ImPRESSive

A MEDIA TIP SHEET FOR ADVOCATES

Families USA l April 2002

Building and Maintaining

Relationships with Reporters

Building and maintaining relationships with reporters are essential to getting your message out to the press. Having strong relationships with reporters helps position your organization on the front line and allows you to get your message into health care stories seamlessly. If you want reporters to contact you for comments, or if you would like to draw reporters’ attention to neglected health care issues, a well-developed rapport will enable you to do so. An equally important part of this equation is maintaining your relationships with these reporters over time; building and maintaining these relationships are essential to press outreach.

BUILDING THE RELATIONSHIP

1. Send a Packet of Information

The first step in building relationships with reporters is sending them an information packet. This keeps you from having to “cold call” reporters and also allows them to have your contact information handy. This packet should include a brief one-page write-up about your organization, some articles mentioning your organization, and your contact information. In addition, if your organization has resources such as reports, include these as well. This packet should demonstrate how your organization could be a resource to these reporters.

To whom do you send the information packet? If your organization has a press list, this is a good place to start. Otherwise, if you are starting from scratch, you may want to take the time to create a working press list or a list of reporters who cover health care stories in your local papers. For more information on how to create a solid press list, please see our past ImPRESSive entitled “Creating Working Media Lists.”

2. Introduce Yourself

After you have sent the packet of information, give each reporter a follow-up call. The information packet serves as a good excuse for making this call. You can start off the conversations by introducing yourself and asking if they received your information packet.

Because reporters never have very much time, make this call short. Briefly explain who you are and what your organization does. This should all be explained in the context of how your organization can be a resource to them. Let them know that they can call you at any time if they have any health-related questions and that you would be happy to talk to them about health care issues. In addition, let them know about any upcoming press events you may be having. End the conversations by asking them if it would be okay for you to call them once a month to check in and tell them what is going on in the health care world. A simple, short call is all you need to start a relationship with a reporter.

To prepare for the calls, organize your information ahead of time: Have helpful documents such as talking points in front of you during the call. A reporter’s first impression of you should be that you are knowledgeable and that you will be a good resource.

At the end of the conversations, make sure to collect their contact information. E-mail is a great way to communicate directly with reporters, since faxes often get lost or are delivered to the wrong person. In addition, make sure you have their correct fax and phone numbers.

Another great way to meet reporters is to make a point of introducing yourself to them at press events. This not only is a good way to add new people to your existing press list, but it also allows them to put a face to your name. Introduce yourself, give them a brief description of what your organization does, give them your card, and let them know that you can answer any health care related questions they may have.

3. Meet for Lunch or Coffee

There are some key reporters with whom you may want to foster a closer relationship. If you live in a small media market, this may mean all your health beat reporters. If you have a long list of reporters on your press list, you may want to single out a couple of key reporters. Research news clips to find out which reporters are writing regularly on your issue. Identify reporters with whom you would like to have a closer relationship, and, during your follow-up call, ask them if they would like to go out to lunch or to coffee with you. Explain that you would like to talk to them about upcoming events, legislative actions, and the latest trends in health care. Take a press kit, even if you have already sent one to them. If you have any new news articles, add those to the existing press kit. Be prepared to talk briefly about how your organization can be a resource to that reporter. Make sure you keep your conversation professional, and remember that nothing you are saying is off the record. Keep the conversation away from anything controversial that you would not want the reporter to print the next day. In addition, don’t take over the conversation. This is also a good time for reporters to ask any health care questions they may have and to share what issues they have a particular interest in.

Most reporters are not allowed to accept “gifts”; therefore, they will most likely pay for lunch. However, be prepared in case they split the tab or in the unlikely event that they let you pay the bill.

Text Box: What to Include in your Press Kit

P Fact sheet on the issue

P Clips of previous articles about your organization (2-5 articles)

P Business card or contact information for your organization’s main press contact

P Information on your organization
(1 page)

Maintaining the Relationship

Maintaining strong relationships with reporters requires a great deal of follow-up, but the long-term benefits are unlimited. As soon as you establish yourself as an accurate, timely, and informative resource, you will have no trouble maintaining these relationships.

Establish Yourself and Your Organization as a Resource for the Reporter

In order to establish your organization as a credible resource, the most important thing to remember is to get the right information to them as quickly as possible.

Whenever a reporter calls you, take the request, ask about the deadline, and get the request answered in that time frame. Reporters often call at the last minute, and if you are able to get the information to them quickly, they will keep your name in their Rolodex for life. Your organization may want to create a Media Call Sheet where you record all the important information, such as the reporter’s name, affiliation, contact information, request, and deadline. Through these tracking sheets, you can make sure to collect the right information and to answer the reporter’s request in an appropriate and timely fashion.

In addition, it is always a good idea to keep a database of these reporter requests. This will allow your organization to track what specific reporters are writing about and how often your organization works with them.

Sometimes reporters will call and ask you things that don’t fit into your organization’s framework. Whenever possible, try to get them the information they need—even if that information is a referral to another organization or another organization’s phone number. For example, if a reporter calls and says she is writing a story on senior citizens and the high cost of prescription drugs, but your organization deals only with children’s health, refer her to a couple of local senior organizations and get her their numbers and contact information. As soon as reporters can establish that you can get them information quickly and accurately—no matter what the information is—they will continue to call you back.

Keep Reporters in the Loop With Any New Information

Make a point of keeping reporters in the loop with what is going on. This may mean that you call them to give them a heads-up on upcoming events your organization is planning, send them any new information you may have, or call them with story ideas. Make sure to keep conversations short but informative. If you make a point of calling them regularly with updates, they will not think that every call you make is a pitch call. Make sure the news you are passing along is also timely and newsworthy. You don’t want to waste their time with irrelevant information.

