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DEVELOPING LITERATURE
If your group is just starting out, you’ll need to develop some identifying literature. Even if you intend to use literature from larger animal rights groups (which can save time and money), you need to have at least one brochure, factsheet, or flier that identifies your organisation and describes its purpose and goals. You will also need some letterhead stationery. These are invaluable when working with reporters who are always interested in the “local angle.” MAKING A MEDIA LIST Make up a media list and organise it into the following categories:
Record the name and title of each contact person (you may have more than one contact person for each organisation), the name of the publication or station, and the address and telephone number. For print media, get the name of the news editor (also called city editor, news director, or assignment editor), the features editor, and the person responsible for the community calendar or bulletin board. For radio or TV, you will need the name of the assignment editor, the public service director, and the people responsible for booking talkshow guests. If you don’t have the names of contact people, don’t be afraid to call and ask. Be sure to get their titles, since personnel turnover can be rapid. Update the list every three or four months. Organise media information according to whether the publication is daily, weekly, or monthly. Find out the deadlines for these publications. Also, make a list of what times your local TV news is broadcast and find out which stations do live (on the scene) reports. It will help in planning times for demonstrations or actions to know what times fit into the TV station’s schedule. Try to keep profiles of your media contacts, with comments on whether they are sympathetic or hostile to certain issues and on what issues they are interested in or have covered in the past. MEETING DEADLINES Reporters work against a deadline. If you call editors or reporters when they are rushing to meet a deadline, you won’t get your story in the news, and you may alienate them as well. The best time to call contacts at a morning paper is in the morning between 9:30 and 10 a.m. As it gets later, the staff will be more pressed for time. Call contacts at an evening paper in the late afternoon, when the paper has just gone out. It is best to call radio or TV reporters as early in the day as possible if you’re trying to get on an evening broadcast. Don’t call after 1 or 2 p.m. for a 5 p.m. story; the staff is rushing to edit the news they already have. Talk to media people as far before deadlines as possible. Your goal is to become a resource person for the media on animal rights issues. You can do this by letting the media know you exist and by cultivating contacts. Send a brief letter to each contact person on your media list, explaining the purpose of your group and offering information on animal rights issues. Include your group’s identifying fact sheet or brochure. This alone is probably not enough to get the media to contact you — usually you have to become known in the community — but it is a start. Try to develop and maintain professional relationships with media people in your community by being courteous and responsible. Return calls promptly — remember those deadlines! Be enthusiastic, cooperative, friendly, and always tell the truth. If you make a mistake, admit it promptly. Don’t be afraid to say, “I don’t know, but I can find out.” Then do so. When you send a news release to more than one person in an organisation, let each person know who else is receiving it. Nothing infuriates an editor more than to work on a story and then find that someone else at the paper is doing the same story in another section. Reporters sometimes claim that they can’t cover animal rights stories because there’s no new “angle,” so you’ve got to provide it. Use interesting visuals, such as costumes and props, in your demonstrations. Focus on the local aspects by talking, for example, about what the company that employs half the people in town does to animals, or talk about local people arrested in a national demonstration. Never speak “off the record”; there is no such thing. Also, watch out for jokes — you could be misunderstood. Don’t get bullied into a simple yes-or-no answer to a complex question. Give the facts necessary to understand the issue. Study the professionals on national interview shows. Develop a few good phrases and examples to recite that will catch a reporter’s ear. When you make a press call or send out a news release, be sure that it is for something newsworthy. Your communications should be organised and state important points clearly and briefly. It’s helpful if you understand what the media consider newsworthy. Some of the characteristics of news are: timeliness (media are interested in what’s happening today, not yesterday) proximity (the closer the event is to the media, the more likely the media will consider it news) prominence (if you’ve got well-known people involved, the media sometimes respond better) conflict (the media love covering opposing factions) oddity (if you’re doing something for the first time, the media are more likely to respond; they get tired of the same old thing) importance (how many people might be affected or interested).  