the exhibition.” Yes, exhibitions will draw press attention, and we should put resources into that work, but here are eight ideas for other ways to generate media coverage.

New = News

If you take nothing else away from this post, remember this: New = News. This seems so simple, and yet, most people forget about it when it comes to getting press. Reporters want to report on what is new at your institution. When there is something new happening, tell the world (starting with the press!). On the flipside, reporters may not consider something newsworthy simply because it is interesting or important—that’s something you may need to remind your bosses and leaders. Find a way to make it new.

Humans Are Interested in Other Humans

It’s a fact of life that we are interested in each other: how we live, the choices we make, our failures, our achievements. The press knows this. Center your pitches around a main character. Maybe it’s a person from history; maybe it’s a volunteer with a special story.

Party Time

Special events, galas, public programming: these are all opportunities to get media attention. Is there a topical speaker? An honoree? A milestone? These events may offer opportunities for feature story pitches, simple event coverage on the evening news, or a chance to invite a reporter to attend to further build your relationship and familiarize them with your work.

Shopping!

Don’t forget about your museum store. These shops often offer some of the best shopping in town. Think about holiday gift guides, business pitches about how the economy or a trend is impacting your store, and items for sale that may relate to a topic in the news.

Localize It, Personalize It

Think about niche media outlets, not only your major daily newspaper and TV stations. Publications geared toward a specific neighborhood/town or community (such as LGBTQ+, Latino, or etc.) will help you reach a specific audience with stories that interest them.

Education

Museum education departments often end up siloed and overlooked for press opportunities, because their work can serve different audiences and even happen outside the museum walls. Look for ways to promote what they do. I recommend setting up a regular call with your education department to find out what they are up to. The media especially love to tell stories about local kids. Using the tips above, keep an eye out in particular for human-interest stories, new programs, etc.

Newsjacking

This is an old-fashioned PR term for “hijacking” the news. Essentially, you are looking for topics already in the news to jump in on, knowing that reporters will be actively looking for stories on them. For example: if vaccines are in the news, you might reach out as a science museum to share your resources on the topic.

Money Money

Don’t talk about money at the dinner table, but do talk about it in the press. People are interested in money and reporters are interested in reporting on it. A few examples: a big grant, a small grant to do crucial work, a fundraising event that raises a lot, a capital campaign, a new scholarship program, or a big increase in revenue.

Doing the Prep Work

Now that you know how to identify a good story, it’s time to prepare to pitch the press.

If there is another thing besides “New = News” you take away from this post, it’s this: Have photos ready before you pitch. A lack of good photos is the biggest reporter complaint today; their outlets don’t have the budget to send photographers, so they depend on us. Photos are crucial in 2025 for telling a story. Decent-quality phone photos are fine for most uses, though professional shots are always great. Video is secondary, but it can come in handy, especially if you’re pitching TV.

You should also prepare talking points and identify your spokesperson. Confirm their availability in advance.

Finally, decide how you’re pitching a story. A press release is a formal document that announces news and is widely distributed. A media advisory is the who/what/when/where and is used to invite broadcast (TV and radio) outlets to attend an event to cover it. A pitch is a tailored and targeted message to a specific reporter inviting them to cover something.

Building a Media List

How to build your media list: read, read, read! Subscribe to every outlet that you want to cover your organization. Read, or at least skim, their work. Reading their daily email newsletter can be a quick way to do this. You’ll see what types of stories are being published and who is writing those stories.

Follow reporters on social media and interact with them; learn about what interests them.

Maximizing Media Coverage

Now that you have a plan, you’ll get media coverage! Then what?

Thank the journalist. Send a genuine email expressing your appreciation. Let them know what you liked about their story and working with them.

Share the story on social media—tag the journalist and their outlet.

You can also boost the reach by posting part of it on your website and sharing it in your newsletter. Internally, I recommend including it in board and staff updates too. Your colleagues will be happy to see their organization in the news.

Happy pitching!

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