Media Relations

Every time you do something, you should alert the press. If you're holding a public meeting, invite the press.

If you're having a fundraiser, invite the press. If a local official does something you don't agree with, alert the press.

Have your group's name and logo put on a sign, or banner and always display it at press conferences and rallies. Place it where it will be seen in photos and on television, e.g., right behind the speaker, on the front of the speaker's podium, etc.

Use rolls of butcher paper with magic markers for folks to write messages on at booth events. These can be rolled into a tube and displayed later at a courthouse, statehouse or at a rally or press event. One group had over 110 feet of messages to the governor that they unrolled at the state capitol.

Have a press conference centered on "Community Concerns." Put these concerns on a large board and display them for the local media. Also print your concerns on handouts and provide copies so the press can use them for their final reports. You are less likely to be misquoted if you supply your facts on paper.

Write press releases and fax or email them to the media to provide information on planned rallies and activities. Let the public and press know that you will be fighting the CAFO and will not be going away.

Take out an ad in the local paper with a list of the public concerns. Include contact information and phone numbers of elected officials. Remember to take the ad out more than once in case someone misses it the first time.

Write letters to the editor and participate in radio call-in shows. Keep your message short and concise. Avoid emotion or anger.

Send at least one letter to the editor every week written by different people in your group. Each person can focus on a particular area. For example, one week may be water impacts, the next week health, etc. This also allows people to be more knowledgeable in one area so everyone doesn't have the burden of being an expert in all areas. However, your spokespeople need to be well versed in all areas.

Find out if any local universities or colleges have newspapers and/or radio stations. If so, develop a relationship with the people there and try to get them involved in the issue. Make sure to send all press releases to them. Try to interest journalism students in writing articles about the CAFO and getting them published in the paper. College students can be a great resource.

Create a local web site and publicize it to the media. One group did a press release about their new site and many media outlets published information on it.

Gather a few individuals from your group and schedule a visit to editorial boards of your local newspapers. Sit down with the boards and explain why this is an important issue and why the paper should support your position in its editorials. Make sure to bring informational packets to leave behind with the editors.

Use people of all ages from your group to represent you. The younger and older, the better. Recently, 11 and 12-year-old youngsters made a trip to the Canadian ministry of Agriculture to express their concerns. This resulted in extensive media coverage.
Avoid personal verbal attacks on public officials or the owner/operator of the proposed facility. Do not raise your voice or show anger in public.

Work constantly to get the group's message out to the public. For example, encourage different people to write letters to newspaper commentary sections, have everyone in your group phone radio shows, talk shows, ask questions at community meetings, etc.

Just as you need to prepare information booklets or packets of material for elected officials in order to educate them on the issue, you need to do the same for reporters. Don’t assume local officials understand the problems with factory farms.

Gather information on the impacts of CAFOs from the Sierra Club website, the GRACE website and the Friends of Rural New York Website among others and educate others by speaking with and distributing information to them.

Make sure your county administrator/commissioner has copies so information can be put on file for public access.

It is very important to clip and save all news stories about the CAFO. File month by month. This can be useful in verifying promises made and promises broken. Don’t throw the news clippings away.

Follow up all press releases with phone calls. This will give a personal touch to your release and is how you develop a relationship with the media.

Letters To The Editor

Since you write them, letters to the editor are particularly effective in communicating your views. Letters to the editor are among the most highly read items in the newspaper and are watched closely be elected officials. Letters also help editorial writers gauge the interest in the community for particular issues and may stimulate them to take an editorial stance on an issue readers are writing about. Do not neglect the weekly suburban and community newspapers in your area. Letters to the editor may be sent to professional publications and trade magazines as well as newspapers.

Tips For Writing A Letter To The Editor

All letters should be typed, if possible, or neatly written. They should be signed and include the author's address and home and work phone numbers. Newspapers often do not print letters from people they cannot reach to confirm authorship.

An effective format for a letter is: a topic paragraph, several paragraphs elaborating the writer's views, and a conclusion. This lets editors cut for space and still allows the message to get across.

Most newspapers typically suggest a length of 200-400 words for letters to the editor. Letters, which are too long, may be significantly cut or not placed at all.

Try to keep the letter's tone reasonable and lively at the same time. Bland and dull letters, emotional outbursts, or personal attacks are less likely to be printed.
Do not make false or misleading statements. Be sure to verify facts and quoted material.

Timing is important. A letter has the best chance of being printed if the issue you are writing about has been in the news, but be creative in looking for opportunities.

It helps to give your letter a local slant. Point out your legislator's position and that local citizens are working on this issue.

For more impact, you may want to send a copy of your letter, particularly if it is printed, to the person or agency you are writing about.

Media information is from the GRACE Project website. We will add NY newspaper contacts in the near future.

See also: Hold a Media Event