Understanding Reporters

Don’t Be Intimidated by Reporters

Reporters work on tight deadlines and usually don’t have much time to find the information they need. For this reason, many people are intimidated by reporters and think that they come across as rude and pushy. Remember that they are only looking for the right information to plug into their stories and usually have little or no time to find it. Once you understand this dynamic and play an important role in helping them get the information they need, you will be on your way to developing solid relationships.

Don’t Call Reporters on Deadline

The number one rule to keep in mind when talking to reporters is never to call them after 3:00 p.m. unless you are giving them information they need for the article being filed that evening. The last three hours of reporters’ days are a frenzied time when they are attempting to get last-minute facts and quotations for their articles. The best time to make a pitch or follow-up call is usually before noon.

Don’t Call Reporters Without a Reason or Excuse

The number two rule to keep in mind when talking to reporters is not to waste their time. Make sure you have a reason to call. The reason can be to make an introduction, to provide information, to give them a heads-up on an upcoming event, etc. Reporters do not have a lot of time, and for this reason it is important to establish yourself as a useful contact.

Don’t Confuse a Working Relationship with a Friendship

As you develop relationships with reporters, don’t tell them anything that you wouldn’t want them to print in their newspapers. Never forget that their number one goal, no matter how much they might like you on a personal level, is to get a good story. Don’t let a warm relationship with a reporter lead you to say things about Administration officials, colleagues, legislators, or candidates you don’t want seen in print. Reporters take their jobs seriously, and they will print anything you say that seems newsworthy.

Do Establish Yourself as a Helpful Resource

When reporters call you for information, be as helpful as possible—even if you cannot answer their questions directly. If their request is not applicable to your organization, refer them to other Web sites, telephone numbers, or organizations. If you establish your organization as a one-stop shop where reporters can get background information, referrals, and an interview from your spokesperson, they will keep calling you back.

Conclusion

Successful relationships with reporters are relationships in which the organization is able to get its message out through the media because it supplies accurate and timely information to reporters. Reporters need information in order to write good stories. Therefore, once you position yourself as a resource and always help them get the correct information, you can even get your message into health care stories without a press event.

Sample Media Call Sheet

Media Call Sheet

Name: Matthew Collins, Health Beat Writer

Media Outlet: The Daily Herald (Print)

Contact Number: (657) 222-2222 ext. 158

E-mail: matthew.collins@dh.com

Fax: (657) 222-2221

Date: Monday, Feb. 25th

Requests: Comment from organization and information on its local effects.

Story Topic: High cost of RX

Deadline: 1:00 p.m. Today!

Action Taken: Jane spoke with him. We also sent along our new report.

Call Received By: PSS

ImPRESSive

A MEDIA TIP SHEET FOR ADVOCATES

Families USA l December 1998

Creating Working Media Lists

THE IMPORTANCE OF MEDIA LISTS

A media list is a basic, yet essential, tool in media work. Use it to pitch stories to media; invite them to events; mail reports; and send press releases. Since the media list is something you will need each time you reach out to media, the information you include must be useful and accurate.

GETTING STARTED

There are many sources to aid you as you prepare media lists. Reading the newspaper, watching television and talking with other professionals who work on the issues you care about are good ways to find out who should be included on your media lists. Also, many news outlets have websites that give you access to their publications and staff, and some allow you to e-mail reporters directly.

Text Box: Sample Script:
[to switchboard operator/receptionist]
Hi. My name is Nancy Julian with Hawaii for Health, and I’m in the process of updating my media list. Will you please tell me the name, title, phone number and fax number of the person who covers health care issues at your outlet?... Thank you for your time.
Note: Be sure to ask for the correct spellings of first and last names. There are directories that provide contact information for media outlets and contacts, but they are often expensive. Consider borrowing a list from a coalition member or using your local library.

The best way to build an accurate media list is by phoning individual media outlets. You don’t necessarily need to speak with each reporter. If the outlet has a switchboard operator, let him or her know that you are updating or preparing a media list and would like information regarding some specific contacts. Interns can be useful in doing this work, but be sure they understand the need for accuracy.

Deciding What Lists to Create

There are several factors to take into account when deciding what types of lists you need to create. You should have a general healthcare list made up of a variety of contact types (reporters/editors/writers/producers) that cover healthcare issues. This list will probably be the one you use most often. In determining what additional lists you need to create, assess which types of outlets and contacts are appropriate for the kind of work your organization or coalition does. Consider the following divisions:

By Outlet Type: Radio, Television, Print, News Services

By Contact Type: Healthcare Reporters, Editors/Assignment Editors

By Coverage Area: Local outlets, Regional outlets, National outlets

DECIDING WHICH MEDIA OUTLETS TO INCLUDE

Your list should include both print and broadcast media. Print media is comprised of newspapers (both daily and weekly) and periodicals (newsletters and magazines). Broadcast media includes radio and television.

While you should target the major outlets in your area, also pay attention to smaller outlets, such as ethnic publications and college radio stations. Be sure to include radio and TV talk shows as well. The more outlets you target, the better your chance for coverage, so think broadly in terms of the available media.

EXPLANATION OF BASIC MEDIA JOB TITLES

Assignment Editor- If you do not have a specific contact at a print or television outlet, calling the assignment desk to speak with an assignment editor is a good place to start. An assignment editor or managing editor tracks news leads and decides which department will follow up.

