If your city or state is considering a short-term rental ordinance, there’s a good chance that the local media will report on the issue. Short-term rental owners and managers can help shape the debate and public perception by speaking with reporters and journalists. While talking to the media may sound intimidating, there are certain steps you can take to be more prepared for the experience and increase your chances of effectively communicating your message.
1. Remember: Talking to the media is an opportunity
Don’t stress out about talking to the media. Reporters are people, too. Their job is to inform the public, and they are interviewing you to learn about different facets of the issue. This is an opportunity for you to shed more light on your side of the story, correct misconceptions, and get out your message.
2. Craft your story
When you are preparing to tell your story to the media, focus on answering three questions:
- Why and how did you get into short-term rentals?
- Why is this issue important?
- What are you asking government to do?
Watch: Data-Driven Storytelling for Effective Advocacy [Leader Seminar Replay] ▶️
3. Know your key messages about short-term rentals
An interview is an important opportunity to shine a spotlight on the benefits of short-term rentals. Some example talking points to include (with data specific to your area):
- Short-term rentals support the economy.
- Locals earn extra money through short-term rentals, which could be their only source of income. The extra money also could be a deciding factor in their ability to afford the property.
- Vacation homes and short-term rentals support tourism and small businesses in neighborhoods without traditional hotel options.
- This economic activity holds even greater importance as cities seek to recover from the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Acknowledge the importance of regulating short-term rentals. Articulate that you support fair, common-sense rules that protect responsible hosts.
- Express support for efforts by local or state officials to develop sensible rules that preserve property owners’ rights and the economic perks that home-sharing provides for locals.
- Voice opposition to efforts to strip property owners of their right to use their homes as vacation rentals, i.e., bans on short-term rentals.
Boost your confidence with our Glossary: Important Short-Term Rental, Government, and Legal Terms
4. Effectively communicate your message
- Be prepared. Try to think of some of the questions you’ll get, including some tough ones, and think about the most effective way to answer. Rehearse your talking points.
- Be polite and respectful.
- Be conversational. This will put readers and listeners at ease.
- Speak slowly, clearly, and in complete sentences to up your chances of being quoted correctly. You can also ask the journalist to share your quotes that they plan to publish so you can check them for accuracy.
- Relate by using local examples and anecdotes.
- Be concise and stick to your message. It’s far better to make your comments short and sweet than for a journalist to have to edit out extraneous information. Your message is more likely get out as intended.
- Avoid defensiveness. You might get a tough question that makes you feel defensive, like, “What do you say to people who claim that short-term rentals are driving up the cost of housing?” A good strategy in these situations is ATM: Acknowledge, transition, and message. For example, your response could be: “I agree, housing is expensive here. For me, that’s why short-term renting our extra space has been so important. It’s provided income that helps us stay in this area.”
- Relax. You’re talking to another person, who just happens to be a journalist.
- Don’t use acronyms or jargon. Remember that reporters and their audiences aren’t as familiar with short-term rental shop talk as you are.
- Repeat yourself. Slip in your soundbite at least twice. This makes it more likely to stick.
Other helpful information on speaking with the media about short-term rentals
What it means to go off the record and how to do it
When you are speaking to a journalist, you should, by default, assume that anything you say is “on the record,” meaning that it could be published or broadcast in a news story.
However, some journalists will agree to what is called an “off-the-record” interview. Off the record means that you can provide information that the journalist agrees not to report – but you will have to confirm that a subject discussion is off the record before you speak, not after.
A journalist might agree to go off the record to gain insight into something or figure out how to pursue a certain angle of the story. But before going off the record, make sure that you have an agreement about what specifically the journalist can do with the information. For instance, perhaps you know about the existence of certain information, and you don’t want to be identified as the one who tipped off the reporter on where to find it.
Letters to the editor and op-eds
In addition to giving interviews, short-term rental owners and managers can share their stories by writing a letter to the editor or an op-ed, which are published in the opinion section of newspapers. Both formats are opportunities for community members to weigh in and express their opinions.
Letters to the editor are about a paragraph in length and can either be a direct response to a story a newspaper published or can address a hot topic in the community, like short-term rentals. Op-eds are longer opinion pieces, about 600-800 words, that allow the writer to delve deeper into their message.
Read next: 5 Tips for Getting Your Letter to the Editor or Op-Ed Published >
Regardless of the medium, talking to the media is a good chance to tell your side of the story and potentially influence the perceptions of the public and decision-makers.
Photo Credit: Sam McGhee
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