All of these “news judgments” don’t have to apply before you contact the media, but your information/event should meet most of them. Remember, the media don’t like to feel “used” by anyone with a cause. Reporters want to think that what they’re writing about is legitimate news and not propaganda. If your information/event isn’t newsworthy, don’t contact the media because you’ll only anger them for wasting their time.WRITING A NEWS RELEASE A news release, a short announcement of a newsworthy event, is sent to newspapers, magazines, and TV and radio stations to interest them in doing a story. Because news directors receive hundreds of releases every day, yours must look professional and present the facts quickly, or it will never be read. Here are some guidelines: Keep it short. One page is best. Write a concise, catchy headline that summarizes the story. It should be written in the style of a newspaper headline, using active verbs. Use the “inverted pyramid” style to write the release: Put the most important facts in the first paragraph and supporting information in descending order, so that the least important information is last. The first paragraph should answer the five W’s: who, what, where, when, and why. Underline the text that gives the location, time, and date of the event. The final paragraph should describe your group and reinforce your message, with a quotation from your spokesperson. Never editorialise. Use quotations to express opinions. The quotation should be from a specific individual, not from your group, e.g., Nafisa Kumar, a spokesperson for Animal Action, says, “.....” Proofread the release carefully for grammar and spelling. Ask someone else to read it for an objective reaction. If you have the time, set it aside and look it over again the next morning. Eliminate redundancies, use short words and phrases, and simplify complex ideas. If you’ve got an exciting, relevant photo, include it. Try to use a “screened” photograph. An article showing the timeliness or significance is even better. You may also want to include black-and-white photographs, a factsheet, or a flier. If you do, at the bottom of the last page of the release write, “Attached: (list documents).” Make it dramatic and attention-getting, but be sure you can substantiate what you say. Double-check the facts. It is virtually impossible to correct a release once it has gone out. But if you do make a mistake — especially in the time or location of an event — be sure to call and tell those to whom you sent the release. The time you tell the press should be the ideal time for them to see your event. If your event starts at 11:00 a.m., tell the press it’s a little later but ask them to arrive at the time you tell them “sharp” so that they don’t arrive to find activists figuring out where to stand or discussing last week’s potluck dinner and also so that they don’t arrive too late. The sample news release (click here) illustrates the proper format to use. The following tips correspond to the numbers shown on the sample. 1 Use 8 1/2" x 11” (or similar standard sized) regular weight white stationery. 2 Your letterhead should contain your group’s name and address. 3 The words NEWS RELEASE should be at the top of the first page. Always refer to releases as “news releases,” not “press releases.” The same goes for “news conference,” rather than “press conference." 4 List the name of the “contact person.” Make sure that someone is always available at this number, or include both daytime and evening numbers where the contact person can be reached. 5 Type the date in the upper left-hand corner. If you have enclosed photos, note that there. 6 “FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE” appears in the upper left-hand corner above the date. 7 The headline should be centered, underlined, and typed in capital letters. It should be placed about three inches down from the headings above it to provide space for editor’s notes. 8 The body of the release should begin one-third of the way down the page. 9 Leave wide margins for reporters' and editors' notes. 10 Don’t use zeroes for times (e.g., use “11 a.m.,” not “11:00”), and don’t use letters after numbered dates (e.g., August 22, not 22nd). 11 Indent five spaces to begin new paragraphs, and don’t hyphenate words at the end of a line. 12 Never continue a release on the back of a page. Instead, end the first page with a complete paragraph and type the word “more” centered at the bottom. Number each additional page at the top. Include a topic headline and your organisation’s name. Do not staple multiple pages. 13 Type all releases double-spaced using capital and lower-case letters (not all capitals). 