Beat Reporter- A reporter’s beat is the particular issue or topic that she or he covers. Local newspapers often have few staff members, so their reporters cover a broader range of issues and usually have more general titles (i.e., staff reporter, writer). The opposite is true of regional or national papers, which often assign reporters to specific beats such as “Health Reporter,” “Welfare Writer,” or “Capitol Correspondent.”

Radio outlets usually do not have reporters who cover specific issues, so you would target the news assignment editor when pitching a story to a radio outlet. Television stations may have consumer or health reporters. If not, the assignment desk is the place to start when pitching a story.

Keeping these factors in mind, look for reporters whose titles best suggest they would be interested in your issue. In instances where a reporter’s title does not clearly indicate the topic she or he covers, call the reporter or switchboard operator and ask if that reporter is the appropriate contact. If not, the operator or reporter should be able to point you in the right direction.

Editor- An editor within a particular department decides what stories his or her department will cover. The departments vary from outlet to outlet. Some examples of departments are Business, Health and Features.

Editorial Board Members-The editorial board (“ed-board”) consists of a news-paper’s editorial writers. They hold meetings with leaders of the community, advocates, and others who might have an issue that needs to be brought to the public’s attention. They then determine if they will editorialize that issue. Some outlets hold these meetings regularly, while others conduct them as needed.

Op-Ed Page Editors-Whereas editorials are written by a member of the paper’s editorial department, an op-ed is an opinion piece written and submitted by a member of the community. An opinion page or “op-ed” editor decides which op-eds will be featured on the opinion page. (Look for upcoming issues of ImPRESSive for more on placing op-eds and editorials.)

Producer-In radio and television, the producer is responsible for organizing all the elements that bring a story or program together. The producer decides which segments will comprise a news story, including who will be interviewed. For talk shows, producers determine guests and subject matter.

OTHER CONTACTS

News Services (i.e., Associated Press [AP], Knight-Ridder, Reuters, United Press International [UPI])-A news or “wire” service is a news outlet that tracks stories which are then wired by computer throughout a city, region, state or country. News services are a great way of maximizing the number of outlets that place your story. Since most other outlets get information from news services, if an outlet doesn’t cover a story directly they may use the wire version. When pitching a story to a news service, start with the assignment editor or ask the switchboard for the appropriate contact for the issue you’re addressing.

Daybook-The daybook, which is a calendar of news events, is distributed to reporters daily through a news service. Daybook editors should receive your media advisory, which contains the who, what, when and where of your press event.

ORGANIZING YOUR LISTS

Once you’ve decided who should be on your list, there are several pieces of information to include:

· Name (be sure to spell names correctly)

· Title

· Outlet

· Beat

· Mailing address

· Phone number

· Fax number

· E-Mail address

· Outlet type (print/radio/tv)

The best media lists go beyond general contact information and contain more specific information about your experiences with individual reporters, so it’s important to supplement basic information with your own notes. If space allows, include the following.

· Summary of phone or written communications;

· Names of the reports you’ve sent to the contact;

· A history of stories the contact has covered pertaining to your interest;

· The contact’s preferred method of receiving press releases; and

· Information about their approach or biases (i.e., needs a lot of data; prefers stories of “real people”; a friend of managed care).

USING YOUR LISTS

Usually, you will not need to use your general healthcare list in its entirety. Depending upon the nature of the event you are holding or the information you are releasing, you may only need a subset of that list. For each event or release, target the type of outlet that is most amenable to your story. Most stories are suitable for print and radio. If your story is visual in nature (e.g., you will be holding a press conference about Medicare in front of a nursing home), target television as well.

While it is important to develop rapport with reporters and editors, be careful not to overuse your media lists. Call or send materials to reporters or editors only for those specific issues and events that you know will appeal to them.

UPDATING YOUR LISTS

It is extremely important to update your lists on a regular basis to ensure that the information you disseminate reaches the intended contacts. Media outlets often have high turnover rates, so the health reporter you contacted for your last release may no longer be employed at that outlet or work the same beat. Call each contact or outlet before a major release or event to ensure you are reaching the appropriate person.

Once the release has gone out, you will probably learn of more changes when you pitch the story, as you are referred to alternate contacts, so be sure to update your lists after your event.

CREATING A DATABASE

A database allows you to select particular contacts from your larger media list and is a tool for using your records with ease. It should be more flexible and sophisticated than a word processing program. An efficient database will:

· Allow you to quickly search for individual contacts within your lists;

· Include a sorting function that allows you to create subsets of your lists for projects that don’t require use of the full list (e.g., just radio outlets, just consumer reporters);

· Alert you when you are entering a contact that is already in the database to avoid multiple listings of the same contact;

· Allow easy updating of records;

· Provide room for additional comments you wish to include;

· Allow you to merge letters; and

· Organize your information in a user friendly, accessible format.

Basic programs such as Microsoft Access will work fine for your database. Since such programs may already be installed on your computer, you will save money by avoiding the cost of purchasing specialized database programs.

Families USA l 1334 G Street NW l Washington, DC 20005

Phone: 202-628-3030 l Fax: 202-347-2417 l E-mail: info@familiesusa.org

ImPRESSive

A MEDIA TIP SHEET FOR ADVOCATES

Families USA l July 2002

On the Record & Off the Record: Controlling the Story

Are you intimidated by talking to reporters because you don’t know WHAT they will write? Knowing and establishing the parameters of a discussion or interview before giving reporters information will allow you to control the message and help shape the story.

There are four kinds of verbal agreements you can establish with a reporter. Before you answer any questions, it is always a good idea to determine how your answers will be used. You can do this by establishing whether you are speaking to a reporter “on the record,” “not for attribution,” “off the record,” or “on background.” Each level of conversation determines how much of what you say can be used in the story. You can deliver your organization’s message effectively through each of these methods, and more importantly, you can use each of these methods to shape the story.

