Remember TV, papers, radio? A Boston hospital courts ‘old’ media

Beth Israel Deaconess uses big ideas and a modest budget to spread its message

While you’ve been off discovering the latest trends in social media, your local newspapers, TV, and radio stations have been laying people off.

That puts you, the corporate communicator, in line to give them an extra hand while getting the exposure you need.

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center doesn’t have a lot of extra money to spend, but lately it has gotten a lot of bang for its buck by pitching to short-handed TV stations and Web sites in Boston.

“They don’t have any reporters anymore,” said Rhonda Mann, Beth Israel’s director of marketing communications, at the recent Mayo Clinic-Ragan Social Media Summit. “In Boston, everyone has laid off writing staff, but they still have columns to fill or airtime to fill, and they need content.”

Mann has used that reality to her advantage: She’s given stations much-needed health content in return for the hospital’s name mentioned on the show.

Embrace the tried and true avenues

Mann knew that Boston’s Fox affiliate cut almost all of its morning show writers but still had a four-hour morning show to fill.