Africa Action: Working with the Media

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Working with the Media

May 5, 2009

There are many ways to engage the media on issues that impact Africa. Engaging the media is important in the process of informing and shaping public opinion and setting priorities for our decision makers. By working successfully with the media, we can generate positive press coverage which will in turn help to create the public and political will needed to build more just relationships in U.S.-Africa policy.

There are several different media opportunities:

Editorials: This is the official opinion of the newspaper, written by their editorial staff. Editorials are the most powerful opinion piece because it is like an endorsement from the paper itself. Ordinary citizens can contact these writers and influence the editorials that appear in their paper.

Op-Ed: Stands for �opposite the editorial page.� This is a concise opinion piece that is authored by a member(s) of the community, not the newspaper staff. Anyone can submit an op-ed for publication in a newspaper or magazine.

Letters to the Editor (LTE): These are short letters written by members of the community in response to coverage or opinion pieces in the paper.

Features and other articles: You can always contact reporters to cover a local event or to do a feature story on an issue.

TV and Radio: You don�t have to limit yourself to print media. Local TV and radio stations may also be interested in running a story or interviewing you, particularly if you are able to link the African story with a local story or local issue.

How to Generate an Editorial or Feature Story in your Local Paper

Research! Call the paper to find out who the editorial writers or appropriate reporters are. Read the paper regularly to familiarize yourself with its coverage and opinion pieces.

Practice your pitch! Practice a brief pitch to use when you call, keeping it brief and heartfelt (no more than 1-2 min.).

Make the call! Give a sentence in introduction and ask if they have a few moments right now (they may be on deadline � so early morning calls are best); address the problem and don�t assume that they already know the issue; talk about a solution to the problem; try to make the local connections by talking about anything your Representative, Senators or local community is doing about the issue. Ask if you can set up an appointment to give more details and share more information. End the call with a plan to follow up. If you are calling about an event, make sure to say where the event is going to be held and when.

Send more information! Drop off, fax or mail some background information. Africa Action can provide these materials. If you are calling for coverage of an event, send by e-mail or fax the advisory before the event and a release when it is over.

Follow up! Follow up within a week, asking if they have more questions and bringing new information to their attention.

Letters to the Editor

�Letters to the editor are impossible to overuse. We clip them and circulate them through the office like gossip sheets of what�s going on. The press represents an overall buzz in the community.�
�a Congressional Aide

Letters to the Editor are crucial to the development of a grassroots movement. As the quote above shows, they are taken seriously by legislators. In addition, they�re something that anyone can do at any time. The guidelines below will give you some help with writing letters to the editors, but the most important thing to remember is: just write them. Write lots of them. Set a goal for yourself. Perhaps you�ll set a goal to write one letter a week. Write to many different papers: local and national. Don�t worry if you�re not great at first. You�ll improve over time.

When writing a Letter to the Editor, remember your �C�s�:

Current � Responding to a recent article in the newspaper or to a very recent event is a great way to increase your odds of being published. Refer specifically to the article by using the name of the article and date, such as, �In response to your recent article on AIDS prevention programs in South Africa��

If you want to target a certain newspaper, you can do a search on its website for recent articles related to Africa or the global AIDS crisis. If you don�t know a newspaper�s website, you can find it listed at: www.newslink.org. It�s worth the trouble to �hook� your letter to a recent news item or event, even if the connection you�re making is something of a stretch.

Clear and Concise � keep your letter short and to the point. Stick to one subject and check your grammar. After you have written your letter, read it out loud and listen to it. Have you made your point clear? Can you shorten your letter and still get your point across?

Most papers will not print letters that are more than 250 words, or three to four short paragraphs, in length. The shorter the letter, the better chance it will be published.

Controversial � feel free to question or challenge what others have said or done, and even start your letter off with a catchy first sentence. However, be sure to avoid personal attacks. An argument based on merit rather than emotion tends to sway opinion.

Contact information � include your address, e-mail and a daytime and evening phone number. They won�t print this information, but may use it to confirm that you indeed are the author of such a beautiful letter.

Contagious � maximize your efforts by sending your letter to many newspapers. Depending on the subject matter, it may be appropriate to send the letter to all the newspapers in your state, or to national newspapers such as the New York Times and the Washington Post. If you do send your letter to national publications, though, wait to send it to local publications until you�re sure the giants aren�t going to print it.

To get a listing of Local Papers near you or send messages directly to newspaper editors, visit Africa Action�s E-Activist Media Center at http://capwiz.com/africaaction/dbq/media/.