On the Record

Speaking on the record is the most direct means of delivering your message. When talking to a reporter on the record, it is understood that anything you say can end up in the story and will be attributed to you. Once you establish that you are speaking on the record, you cannot retract anything you have said. Therefore, talking on the record is the equivalent of talking into a microphone or into a tape recorder. On the record should be used when you want to get your organization’s message out to the media through your spokesperson.

When speaking on the record, it is extremely important to stay on message and to not stray from your talking points. You will not be given the opportunity to retract a statement or to take back anything you said. Therefore, you should make sure to say only the things you want to appear in the story. Stay on message.

To prepare for an on-the-record interview, you should decide what message you are trying to communicate. Talking points are good tools to prepare before your interview. In addition, you can practice your talking points and discuss your message with someone else. In preparing for the interview, try to anticipate what questions are going to be asked and plan how you will answer these questions in a way that gets your message across effectively. An on-the-record interview works best when it is controlled. An on-the-record interview should never be conducted spontaneously.

Tips for Speaking on the Record

· Never speak on the record without knowing everything about the interview: You should never talk to a reporter on the record if the reporter calls you out of the blue and doesn’t specify exactly what the piece will focus on. If this happens, you should take a message and then call the reporter back. This way, you can figure out what the reporter is writing about and anticipate the questions that might come up. Calling the reporter back once you are prepared puts the ball in your court so that you have better control over what is said during the interview.

· Don’t let the reporter take you off message: Continue to bring them back to your message. Don’t worry about sounding repetitive. The more you repeat your talking points, the more likely it is that your points will get across. Your goal when speaking on the record is to get your message out through direct and clear talking points even if this means that you are repeating them over and over again. Reporters can only use what you give them, so only give them what you want them to use.

· Answer only the questions you feel comfortable answering: If you are asked a question that you did not expect, but you know the answer and it is something you feel comfortable answering on the record, then you should briefly answer the question. If the question takes you off message, answer it briefly and then link it to your original talking points.

· Don’t fall for the silent trick: Reporters often use silence as a technique to get their interviewee to continue to talk and add a comment that is not scripted. Don’t fall for the silence. Answer the questions using your talking points and then wait for the next question. If you begin to feel uncomfortable and start to talk, you will very likely say something that you did not mean to say.

· Pass on questions if you do not know the answer: Even the most seasoned interviewee sometimes gets unexpected questions. If you do not feel comfortable answering the question or, worse yet, you do not know the answer, you should feel free to pass. For example, if your interviewer asks you about a particular piece of legislation that you are not familiar with, you can answer in the following way:

· “I don’t know the answer to that question. I’ll have to get back to you with that information,”

· “I don’t know that off the top of my head. Let me get back to you later,” or

· “That is not really within my area of expertise, but I would be happy to get that information to you later.”

Remember, it’s better to admit you don’t know the answer than to have an inaccurate quote in the paper.

· Juggling between staying on message and not stonewalling the reporter: There is a big difference between continuing to bring the interview back to your message and not answering a question. You don’t want to sound like a broken record, but you also want to control what is being said in the interview. Therefore, you should prepare talking points that say your points in many different ways, and you should anticipate how you can answer a variety of questions with your talking points. Answer the questions and quickly tie them back to your message.

· Don’t be a fickle source: Once you have established that you are speaking on the record, it is not advisable to change your mind mid-sentence and to attempt to retract your statement. If you do, you run the risk of the reporter printing it anyway. More importantly, you will damage the relationship you have with the reporter. If you ask a reporter to not use something you have already said, you are breaking your agreement. This will ultimately harm your relationship with that reporter. They’ll no longer come to you as a reliable source.

Sample Script for Keeping an On-The Record Interview On Message

Imagine that the focus of your interview is the importance of a real prescription drug benefit in the Medicare program.

If the reporter begins to ask you about patent abuse and different drug litigation cases, you should answer the question briefly and then return to your original message, which is that all of these lawsuits exemplify the need for a real and meaningful prescription drug benefit within the Medicare program.

Not for Attribution

Not for attribution is an agreement in which a reporter can quote what you say but cannot attribute it to you. Therefore, the article would use your quote but attribute it to a health care advocate. Quotes that are not for attribution appear in the paper all the time. Articles that say things like “a senior White House staffer said” or “a source close to the campaign said” are all based on information that was revealed because the reporter agreed to not attribute it to the source.

Not for attribution can be used to leak information that you would like to see in print but that you would not want your name associated with. The quote has validity because it does attribute the information to someone who would be in the know, but it is not as direct as an “on the record” quote. Not for attribution is usually reserved for juicy bits of information that you know a reporter is going to be itching to print when you do not want your name or organization associated with the quote.

Negotiating a not-for-attribution agreement can be tricky, and it must hinge on two very important elements. 1) You must make this verbal agreement BEFORE you give the reporter any information. The reporter will probably try to get the information before giving up the right to attribute it to you. Don’t let her. As soon as you give up the information, you lose the right to control the source of the quote. 2)You should only work with reporters that you trust when giving up information that you do not want attributed to you. Not for attribution relies heavily on trust. Therefore, if you do not already have a working relationship with a reporter, you really have no basis of knowing if he or she will break your agreement.

Script for Establishing a

Not-for-Attribution Agreement

You:                            I have some information that you’re going to find interesting, but you cannot quote me on this. (If you feel that you need to have further clarification.) My name cannot appear anywhere near this information.

Reporter:                   What is it? Is it good?

