Dwindling tradition, weird hobby or join a friendly band? I have a list of about 120 national, international and local media contacts and depending on the story will send a press release to a sub set, or all of them. With the Ring for the King PR all my contacts were sent exactly the same story. How they interpret it, and how the local ringers they are put in contact with explain it varies greatly. The YCRA piece was off the back of my press release as were several others. I then offer those people guidance on what message we need to try to get across.
Having said that I was interviewed live on our local BBC Radio station,during their Volunteers Voices segment, and the interviewer just wanted to keep coming back to how many times do people get pulled up by the ropes. I think he mentioned it at least three times. Each time I had to explain this was a very rare occurance and only generally happens when inexperienced people don't do as instructed. Andit's not like the Mars advert.
There is some guidance on the CC website about how to engage with the press, then how to handle them once you've got engagement
https://cccbr.org.uk/bellringing/ring-for-the-king/
The Press like a good "story". Doom and gloom seems to be their modus operandi at the moment, with the occassional good news story.
I'm happy to give support to anyone dealing with the Press in what to say and how to come across.