In public discourse, volume often wins.
The loudest arguments rise to the top. The most repeated narratives take hold. And over time, complex issues can become flattened into a set of familiar talking points.
That’s been the case in Pennsylvania’s ongoing debate over cyber charter schools.
Questions around funding, academic performance, and the role of school choice have dominated headlines. For schools like our client, Reach Cyber Charter School, that creates a difficult communications environment – one where perception is often shaped before an organization has the chance to tell its side of the story.
So, how do you break through?
We’ve found that one of the most effective strategies isn’t just to engage in the debate directly – but to reframe it through consistent, credible storytelling.
Start with the Stories That Exist
Over the past few months, our team has worked with Reach Cyber to develop and place a steady stream of positive, human-centered stories in media outlets across Pennsylvania.
These stories focused on what was happening inside the cyber charter school community and how students are flourishing:
- A student balancing her education with service to her local community
- Hands-on STEM learning through a Rube Goldberg machine challenge
- Creative academic engagement tied to Read Across America Day and Pi Day
- Everyday examples of students finding success in a flexible, personalized learning environment
None of these stories were designed to rebut criticism. That wasn’t the goal.
Instead, they were designed to show – not tell – how and why cyber education works.
Why This Approach Works
In highly polarized conversations, audiences tend to tune out arguments they’ve already heard.
What they don’t tune out are stories.
A feature in a local outlet does something different than a policy statement or op-ed. It introduces specificity into a conversation dominated by generalizations. It puts a real student experience in front of readers who may have only encountered the issue in abstract terms.
Over time, that accumulation matters.
A couple of months and more than 30 media placements later, the narrative doesn’t necessarily flip, but it becomes more nuanced. The conversation expands. Readers are exposed to outcomes that challenge assumptions.
And more importantly, those stories come from third-party voices – reporters, local news stations, community publications – lending credibility that owned or shared content alone can’t replicate.
Three Takeaways for Communicators
- Consistency matters more than one big moment.
A single story rarely changes perception. A sustained pattern of coverage can. - Human stories cut through where arguments don’t.
Data and policy points are important, but they don’t resonate the same way lived experiences do. - Let credibility do the work.
Earned media, especially in local outlets, can carry a level of trust that’s difficult to achieve through owned channels alone.
Devine + Partners is a Philadelphia public relations agency. We offer a full range of communications services – from message and content development and media relations to issues management and employee and community engagement.