You:                            It’s very interesting, but I am not giving it to you until you agree not to attribute this to me.

Reporter:                   Is this necessary?

You:                            Yes.

Reporter:                   Okay, I’ll say it’s from a health care advocate.

You:                            Alright, here’s the information….

OFF THE RECORD

The main difference between off the record and not for attribution is that information you give off the record cannot be printed in the story. If you establish that a conversation is off the record, the reporter MUST find a different source to give her that information before she can print it in the story. If the reporter prints something you said off the record, that reporter has broken your agreement.

Types of information you would give a reporter off the record:

· Information that you feel would help the reporter better shape their story but that you do not want to see in print.

· Information that you have heard, but you can’t verify if it is true and therefore you do not want to be the one that leaked the information.

In order to establish an off-the-record conversation, make sure you do not give any information to the reporter until you have received a verbal agreement that it cannot be printed in the paper. The way it works is that a reporter comes to you with a question. You must then establish that you will answer if the reporter agrees that it is off the record. For obvious reasons, most reporters will try to talk the information out of you before making this agreement. Therefore, it is extremely important that you remain firm and do not reveal any information until you come to a verbal agreement that the reporter will not use any of the information you are sharing. If the reporter cannot give you the verbal acknowledgement, then you should move on to the next question.

On Background

When speaking to a reporter on background, you are giving the reporter important information they will need to write the article. This is usually when you give reporters data, a historical context for their story, and other information that shows relevance and helps shape their story.

As with not for attribution and off the record it’s important to establish that the information exchanged is on background before you give the reporter any information. Simply saying “I can talk to you only on background” can do this. If you give the reporter the information before you establish that it can only be used on background, you run the risk of having data as your quote in the article instead of a tight quote that better conveys your message.

It’s important to remember that just because you are not being quoted directly does not mean you should not stay on message. On background can be an effective means of delivering your message, as long as you remain focused and give clear data that back up your talking points. Therefore, instead of spouting figures and numbers, take some time to figure out how the information you have will best support your talking points and message. This is not the time to tell both sides of the story or to give the reporter any data that supports your opponent’s points. Leave the objectivity to the reporter—that’s her job. You should just focus on getting your points across clearly and effectively.

Script for Establishing an Off-the-Record Conversation

Scenario:

You are talking to a reporter about a piece of legislation. You have heard that a certain state senator has decided to support this piece of legislation. Nevertheless, you do not have any proof that this is the case. This state senator is someone your organization never works with and who historically never supports your issues. You find out through your conversation with the reporter that she is not thinking that this piece of legislation stands a chance of getting anywhere. Therefore, you feel that if she knows that this certain state senator has decided to support the bill, she would change her mind. Nevertheless, you know that if the information gets printed, you run the risk of losing this state senator’s vote.

Striking the Deal:

Reporter:    This bill goes before the state senate every year and every year, it fails to pass. What makes you think that this year is going to be any different?

You:   I have heard something but I cannot tell it to you on the record. If I tell you, it has to be off the record.

Reporter:    Is this necessary. What did you hear that I couldn’t possibly tell my readers?

You:   This must be off the record or I can’t answer your question.

Reporter:    Okay, I agree that we are speaking off the record. What is it?

You:   I have heard from a source that state senator x has decided to support this piece of legislation.

- OR -

Reporter:    You agreed to speak on the record. I don’t want any information if I can’t quote you.

You:   Okay, then all I can tell you is that we have every indication the bill could pass this year.

Conclusion

The most important aspect of speaking to reporters is to be candid and up-front about how you would like to have your information used in their story. Remember, you lose all bargaining power as soon as you have given up your information. Therefore, make sure to be open and clear about how you would like them to use the information. A reporter cannot be mad if you give them information off the record after they have agreed to listen to it off the record, but if you decide that something you already said should have really been off the record, you run the risk of having the reporter print the information anyway or, even worse, of severing ties with you. Don’t be intimidated about standing your ground and controlling how you would like your information to be used. By navigating these four ways of communicating with reporters, you will be able to successfully control how reporters shape their stories and get your message out through the media.

ImPRESSive

A MEDIA TIP SHEET FOR ADVOCATES

Families USA l April 2000

How to shift focus on a story

Some people think that the only bad media coverage is no coverage at all. In some situations, and for some people, this is true. More than likely, however, you need the media and the public on your side. The only people who can really afford bad press are characters like Howard Stern, not grassroots campaigns such as yours. In order to get the support of the public, you have to make sure that your message is conveyed by the media. But what do you do when you are working on an issue that needs a lot of public support and the media portrays your viewpoint unfavorably? Here are some tools for not only dealing with negative media coverage, but also improving your media coverage over time.

Free Versus Paid Media

The ability to shift focus on a story is very important to any type of campaign since you cannot control the kind of coverage your issues receive. As advocates, your most powerful tool is “free” media. This is media time you do not have to pay for; for example, newspaper articles or radio interviews that mention your organization. Paid media is, clearly, media time you must buy. Television commercials and newspaper advertisements are two examples of “paid” media. Your goal as advocates is to make the most out of the free media time available to you.

A Story Breaks

Imagine that the major newspaper in the state runs a story about the implications of expanding coverage to non-parental adults. Your organization is advocating such an expansion. Before the story ran, the reporter contacted you for comments but your quotes are buried at the end of the article. Instead, the story focuses on the financial costs of an expansion and has legislators insisting that the expansion would be feasible only if higher taxes could be collected. This is not the position your organization needs to be in to convince the public and legislators that the expansion is necessary.

What Do You Do?

