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Connecticut Water Trails
Program
Connecticut Water Bar
Working With The Media
Getting Press Attention Without A Traditional
Press Conference
Traditional press conferences are not the only way
to get the media's attention. If you take advantage of upcoming press
hooks and latch on to them, you can insert your organization and message
into a story. If you know that an event is coming up and are certain
that it will get the media's attention, you can easily inject your
organization into the stories written that day by planning in advance
how your organization will respond and working the phones the day of the
event.
Scenario
The Court has agreed to hear a controversial water
pollution case that will affect your state, and your organization will
have a response to its outcome. The Court has not yet come down with its
decision, but you know that it will come down soon. In addition, you
know that this is a case that will receive a great deal of media
coverage.
Preparing Your Response
First, figure out how your organization fits into
the story. After this, you can prepare appropriate responses to the
possible outcomes. Play out the different scenarios in your mind and
assess how your organization would respond to each one.
Write your press statements well in advance because
once the decision comes down, you will not have much time to hammer out
a press statement. Responding early is key. Therefore, you'll need to
write a statement responding to each potential outcome and have them
ready for release for the day of the decision. Keep in mind that you
will need to adjust the statements depending on the final language of
the decision, but these should only be minor changes that can be done
quickly.
If the decision is in your favor, write a press statement supporting
the decision and explaining why it is an important decision for health
care advocates and consumers in your state.
If the decision is not in your favor, write a press
statement that explains why you op-pose the decision and that also puts
your organization in the context of the story.
In addition, think through how you will quickly get the information
about the case the day it comes down. You will want to find out if the
case comes down the very morning it happens, and you will want to find out
how to get a hold of the final decision quickly. It is well worth your
time to investigate different tracking and research options for finding
out. This may involve daily calls to the Supreme Court hotline or another
monitoring system.
You may also want to recruit people to share their
stories with reporters about how the outcome of the case would affect
them personally. These "real stories" should serve to validate your
organization's opinion on the Court decision. Call the individuals in
advance, get the details of their stories, and ask them if they would be
willing to talk to reporters about their stories. Let them know that you
will call and get their permission before you pass along their
information. If they agree, keep their contact information and notes on
their stories on hand.
Preparing Your Strategy
The next step in preparing for this upcoming press
opportunity is to research reporters and to create a targeted press
list. The idea is to anticipate which reporters are more likely to cover
the story. This can be done easily by investigating who covers that beat
and who has written about it in the past. Since the scenario in question
deals with the Court but crosses over to the environment, create a list
that includes not only your environment reporters and editorial writers,
but also reporters who cover the Court.
Conduct a search of which reporters have covered
this issue in the past. You can do this by searching on a news service
such as Lexis Nexis, if you have access to those resources.
Otherwise, you can also peruse clips or use search
engines on the Web. Add any new reporters to your existing list and sort
your press list by media outlet. The final list will most likely include
several reporters from each paper, such as the environment reporter, the
legal/Court reporter, and editorial page writers.
It is important to take the time to research all the reporters that
could potentially cover this story. Many times reporters who do not cover
the environment may not think to call your organization for comment. They
will probably look at this story from a different angle. Your goal on the
day the decision comes down is to remind them that this is an
environmental story.
Whenever possible, gather as much information on
reporters as possible, such as phone numbers, fax numbers, and e-mail
addresses. This will ensure that your statement gets to each reporter.
Make sure that you have a list that includes newspapers, wire services
such as AP and Reuters, local television stations, and local radio
stations. Your list should include any media outlet that is likely to
cover this event.
When figuring out which reporters you think will
cover this story, also think about whether local television and radio
stations will cover this particular story, or if print reporters will be
more likely to cover it. On the day of the event, you will want to get
your statement to all three types of media outlets, but you will only
have time to reach out to a more targeted list of reporters. As much as
possible, try to anticipate who these targets might be.
Your Checklist BEFORE The Day The Decision Comes
Down
A sample press release for a decision
that rules in your favor.
A sample press release for a decision that does not rule in your
favor.
A sample press release for any other anticipated ruling.
The contact information and general stories of a couple of
individuals willing to speak to
reporters.
The list of health beat reporters with their phone numbers, e-mails,
and fax numbers.
The list of reporters who cover the Supreme Court with their phone
numbers, e-mails, and fax numbers
The list of any other reporters who have written on this case in the
past with their phone numbers, e-mails, and fax numbers.
The list of assignment editors of the major newspapers with their
phone numbers, emails, and fax numbers.