14 At the end of the release, center any one of these closings: “-30-,” “#,” or “Ends.” Before deciding how and when to deliver your release, establish what you want to accomplish — do you want something printed/broadcast BEFORE the event, or do you want the media to attend and cover the event? Generally, such activities as film showings, meetings, and fundraisers fall in the “BEFORE” category. In this case, mail your releases at least three weeks before the event. These releases are probably being sent to the “Community Calendar” or “Bulletin Board” sections. If you’re having a picket or demonstration, you want “news” coverage. In this case, try to fax or hand-deliver your news release, and distribute it only one day before the event. Schedule it to arrive around 10 a.m., and try to deliver a copy to a reporter as well as to the news editor. Be sure to note on the release who else is receiving a copy. You may need two people to hand-deliver releases — one to run inside with the releases while the driver stays with the car. Call the news desk to inform them if you are planning a demonstration. Do not read your entire news release. Just say, “Hello, I’m calling to let you know that Action for Animals will be holding a demonstration tomorrow at 11 a.m. in front of the Leather Store at 1213 MG Road. Our contact number is 342-7018 if you’d like more information. We’ve sent a release to the news desk.” If you have a good relationship with a particular reporter, call to say your release is coming out, or afterwards to see if he or she got it. After the demo, assign volunteers to get the coverage. At least two people should videotape television coverage and be certain to check the newspapers for a story and/or photo. These clips can be used to send out with your next news release to show that what you’re doing is “newsworthy.” If a newspaper covers your event and the wires don’t, call the wires afterwards to let them know that they can pick up the story from the paper. If your event is of national interest (i.e., Supreme Court Santeria ruling, animal-to-human organ transplant), call the national television news desks to let them know they can pick up footage from the local affiliate. MAKING A MEDIA KIT A media kit is a packet of information to give to reporters who come to your demonstration, event, or news conference. It helps to get your message across and makes you look professional. A media kit can include any or all of the following, depending on the issue: • a news release • a factsheet • black-and-white photographs and possibly color photographs. Type the following information on a sticky label to put on the back of the photograph: what it is, where it is, when it was taken, and who took it. Never write on the back of a photograph with a pen. The ink will rub off and damage other photographs. • background information on or history of the issue • copies of relevant documents • if dealing with legislation, a copy of the bill and a summary of the main points. • biographies of key individuals and a “mug shot” photograph (i.e., a head-and-shoulders shot) with an identifying label on the back. • background on the organisation Package the kit in a two-pocket folder (found in office supply stores) and put a label on the cover with the group’s name and the words “Media Kit.” If you have a photograph, you can put it on the cover, although it is not essential. WORKING WITH THE WIRE SERVICES Wire services are news-gathering agencies that sell stories to newspapers and radio stations around the country. They should be your first contact when you deliver a news release or make press calls. If you can interest the wire services, your story will be sent to all subscribing media in your area or even nationally. Popular wire services are the Associated Press (AP), United Press International (UPI), Reuters, United News of India (UNI), Press Trust of India (PTI), Agence France Press (AFP), and Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA). Many of the nation’s largest papers —Times of India, Hindustan Times, The Indian Express, The Hindu— also have news services, which means if you interest them in your story it may be sent nationwide as well. Getting a story “on the wire” is a valuable accomplishment. It is worth a great deal of effort to develop good relations with wire-service reporters. Many TV, radio, or print assignment editors will answer a call asking for coverage by saying, “We’ll see what comes in over the wire.” To find out what wire-service bureaus are in your area, look in the telephone book or call the local newspaper office. Any reporter can tell you where the nearest bureau is. If the newspaper is a member of AP, it also submits stories to AP. Send the bureau manager a letter describing your organisation and supply the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of your best contact people. Offer to supply information or the local angle on animal rights issues. Always deliver two news releases to the wire services: one for the “daybook,” and one for the assignment editor. Call both the daybook editor and the assignment editor. The daybook is a listing of scheduled events for the day. Each evening and again each morning, wires like AP and UPI send the daybook to their members. Assignment editors use this list to decide how to assign reporters and camera crews. To get listed in the daybook, send your news release about one week before the event. You can still get listed in the daybook for the next day by calling the information in to the daybook editor. You may also be able to get a photograph of your event on the wire. If you’ve just had a demonstration, take your roll of undeveloped black-and-white film to the photographic department of the wire-service bureau and give it to the staff along with your news release. You can come back in a few hours or the next day to pick up the negatives. If you do provide prints, they must be 8" x 10” black and white photographs — no other size will fit the machines they use to transmit the photos nationwide. Some wires, AP