No matter how you react, you have to move quickly to determine what your course of action will be. The longer you let the opposition dominate the press, the more likely the story will stick in the public’s mind. The opposition has already scored the opening shot, so it’s important that your return be quick, convincing, and on-message.

Before you do anything, figure out where the story broke and what kind of “legs” it had (how long it lasted). Having this information puts you in a better position to make decisions about how to respond. For example, say the story broke on a Saturday in the back pages of the metro section, after pages of advertisements. The likelihood of this story seriously affecting your program is small since fewer people read the newspaper on Saturdays. Be very careful in gauging your response. You don’t want to call attention to a story that was overlooked.

On the other hand, say the story gets picked up Monday morning by the popular all-news radio show that everyone listens to on the way to work. This is much more likely to cause a problem. You may not have a problem just because a story is printed, but a story that generates a lot of interest and gets picked up by other newspapers or radio and television could be a more serious matter.

Think Before You Speak

In our scenario, the non-parental expansion story appeared in the front pages of the major state newspaper this morning. You know you have to respond, but you’re not sure what to do. Your first instinct may be to call up the reporter and give him or her an earful. This is definitely a mistake. Don’t vilify or alienate the reporter who wrote the article. It could be that he or she did not understand your viewpoint or maybe his or her editor was looking for a certain kind of story. Look to the future: This reporter could be the only person who covers health care for a newspaper in your city.

You should call the reporter, but don’t be antagonistic. Instead, present your side of the issue and add any new information. While it is unlikely that he or she will write another story (and even less likely that he or she will receive permission to do so), it’s worthwhile to keep a relationship with the reporter. Perhaps future articles will be more sympathetic to your side. You don’t have to be best friends with the reporter. What you do want is to be the first person or group that this reporter thinks of when he or she sits down to write a story on your issue. In order to maintain a good relationship, you should promptly return phone calls and help the reporter gather information he or she might need.

Now, let’s say that the story has broken big and has been picked up by other newspapers and several important radio stations. You need to generate public support and media attention. You have quite a few options open to you. You don’t necessarily have to use every tool at your disposal, but here are some tried and true strategies to shift focus.

Spin

The most important thing to remember is that everything you say and everything you do has to portray your issue in the most favorable light. This is basically what spin is. In order to do this effectively, you have to know what words and aspects of your issue resonate with the media, legislators, and the public. Listen carefully when your issue is attacked. Pay attention to what words are used to portray your issue in a negative light and then use that information to your advantage.

For example, if the opposition characterizes your proposal to provide health care for non-parental adults as increasing costs for other working adults, show how insured adults actually pay more because others are uninsured. If cost is your weakness, downplay it and find other ways to show that the proposal would benefit the community.

Focus on convincing the media that the people who would benefit from the expansion are real people struggling to make ends meet. Be careful to use language that reinforces the positive aspects of the expansion.

It is a good idea to sit down and draft some talking points for you and your supporters. Talking points clearly define your message. They are short, sound-bite sized phrases that contain the main points of your message. They are easy to write and save organizations lots of time. The idea is that you write down the three most important things that you want to be known about your issue.

For example, in the non-parental expansion, the three main points might be:

· over 12,000 working people in the district would benefit from the expansion

· the people who would benefit are low-income working people whose minimum wage jobs do not provide coverage and whose income makes private insurance cost-prohibitive

· in a recent poll, over 75 percent of voters believe that this expansion is necessary

These are the main points that you want to be everywhere: in newspapers, on the radio, on the tongues of legislators. The only way to get this message out is to be disciplined about it and stick to the points.

Editorial Boards

No matter where the story broke, try to organize a meeting with the editorial board of the local newspaper. This is very easy to do. Call the editor of the newspaper and tell him or her that you would like to sit down with the editorial board to discuss your issue. Set up a date and time and start working on your presentation. The presentation should be concise, persuasive, and on-message at all times. The ease with which you get a meeting with the editorial board belies the importance—and the opportunity—such a meeting presents your organization.

The editorial board includes editors and some staff members who approve the editorials the newspaper prints. These are the people who decide the perspective of the editorial and assign someone to write it. Your objective in meeting with the editorial board is to persuade them—with statistics, facts, and your strongest arguments—to take a more favorable opinion toward your position. You may see results quickly, such as an editorial favoring your proposal; or you may see a general change over time with better or more sympathetic reporters covering your events.

Op-Ed Piece/Guest Columns

Guest columns and op-eds are two great ways to get exposure for your point of view. An op-ed appears on the page opposite the editorials, hence its name. Guest columns also appear on the op-ed page but are distinguished from op-eds by a few minor differences. Op-eds are usually written about an issue that has recently been reported in the newspaper. It’s a great idea for a few groups to sign and submit one op-ed. Guest columns are written by one person. They can be about anything and are not limited to issues the newspaper has recently covered. What sells newspapers on guest columns is the notoriety of the author and the quality of the writing.

Generally, these pieces are long—about 700 words. Each paper has different criteria, so it is best to call the editorial department before submitting your piece. Make sure to attach a cover letter explaining what you are sending and who you are. In the letter or guest column, provide your best, most persuasive arguments for the proposal. Be as clear and jargon-free as possible. Remember that newspapers are written for a 5^th or 6^th grade reading level, so you need to write simply to reach the maximum audience.

Letters to the Editor

Letters to the editor give citizens a forum for commenting on newspaper articles. Anyone may write them but there can be some limits on how many one person may write in a year. While it may seem to you that the more letters written, the better coverage you will receive, you have to be careful. These letters must always be authentic, meaning that if an editor receives 400 identical letters, he or she will not print them. This doesn’t mean that you should limit your supporters. It is advisable that each person write his or her own letter, possibly drawing from some talking points that you may draft for them. References to a recent article in the paper make your letter more likely to be printed.

