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Guide to Getting
Good Media Coverage
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This guide is designed for use by League leaders — people
with a lot to accomplish in a little time. Each section gives the
key information you will need to get media coverage of League issues,
campaigns, projects and other activities. For those who are new
to media work, the guide provides the basics for getting started.
For those who are more experienced, each part of the guide can serve
as a checklist for your ongoing efforts to keep the public informed
through the media.
Each section of this guide stands alone. Please feel free to
separate the sections and share them with others. Please feel free
to reproduce the guide in whole or in part. If you do so, please
credit the League of Women Voters of the United States.
Since ours is an organization committed to education and advocacy
on public policy issues, it is vitally important for the League
to be “in the news.” Work with the media is an integral
part of accomplishing our mission of informing the public and influencing
public policy. The simple steps in this guide prove the basics for
effective work with the media. If you'd like additional tips, please
call the public relations staff at the League of Women Voters national
office (202-429-1965).
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How to Write an Effective Press Release
- Make certain that the press release includes
WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY and sometimes HOW
in the first paragraph. Make the verbs active and the subject concrete.
Cover the most important facts first and follow with details.
- Never editorialize in press releases. Do
not write, for example, that a speaker is fascinating. Let the reporter
decide whether this was or was not the case. Keep your opinions and
judgments within the quotes.
- Give your press release a catchy title, e.g., “LEAGUE
HAILS BAN ON ASSAULT WEAPONS.” Write the heading as if it were
the headline you'd like to read in the paper. Write a lead sentence
that makes it tough to stop reading.
- Be sure to include a contact name and telephone number on
the top right corner of the page. List a number that will be answered
by a live person—even if that includes both home and work numbers.
- Don't forget to include the date of your release on the upper
left corner of your release. Write “FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: APRIL
3, 1997.”
- Don't forget to include a good quote from your League president
or spokesperson. Be sure to include this person's exact title with the
full name of your League. Sentences in quotes should be short and to
the point, e.g., “It's about time Congress stood up to the gun
lobby.”
- Proof everything at least twice. If your press release looks
disorganized and is badly written, the League's image will suffer.
- Try to limit your press release to ONE PAGE.
- At the bottom of the first page write “end” or use
the symbol “###” or “30.”
How To Put Together an Effective Press List
- Include all major newspapers in your area, and major weeklies
with circulation of 10,000 or more. Make sure your list is representative
and includes ethnic, African--American, Latino and women's weeklies.
- Get a list of state/local specialty publications/magazines
that might be interested in your project. Include any women's magazines,
political or social issue publications.
- Include television and radio stations with news and current--event
talk shows, or women's issues programs. For broadcast news shows, send
a release to the specific reporter covering your issue, or to the senior
producer for smaller stations. For talk shows, send to the producer.
Target drive--time—early morning shows or late afternoon/rush--hour
shows.
- Monitor your local/state newspapers and keep an updated list
of reporters covering League issues. Look for the bylines and add them
to your press list. Update your press list on a regular basis.
- Check to see if you have a local wire--service bureau in your
area that might be interested in covering your campaign, press conference
or project event.
How To Prepare For a Successful Editorial Board
Meeting
- The purpose of editorial board meetings is to establish a
good relationship with your local/state newspapers.
- Another important goal of editorial board meetings is to encourage
the newspaper to write an editorial in support of a League issue or
campaign.
- Call the senior editorial writer at your state/local newspaper
a week to ten days in advance. Tell her/him that you would like to talk
with the editorial board to discuss the League's issue priorities/project/campaign.
Time the meeting around your project or key action in Congress.
- Find out what positions the newspaper's editorial board has
taken on League issues. Get copies of those editorials from the newspaper's
librarian. Read them carefully before the meeting.
How To Write and Submit a Letter To the Editor
- Letters to the editor are usually written in response to an
article or editorial published earlier in the newspaper.
- If you see an article or opinion piece that presents a position
that is opposite the League's, write a letter to the editor disagreeing
with the article and stating the League's position. If you don't disagree
but have a different perspective, that too can be the basis of a letter
to the editor.
- Call the newspaper and ask to speak to the “letters--to--the--editor”
department. Ask how long the letter should be. Find out the name, fax
number and mailing address of the person you should send it to.
- In the first paragraph of your letter, refer promptly to the
article or position that you are writing about. Name the reporter who
wrote the article and the date and title of the article.
- Send with a cover letter addressed to the appropriate editor.
Attach your business card. Be sure to sign the letter with your name,
title and the name of your League.
How To Prepare for and Give Great TV and Radio
Interviews
- Never go to a media interview without reading the morning's
newspapers. You should be very well informed.
- Be sure to watch or listen to the program or host that will
be interviewing you before you appear. Get to know the style and format
of the show.
- Focus on no more than two or three major points to make during
the interview. For each point, be sure to have two or three good facts
to back it up. Don't let the reporter's questions get you off track.
Keep coming back to your major points. Don't forget the reason you are
there. Be prepared for the “difficult questions.”
- Listen carefully to the reporter's questions. Always answer
by coming back to the main points you want to make. Never answer with
a simple yes or no. Never say “no comment.” It makes you sound
guilty. The easier you make it on the reporter, the more likely she/he
is to have you back.
- You represent the League. Don't give personal opinions that
might compromise the organization. Never go “off the record.”
And never make partisan statements—even if prodded—or your
quote could end up as a headline in tomorrow's paper.
For the complete report on the Guide
To Getting Good Media Coverage, contact the League of Women Voters
of the United States, Publication Sales, Pub #1000, $2.50 ($2.00 for members).
Phone: 202-429-1965, fax: 202-429-0854
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