How to Get an Op-Ed Published

Newspapers can only publish one or two Op-Eds in each edition; therefore it is harder to get an Op-Ed �placed� than a Letter to the Editor. Consider asking a Member of Congress, religious leader or local celebrity to co-author the piece with you to have a better chance of getting it published.

Op-Eds are longer than Letters to the Editor, but the guidelines are similar. Start your piece with a provocative statement or a story to draw people to your piece. Tie your Op-Ed to what is going on in the news. There are many different ways to tie in Africa issues, so be creative, concise and provide good facts to back up your argument.

Call to find out your newspaper�s guidelines on submitting Op-Eds. Find out who the Op-Ed editor is. Send in your piece and follow up with the Op-Ed editor. Keep calling and pitch your piece over the phone. Don�t get discouraged if you don�t get published on the first try. Ask the editor what you could do differently next time to give you a better chance of being published. Keep trying!

�Letters to the editor� and �How to Get an Op Ed Published� courtesy of Results USA, www.resultsusa.org
�How to generate an editorial �� adapted from Results USA, www.resultsusa.org

Writing a Press Advisory

Keep it short, preferably one page. At the top of the page put the contact person and a telephone number at which you are available.

Start with a strong title that describes the event or the issue.

Write a short introductory paragraph that describes the issue or the event. (This should not be more than one or two lines.)

Get the key facts in center of the page - what? where? when? who? and why? Breaking these things into little sections or bullet points will help the reporter to get the information that they need quickly and easily.

If the event is still to come, highlight any photo opportunities in the press release

Example: Photo opportunity: Hometown debt campaigners will be displaying nineteen pairs of children�s shoes outside the town hall at 10am on March 25th.

Conclude with a short paragraph or two that describes the event or the issue.

Sample Press Advisory: Africa Action to Host Human Rights Solidarity Concert

Writing a Press Release

Have a catchy title that sums up the purpose of your release.

Start the release with the place and the date.

In the opening paragraph state the purpose of the release and your primary message.

Make sure you include a local angle, and give names where possible.

Example: "Five hundred postcards about HIV/AIDS were sent to President Obama and were signed by members of St Agnes church, including 12-year-old John Brown and 92-year-old Jane Green."

A short quote from one of the organizers is a good way to get your message across.

Example: "We want Senator X to know that the majority of countries that have received debt relief so far are still paying more on debt than health care for their people," said local campaign organizer Hilda Smith.

Don�t Forget! Give a contact name and phone number at the top of your press release and be available!

Sample Press Release: Zimbabwe Human Rights Activists Re-Arrested

How to use your press advisory and release

Note! Press advisories and press releases are two different documents with different purposes. A press advisory is a document that you send out before an event. It is short and includes all the key information for a journalist to cover your event. It has a specific format with �who� �what� �when� �where� and �why� easy to read in the center of the advisory. A press release is sent out after the event is over or while it is happening. It is a longer document that is written in a more narrative format. It is written in past tense. It has quotes from key people, describes what happens and makes the important points about the issue.

Telephone the news desk of your local newspaper(s) a few days before the event, after sending out the advisory.

Phone again once the press advisory should have arrived and encourage the reporter to come along - or at least write a piece.

If no-one from the press turns up on the day, don't be disheartened � send your press release and phone them once it's over and give your own report of events.

Be sure to take your own photographs and send the best ones with a copy of the press release to the local paper.

Don't forget local radio stations. A good program to try might be the weekly religious affairs program, usually on a Saturday or Sunday morning - try to find out who the producer/presenter is and speak to them directly. Or try the news editor.

What to do with your news stories

Politicians monitor local press, as it gives an indication of public opinion on current issues. But, just to make sure they get the message, send a copy of any articles that are published in the press, with a letter, to the relevant decision-makers.

Make sure to let the Africa Action office know about the press you are generating! Write us at outreach[at]africaaction.org.

Press Coverage Takes Patience and Persistence

Press work is often frustrating. Reporters can be in a hurry and won�t always cover your story or event. Don�t give up! Stay in touch with reporters and editorial staff in order to build a relationship over time. Be patient with yourself and keep trying. This is the only way to build your savvy media skills and to get good coverage. It takes a lot of work, but the pay-off is great when you see your story in print or your name attached to a Letter to the Editor or Op-Ed.

More questions about getting media coverage on Africa issues? Contact Michael Stulman at michael.stulman[at]africaaction.org.