Letters to the editor are generally short, about 250 to 300 words, and can be written from an organization or a citizen. You must identify yourself and provide necessary contact information. Without this information your letter will not be published. Newspapers usually print their requirements on the editorial page, so you can easily find out who to send your letter to and what information you will need to provide. (For more hints on op-eds and letters to the editor, check out the March 1999 ImPRESSive.)

Humanize the Issue

No matter what you do, you must remember to humanize your position as much as possible. This could be your strongest asset. The media will be interested in interviewing people who would benefit from your proposal. They will want to see what will happen to these same people if the proposal does not pass. Try to collect stories of people who would benefit from the program and let reporters know that these people are willing to be interviewed.

It’s great to have lots of people volunteer to speak to the media, but you have to carefully choose who will actually be interviewed. The person you choose will be representing the program to thousands of people. He or she will be the human face that is associated with your efforts to expand coverage. It is important that he or she be sympathetic. Be sure to verify all the information this person gives you if you do not know him or her personally. Take time to speak with him or her before you allow any interviews. You might want to ask possible interview questions and practice responses. It’s better to spend more time beforehand and prevent a mistake than to try to clean up after one. (The July 1999 ImPRESSive explains how to set up a storybank and how to collect useful stories.)

Press Event

If you want to stage a press event to offset negative coverage, the most important thing to remember is to make it newsworthy. All the time and effort you put into organizing will be futile if you can’t generate some media interest; after all, that’s what you’re after.

A few days before the event, send out a media advisory. This will inform reporters of who will be participating, when, where, and what the event is all about. You should make follow-up calls right before the event, making sure that they received the media advisory, asking if they have any questions, and reminding them about the press event. The day of the event, send out a press release (embargoed until the time of the press event) and have releases to hand out at the event.

As for the substance of the event, if at all possible, try to refute the opposition’s claims with hard facts. Take the example of the expansion. Find academics willing to speak about the feasibility of the expansion. Prove that increasing coverage to adults would actually save money, especially out of the taxpayer’s pocket. Provide statistics to refute the opposition’s claims. Have doctors and nurses speak about how important it is that all adults have insurance and what that would mean in decreased visits to emergency rooms. Be sure to have someone present who would benefit from the program. It’s easy to deny numbers on paper; it’s harder to confront a real person without health coverage.

Invigorate Advocates

Do what you can to shift focus on the story, but remember that negative press can be a powerful tool in motivating advocates to work together. There’s nothing like anger to get people working for a common cause. Use the media attention to pull together different groups who might not ordinarily work together but who have a vested interest in getting the proposal approved. For example, after a negative story appears, approach doctors’ and nurses’ organizations, labor unions, religious and cultural groups, as well as your traditional partners, to form a coalition.

How to Get the Most Out of “Free” Media

Free media is an advocate’s best friend. With your limited budgets, you can’t afford to run frequent ads in newspapers or buy television air time to publicize your issues. What you can do is employ free media, so named because it costs nothing but the effort you put into it. Here are some examples of free media:

Press Advisory

This is written on your organization’s letterhead and advises reporters of an upcoming event.

Press Release

This is also written on your organization’s letterhead and informs reporters of the release of new information.

Press Statement

Also on letterhead, a press statement gives your organization an opportunity to respond to something; an event, a speech, a report, etc. It should be attributed to the director of the organization or someone equally well known. All it contains are quotes from the director. This gives reporters covering the event, speech, report, etc. an opportunity to quote you.

Note: You should use press statements, releases, and advisories judiciously because reporters hate to receive a lot of unsolicited material.

Web Site

There are places on the web that will help you set up a free website. One such site is {www.homestead.com}. Web sites are really useful because you can direct reporters, legislators, and other advocates to your site for current information. You can also set up a guest book where people can write comments about the issue. It’s a great way to share information, target possible partners, and locate real people with similar problems.

Developing a Rapport with Reporters

You know why. Here’s how:

1. Return phone calls promptly.

2. Provide information, if you can.

3. Direct them to other resources.

4. Respect deadlines.

Conclusion

The ability to shift focus on a story is an important tool for advocates. As in a debate, you have to be quick, clear, concise, and you have to use your opponent’s arguments against him or her. This takes discipline to accomplish, but employing these tools will strengthen the reporting your organization and issues receive.

Families USA

1334 G Street NW

Washington, DC 20005

Phone: 202-628-3030

Fax: 202-347-2417

E-mail: info@familiesusa.org

ImPRESSive

A MEDIA TIP SHEET FOR ADVOCATES

Families USA l October 2000

Tips for Interviews

Part I: Newspaper

Giving an interview for the first time can be daunting, to say the least. You are probably nervous about getting all your information right. Maybe you’re concerned about sounding like a fool in your quotes.Or it could be that the idea that your words will linger forever in the newspaper’s archives strikes fear into your heart.

Despite these misgivings, you are willing to be interviewed because you know that it will further your cause. You realize newspapers are a valuable tool in educating the public and swaying decision-makers and for these reasons, you feel it’s important to give interviews. The question is how to prepare for them.

Let’s say Jane Smith from the Generic County Reporter is doing a story on the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). In the past, you’ve helped her gather information and you think that she’s a credible reporter. Today, you received a phone call from Jane. She’s interested in setting up an interview for an article she’s writing on your state’s ability to enroll kids in CHIP. You’ve never been interviewed before, and you’re not sure what you should expect. Here are some tips for making the interview as successful and painless as possible.