and UPI for example, also have radio networks. Call the radio bureaus closest to your area. Be prepared to do an interview on the spot if they are interested. They’ll tape it for use later. DOING RADIO AND TV TALK-SHOW INTERVIEWS Before you can do an interview, you must get the TV station interested. It helps to know the “gatekeeper” at the station: the news assignment editor. Call the station to learn his or her name and the best time of day to call. Send your news release one or two days before your event. If you call to remind them of your event, be brief and polite and don’t call in the late afternoon. Your event will be more likely to get TV coverage if it involves conflict or visual interest. You can reach thousands of people through talk shows. Call in your comments to talk shows whenever animal-related subjects are discussed or during “open phone” segments. It’s even better if someone from your group can be the guest on a talk show. If your group is expecting a visit from someone with a particular area of expertise, try to get the person on a talk show. Or, try to get yourself on one. Contact the station several weeks in advance. Send a letter to the talk show director, describing your credentials or those of your speaker, what you’d like to discuss, and why it would interest the audience. Be sure to provide your telephone number. Prepare a list of people your speaker would feel comfortable debating, in case the show wants to present both sides. Once you are booked for the show, listen to it or watch it to see what style and format to expect. To prepare, do the following: • Study the issue. • Practice being interviewed. Tape yourself with a tape recorder or video camera. • Anticipate difficult questions and plan your answers. • Memorise good quotations, anecdotes, and facts. • Have a friend ask you all the hard questions in a hostile, aggressive way so you can be prepared for a difficult interview. • Decide on the five main points you want to make during the show. Memorise a fact or an example for each one. • Try to make your five points even if the interviewer doesn’t ask the “right” questions. Don’t feel you’re limited to just answering the questions. You can answer them and still take the opportunity to talk about one of your points. Practice saying, “The real question here is ....” or, “That relates to a larger issue, which is ....” • If you’re doing a TV show, dress carefully: no solid black, white, or bright red, and no patterns. Wear plain solid colors. Green or blue films especially well. Smile, and don’t fidget or touch your face or hair. • Try to make your point in 20 seconds or less. TV news shows look for a “sound bite” — a statement that can be plugged into a 60-second story. If you take 45 or 60 seconds to make your point, your spot won’t be aired, so use short sentences. • Speak slowly and carefully (without being too slow!) and give yourself time to think before you answer the question. • Don’t say anything you wouldn’t want edited out and aired separately. The reporter may interview you for five minutes, but air only 20 seconds of it. Don’t worry about repeating yourself: It just increases the chance that what you want to be heard actually will be. • If the reporter is hostile, don’t get flustered and raise your voice or get shrill. Stay calm and concentrate on making those five points. Remember — the reporter is not your real audience! • Talk directly to the interviewer, not to the audience or camera. If you steal side glances at the camera, you’ll look nervous or shifty. MAKING PUBLIC SERVICE ANOUNCEMENTS Public service announcements, or PSAs, are 10- to 60-second notices that radio and TV stations sometimes air in order to balance the effect of paid advertisements and to present balanced coverage of issues. They are free to nonprofit community groups. The four standard lengths for a PSA are 10 seconds (25 to 30 words), 20 seconds (45 to 50 words), 30 seconds (60 to 75 words), and 60 seconds (120 to 150 words). Following are some sample PSA’s: 20 seconds: More people live off research today than benefit from it. The traditional use of animals in experimentation must be replaced. Animals are not “tools for research.” Their use is costly, unethical, inefficient, and old-fashioned. Sophisticated non-animal methods are available. Help us support their use. [group name and address]. (21 seconds, 48 words) 20 seconds: The original motto of medicine was, “First, do no harm.” Yet this year millions of animals will suffer and die in U.S. laboratories. We need to encourage the use of sophisticated computers, cell and tissue cultures, clinical studies, and mathematical models. To support progress without pain, write: [group name and address]. (20 seconds, 47 words) Besides issue-oriented PSAs such as these, radio and TV stations will air announcements of meetings or events on a “community calendar.” This is an excellent way to publicise your group’s event. Send several copies of your PSA with a typed, double-spaced cover letter to the public service director of the station. Explain the purpose of your organization and your activities, and state why the station should use the PSA. On the top left side of the page, type the beginning date (the first day the PSA should be read), the kill date (the last day you want it read), and the length of the announcement in seconds and