Local journalism has changed significantly. Reporters covering school districts today often work faster, with fewer resources, and across more platforms than their predecessors. That shifts the dynamic for district leaders: there’s less time to prepare for every story, more pressure to respond quickly, and a higher likelihood that the framing of a story is set before your district has a chance to weigh in.
Media relations training doesn’t change what reporters do. It changes what your leaders are ready to do—whether that means pitching a story about a program worth celebrating, answering a difficult question without losing their footing, or building the kind of professional relationship with local journalists that makes coverage more accurate and more balanced over time.
Donovan Group’s Media Relations Training gives school and district leaders the skills and confidence to engage the media thoughtfully—before a situation demands it.
What Does Our Training Cover?
Every training engagement is customized to your district’s context—your media landscape, current communication practices, leadership team’s experience, and where you most want to build confidence. Topics are selected and sequenced to match your district’s needs and may include:
Understanding how local news works.
How reporters find stories, what shapes their coverage decisions, and what your district can do to become a reliable and credible source.
Building relationships with reporters.
When and how to reach out proactively, how to position your district as a resource, and how to maintain working relationships over time.
Pitching positive stories.
Identifying the stories worth telling in your district and developing the case for why they matter to a local audience.
Preparing for interviews.
How to think through key messages before a conversation with a reporter, how to stay on message without sounding scripted, and how to handle questions you didn’t anticipate.
Navigating difficult questions.
Practical strategies for addressing sensitive topics, correcting misinformation, and responding under pressure without escalating the situation.
Managing crisis-level media attention.
How to communicate clearly and confidently when a situation draws significant coverage, and how to engage reporters in high-stakes moments without compounding the challenge.
How the Training is Delivered
Training can be delivered in person at your district or virtually, depending on your preference and your team's composition. Engagements can be structured as a single intensive session or as a series of sessions spread across the year as part of ongoing professional development.
Participants often include superintendents, assistant superintendents, communications staff, school principals, and others in leadership roles who may interact with reporters. Training can be scoped for a small leadership team or a broader group—the format adapts to who you’re trying to reach.
Practical exercises are built into the training, including simulated interview scenarios and real-time feedback, so participants leave with more than a framework—they leave with practice.
Who Benefits Most From Media Training?
Districts without a dedicated communications staff member often find that school leaders and central office administrators field media inquiries without any formal preparation. Training gives those leaders a practical foundation they can draw on consistently, rather than navigating each situation from scratch.
Districts with a communications director can use training to extend media readiness across the leadership team—ensuring principals and other administrators who may interact with reporters are aligned on messaging and prepared for conversations communications staff can’t always attend.
Districts that have recently experienced a challenging media situation often find training valuable as a reset—a way to build confidence and develop a more intentional approach before the next situation arises.Districts that have recently faced a challenging media situation often find training valuable as a reset—a way to build confidence and develop a more intentional approach before the next one.
Districts entering a high-attention period—a referendum campaign, a major initiative, a leadership transition—benefit from having a team prepared for the coverage that naturally follows significant change.
Frequently Asked Questions
Training helps school leaders and staff build the skills and confidence to work effectively with the media. Topics may include building relationships with reporters, proactively generating positive media coverage, responding to media inquiries, preparing for interviews, staying on message, and navigating urgent or crisis situations. The specific topics depend on your district’s needs and goals.