The list of radio and TV assignment
editors with their phone numbers, e-mails, and fax numbers.
The list of editorial writers with their phone numbers, e-mails, and
fax numbers.
Responding To The Decision
Finally the day has come the Court has released its
decision concerning the water pollution case. You were able to get the
information quickly by calling the court directly. The decision was not
in your favor, and it is time to respond. You have already created
sample press statements for each scenario, as well as targeted press
lists with the names of reporters likely to cover this story. In
addition, you have gotten a hold of the final language of the decision.
The first step is to make final changes to the press
statement after reading through the decision. Remember that it is
equally important to respond accurately as it is to respond quickly.
Once you have finalized your press statement, get it out to your list of
reporters. You can do this by blast faxing it to your press list or
e-mailing reporters. Make sure to include all the names you have added
to your press list.
 Working The Phones
The next and most important step is to work the
phones. Start by calling reporters who you know are most likely to cover
the story. After this, call the remaining media outlets to see who is
covering the story. Reporters will have already been assigned to a
specific story that day and will quickly let you know if they are
covering the story. If not, ask them who is covering the story. They
will usually offer up that information pretty freely. If for some reason
they do not tell you who is covering the story, call the assignment desk
at the paper, and they will quickly refer you to the right person. Go
down your list paper by paper, radio station by radio station, and TV
station by TV station, getting the name of the reporter or producer who
is covering this story. This should not take very long.
Once you have reached the appropriate person, you
can start off the conversation by asking them if they received your
statement on the Court decision. In addition, you can offer your
spokesperson for comment by suggesting that he or she can explain why
this decision is an important decision in the environmental field. In
addition, pitch your organization as a resource for background
information. After all, these reporters are working on an extremely
tight deadline and will not have very much time to digest the
information and write about it. Not only will they welcome help, but
they will also want the piece to be balanced, which means they will want
to include both sides of the story.
First of all, you may need to introduce your
organization and explain why you fit into this story because they may
not be familiar with you. Second, you want to make sure that they
received your press statement. Reporters get hundreds of e-mails and
faxes daily, and they do not have time to read all that information and
make their often tight deadlines as well. Through your follow-up call,
make a case about why your email or fax should be read. In the majority
of follow-up calls, you will find that most of the reporters have not
yet seen your press statement.
Making calls to reporters is necessary for a couple
of reasons if you want to be in the story.
Sample Script For Talking To A Reporter Covering
The Court Decision:
Advocate:
Hi, Randy, this is Peter
from Watersheds United. I wanted
to make sure you received our statement on today's Court decision.
Reporter:
I didn't get your statement.
Advocate:
Oh, I would be happy to email it to you. What is
your email address? This decision is a huge upset for all of us in the
environment. I'll also get someone from our organization to give you a
call. They can talk to you about the impact this decision will have on
watersheds and the implications for the state.
(Send the reporter the statement and get your
representative to give them a call.)
- OR –
Reporter:
Yes, I did get your statement.
Advocate:
Great. This decision is a huge upset for all of us
in the environmental community. I'll also can get someone from our
organization to give you a call. They can explain why this is the case,
and they would also be happy to go over the decision with you if you
have any questions.
How Radio And TV Are Different
Your approach to working with radio and TV should be
very different from your approach to working with print media. Call TV
and radio producers well in advance to give them the heads up that the
case is coming down. Through this call, you will be pitching the story
to them in advance by explaining the impact this decision will have on
health care. If they seem interested in the story, you can present them
with a package deal that includes an interview with your spokesperson
the day the decision comes down and a real story as well.
For the TV and radio stations you have not been able
to contact, call the assignment editor directly to ask who is covering
the Court case and make sure this producer gets your statement and your
pitch for your spokesperson.
Your local TV news may also be more enthusiastic
about interviewing a person who could be directly affected by this Court
decision. Your stories can help get your message out to these reporters.
Therefore, when you find out that the local news is covering this story,
ask them if they would like to include a vignette in their piece. You
should also pitch your spokesperson as you did with the print reporters.
Conclusion
Getting into the story will entail a flurry of calls the day of the
event. The most important thing to remember is that reporters will also
be pressed for time and will welcome a call from an organization that is
willing to supply them with the resources to write a complete piece that
includes both sides of the argument. If you plot out your strategy in
advance and dive into the calls the day of the event, you will be very
likely to insert your point of view and spokesperson into the story.
After all, the only way to get into a story without a press event is
with a well thought out strategy and aggressive follow-up calls.
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