in words. Find out the deadline for PSAs—it may be two or three weeks in advance. Make a follow-up call to be sure the station received it. Some stations may want to see proof that you’re actually nonprofit, so be prepared to produce your paperwork. PETA also has television PSAs available on 3/4” videotape. If you would like to try to interest your local stations in airing them, please let us know. WRITING LETTERS TO THE EDITOR You can get great exposure for animal rights issues through letters to the editor in newspapers or magazines. Make it a point to read local papers and magazines for articles that provide fuel for a letter to the editor. Your letter must be short: 300 words is the maximum most papers or magazines will publish without cutting. It’s better for you to do the cutting than for the editor to do it. The best length is 100 to 150 words (10 to 15 typed lines). Make the first sentence catchy, so it will get the reader’s attention, and stick to one issue. The letter should be timely. If possible, send it in no more than three to four days after the article you’re responding to has appeared. The letter should be typed and double-spaced. Sign it and include your home and work telephone numbers. Some papers will want to verify that you wrote it. Don’t send letters just to the biggest paper in town. The smaller the paper, the better chance you have of getting your letter printed. Small weekly papers are an excellent way to reach hundreds or even thousands of people. Sending in regular letters to the editor should be a priority. The exposure you get is so valuable that it is worth forming a letter-writing committee just to ensure that the job gets done. Occasionally, you may have the chance to write an opinion piece for the local paper, especially if you are involved in a controversial campaign. These are longer articles of 500 to 800 words that summarize an issue, develop an argument, and propose a solution. Send the article to the editorial page editor with a cover letter explaining why you feel it should be printed. The article has a better chance of getting printed if it is signed by someone prominent, even if you wrote it for him or her. APPOINTING A SPOKESPERSON You should appoint a spokesperson for each event. Members of your group should be prepared to answer media questions with a brief sentence and then direct further questions to the spokesperson. This helps prevent the local TV station from interviewing the most inarticulate or ill-presented person. Your group must decide ahead of time what the spokesperson should and should not say and have ready all the available facts. The group leader does not necessarily have to be the spokesperson. The spokesperson should be well dressed and have media kits available. If the demonstration involves people wearing costumes, the spokesperson should not be in costume. Though you must appoint a spokesperson, everyone at the event/protest should be familiar with the topic, as reporters will often want a second comment from others involved. SETTING UP A NEWS CONFERENCE A news conference is a good way to fall flat on your face unless you have a really important story. It’s usually better to hand-deliver or mail a professional-looking media kit with a news release. Hold a news conference only when: • The media can benefit from it more than from photographs and news releases. • You have important or newsworthy people available to present your story. • Experts will be available to answer questions. • The story involves something that has to be seen to be understood. • The press is inundating you with telephone calls, and rumors must be dispelled. Use this format when holding a news conference: • Start promptly — soft news at the designated hour, hard news after five minutes. • Begin the conference with a concise statement from your spokesperson. • Explain material available to the press. • Call on the expert to read a short statement. • Answer questions. • End the conference on time. It should not last more than 30 or 40 minutes. Reporters will ask further questions if they wish. • Hold the conference in a location convenient to the media, such as in a downtown hotel, and provide light refreshments. The best time is at 10 or 11 a.m. If possible, issue invitations one to two weeks ahead of time by sending a “media alert.” Explain the details of the conference and what will be addressed. If you are holding the conference right away, alert the media by telephone. Call the wire services to get it on the daybook. Be careful to allow only media, not the general public, to enter the room. Assign someone to check media IDs at the door. Be sure to have media kits prepared. Hand them out as soon as reporters arrive. If a major statement is being made, you may want to issue the news release after the statement. After the news conference, follow up with media inquiries as quickly as possible. Make every effort to accommodate requests for personal interviews. Deliver news releases and media kits to media who were invited but did not attend. Tell radio stations that your spokesperson is available for a telephone interview. If you’d like to read more about how to work with the media, a very useful book is How to Get Free Press, by Toni Delacarte, Judy Kimsey, and Susan Halas, Avon, New York, USA 1981. |
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