Media and Communications Training Session 1

Message Matters
Part I: Making the story

What is the Center for Housing
Economics
The Center for Housing Economics advocates for
an efficient housing market that provides
abundant housing everywhere for people of all
levels of income.
• Better data
• Better ideas
• Changing the narrative

What do you do?
Opening role play – What do you do?
• Person you meet for the first time
• Media
• Elected official or community leader

What do they ask?
Role play
•Questions from a resident?
•Questions from an elected official?
•Questions from a reporter?

How we talk about ourselves
• Comfortable
• Confident
• Concise
• Don’t explain
• Don’t complain
• Don’t get trapped
• “Do you have any questions for my
answers?”

Nightingale herself spent every waking minute caring for the soldiers. In the evenings she
moved through the dark hallways carrying a lamp while making her rounds, ministering to
patient after patient. The soldiers, who were both moved and comforted by her endless supply
of compassion, took to calling her “the Lady with the Lamp.”

Dr. Rey is also
known for the
low and smaller
incision tummy
tucks as well as
the Brazilian Butt
Lift, where fat is
suctioned from
areas such as the
abdomen and
thighs and then
transferred to the
buttocks.

What’s the dominant narrative?
What people think about rental
housing ownership and management.
–Passive income
–“You have a house already, they
don’t”
–You sell housing for a profit
–It’s all about the money

Have you ever been poor?
What do poor people worry about?
•Transportation
•Food
•Housing
•Other expenses

The message problem is . . .
. . the Benoit problem

Housing Providers Advocates
What they say about Greedy
Racist
White men
Wealthy
Mean
Landlords
“Miscreants”
Vulnerable
Oppressed
Helpless
Weak
Poor
People of color
“None of us planned to be
in this situation.”
What we say about Hardworking
Dedicated
Innovative
Longsuffering
Vulnerable
Oppressed
“Everyone is hurting. But
landlords have no (legal)
remedies”
Lying
Greedy
Socialists
Taking advantage
Power hungry
Ignorant
“Another one sided view”
Message Matrix

Message Matrix
Housing Providers Advocates
What they say about Greedy
Racist
White men
Wealthy
Mean
Landlords
“Miscreants”
Vulnerable
Oppressed
Helpless
Weak
Poor
People of color
“None of us planned to be
in this situation.”
What we say about Hardworking
Dedicated
Innovative
Longsuffering
Vulnerable
Oppressed
“Everyone is hurting. But
landlords have no (legal)
remedies”
Lying
Greedy
Socialists
Taking advantage
Power hungry
Ignorant
“Another one sided view”

Turning the story around
Using their words to make our point
•Common language
•Where is there agreement?
•Mapping the message
•Getting beyond your frustration
(Who should speak?)

Break the narrative
Rewrite the story; Become a rent relief
advocate
• Rational self-interest and the “Do
gooder”
• Needle and the record
• Mad-Libs
• “Do you have any questions for my
answers”
• Never complain and never explain

What do we say?
Who are we?
•“I provide housing for people
who need it.”
•“I provide housing for 25
people.”
•“I provide housing for 7 families
in Indianapolis.”

What are we worried about?
•“I’m really worried about the
families I serve.”
•“A lot of these people are
vulnerable.”
•“None of us planned to be in this
situation.”

What do we want?
•“My families and people I serve
need rental assistance.”
•“Without rental assistance now,
these families will have bigger
problems.”
•“What’s taking so long to get help
and why is it so complicated?”

We won’t ever use . . .
• Units
• Landlords
• Tenants
• Taxes
• Mortgages
• Utilities
• Pay my bills
• “I’ll just raise the rent”
• “I’ll just raise my credit scores”
• “What about us?”

Case Study
Local NPR station KUOW emailed.
“I’m looking to produce a follow-up segment on how
housing providers are weathering the pandemic one-
year in, especially as the eviction moratorium is
extended and the new federal administration takes
office.”
“Happy to help. Can we talk for a few minutes and get a
bit more about the context it will in. I’ll get some folks
lined up. How many are you looking for?”

Morris Groberman and Brett
Frank-Looney

What happened next?
“Bill, the team and I greatly appreciate your
patience and flexibility, and as the pandemic
continues, we’d love to hear from you again if funds
are (or aren’t) distributed for you. We have Mayor
Durkan and King County Executive Dow Constantine
on each week, so I will make a note to ask the
Mayor tomorrow about the undistributed funds
and the Executive when he’s on next Tuesday (and
we open those segments for community calls, if
you’d like to call in as well).”

Closing Role Play
What do you do?
•Person you meet for the first
time
•Media
•Elected official or community
leader

Closing Role Play
What do they say?
•Questions from a resident?
•Questions from an elected
official?
•Questions from a reporter?

Homework
Write a 25-word response to a question
from a resident, elected official, or
reporter based on what we’ve talked
about today.

Media and Communications Training Session 1

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Media and Communications Training Session 1