Back in 2010, less than a year after I returned to write for Ethanol Producer Magazine, I traveled to Macon, Missouri, for President Barack Obama’s visit to the Poet LLC plant in that town. One of the things I remember most clearly about that trip is the moment when I checked in for the invitation-only event. After scanning a clipboard for my name, the person at the entrance told me, “Nope, sorry, your name isn’t on this list.”

I was momentarily overwhelmed with panic. How could I face my boss after flying all the way to Missouri, only to return because my name couldn’t be found on a clipboard. Fortunately, a Poet employee was standing nearby and said he was familiar with the publication. After he suggested that person look again, my name was found, right where it was supposed to be.  

It’s not the first time that the EPM name has opened doors for me. Most people in the ethanol industry are familiar with our magazine and happy to be interviewed for stories or give us tours of their facilities. They know that, as an industry trade journal, our publication is supportive of the ethanol industry and will work hard to get the facts straight.

Working with the local media, however, may or may not be slightly more difficult. Having worked at several daily and weekly newspapers for more than a decade before moving into the magazine world, I can say with authority that there are many good and hardworking reporters at those publications. And, many of you may have great professional relationships with the local media. But for those of you that aren’t in that situation, this blog is for you.

My first point is that I feel there are good reasons to work with the local media. No. 1, if, heaven forbid, something bad were to happen, having that relationship already in place could come in very handy. Secondly, it’s a good way to connect with the local community. Perhaps, within the bubble of local farmers and plant employees, the plant is regarded favorably. But there will always be those that know nothing about the ethanol industry and even those that have fallen prey to misconceptions about ethanol. I remember, when I traveled to Hugoton, Kansas, for the grand opening of the Abengoa cellulosic ethanol plant, overhearing the local resident who was not-completely jokingly talking about whether the “refinery” would someday explode. (I had just recently sat in on a presentation on proper grounding to reduce static electricity and, when he gave me an opening, I was able to tell him his concerns would be much more relevant if the facility were an oil refinery, which it obviously is not. Ethanol simply doesn’t have the level of kaboom potential he was thinking about.)

Here are a few tips on how to cultivate a relationship with the local media, if you aren’t doing it already.

Participate: Send in news items. Some examples are a photo of the items collected during a food drive at the plant or press releases about x number of days without a safety violation or an upcoming plant anniversary. Write letters to the editor.

Reach out: Make contact with the people that work at the paper. Pick up the phone or send an email. Ask if they are interested in receiving news about the facility, what type and what format they prefer to receive it in.

Open your doors: Offer to give a reporter a tour of the facility. However, keep in mind that most reporters (at least the ones I know) are pretty busy. They probably don’t have time for idle chatter, unless it’s part of an opportunity to actually write a story or a column about their experience at the plant.

Handling errors: Say an article is written about your facility in which factual errors are made. Maybe the reporter didn’t completely understand the ethanol production process or a name was misspelled. All you have to do is calmly point it out and request a correction or clarification.  

This is true for anything published by EPM too. Reporters are human, and although we’d prefer not to make mistakes, it does happen. I can’t speak for every reporter, but from my perspective, I’d prefer to find out about the error sooner rather than later. And I want to avoid making the mistake a second time. Even if a reporter doesn’t handle this type of request with grace (and I wouldn’t automatically assume he or she won’t), I still believe it’s better to speak up than keep silent.

I realize most of us are extremely busy. Putting another item on your already long to-do list might seem daunting. But I truly believe just a small amount of effort could have big dividends in the end. In interacting with the local media, you can reach a larger audience with positive information about the ethanol industry. 

For more in a four-part series on this subject, see this blog about what things an ethanol production company might write a press release about.