Set Clear Goals for Yourself

You should never agree to an interview unless you are sure of what you want to convey. Not all press is good press. If you sound like you are uninformed or your message shifts erratically in the interview, you will not help your cause. Before you begin, consider how this article could be helpful to you and your ultimate goal of enrolling more children. Then, think about whom you want to sway and what language or arguments would best accomplish that.

Use your goals to determine your “message.” Your message could be something concise like “Kid Care Now” or “Don’t Play with Kid Care.” Throughout the interview, you want a clear theme to develop. That’s your “message.”

Be Prepared

Before the interview, you should prepare possible questions you expect the interviewer to ask and come up with answers to those questions. Then make an effort to sit down, preferably with someone else to help you, and practice your responses. Try to be clear, concise, and interesting. You don’t want to drone on long after the reporter has stopped taking notes. Remember, you should have a clear message you reiterate when appropriate. For example, in preparing for your interview, you and another organizer have come up with some possible questions a reporter might ask:

● How many children have been enrolled in the CHIP program since its inception?

● How many children are eligible but un-enrolled in the program?

● What are some barriers to their enrollment?

● What measures has the state taken to remove these barriers?

● If no measures have been taken as of yet, what are your recommendations for removing those barriers?

When brainstorming your responses, try to find ways to insert your message. You don’t need to use your catch phrase in every response, but the general message should be conveyed as often as possible.

When practicing, try to anticipate difficult questions the reporter might ask you. Find different ways of answering the question and consider possible follow-up questions. When brainstorming responses to tricky questions, think two or three questions ahead to see where the reporter might try to lead you. It sounds like a lot of speculation, but it’s worth it when a little forethought can help you avoid a sticky situation.

In the interview, you want to respond to the reporter, not just answer her questions. That means you want to tailor your remarks in such a way as to lead the reporter back to your key point, your “message.” If you feel that the interviewer’s questions are straying away from the real issue, steer the dialogue back to the topic by saying something like, “That’s an interesting question, but I think the real issue is . . .” or “While that may be one aspect of the problem, the greater issue is . . . .” You don’t want to antagonize or appear to belittle the reporter, but you also don’t want to jeopardize the value of the interview.

The reporter has been trained to think of the interview and the story as hers. Therefore, you shouldn’t expect her to docilely follow what you think the agenda for the interview should be. There’s a certain tension between any good reporter and her savvy interviewee. It’s your job to get your points across as effectively as possible and still maintain a mutually beneficial relationship. It’s in her interests to fold your perspective of the issue into the story she envisions.

You should realize that most interviews will take place without a lot of preparation time for you. You shouldn’t expect to have much advance notice. Therefore, by the time you present yourself as a resource for journalists, you should have already practiced and given considerable thought to your interview techniques. You don’t want to be caught off-guard.

Before the interview, consider:

●        How will this interview further your goals?

●        Whom do you want to sway/impact?

●        What is the best language/argument to sway these readers?

●        What do you hope to get across in this article?

●        What questions do you expect to be asked?

●        What information do you want to convey?

●        Are you prepared?

Understand the Reporter’s Needs

Some reporters at a newspaper have a specific beat, or topic area, that they are expected to cover and on which they can be very knowledgeable; others are general assignment reporters, or reporters who are expected to write on a variety of issues that may constantly change. When a reporter first approaches you for an interview, you should determine how much she already knows about the subject. Oftentimes, reporters new to the topic will inform you that they will need more than the usual amount of background information. This presents you with an excellent opportunity to educate them and strengthen your professional relationship. Good information from you now will make it more likely the reporter will rely on you in the future.

If you are working with a reporter new to CHIP, for example, it’s a good idea to give her as much comprehensible background information as you think necessary to understand the issue. This doesn’t mean that you should fax her a hundred-page treatise on why the state is doing a rotten job signing up eligible children. What you should do is give her one to two pages of background information and let her know about any informative and easy to use websites that are available. A bulleted fact sheet would be easy to read and quickly convey the key points. Remember that reporters need to prepare for interviews almost as much as you do. They’ll appreciate the extra information and the opportunity to prepare their questions in advance of the interview.

If the reporter is an old hand on the subject, you don’t need to steer her toward any information unless you think she is unaware of something new that is integral to the topic. In this case, you might want to mention the new piece of information and let her know where she can find it. If the reporter asks you about any new information, you should feel free to let her know about the latest data available, for example.

The Format

Most interviews take place over the telephone. The reporter may call you a few hours before her article is due and ask to interview you on the subject. She’ll ask you to spell your name slowly and to give her your exact title and the name of your organization. She may also ask you to succinctly describe your organization. You should say something like “Columbia Citizens United is the largest non profit, non-partisan consumer organization in the state that deals with CHIP and other health issues.” You should have a standard description of your organization developed before your first interview.

During the interview, if you falter and inadvertently give incorrect information, make sure to correct yourself as soon as possible. Be as accurate, succinct, and clear as possible, even as you put forward your message. With practice, this will become second nature.

On the Record vs. Off the Record

Anyone who’s ever seen “All the President’s Men” has heard about on the record and off the record. On the record means that your words can be used in a story and attributed to you. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, this is how you should be speaking to reporters. It’s rare that you would need to go off the record for any reason. Off the record is a gray area that is often dependent on different reporters. Before you enter this murky area, make sure that you and the reporter understand each other about how the information will be used. For the most part, off the record means that your information cannot be used in the article and the reporter cannot repeat it to anyone using you as the source. What the reporter can do is to ask other people to confirm what she has learned from you, on the record. She might ask someone else, “I’ve heard that Senator Jones originally refused to vote for funding for the CHIP program. Is that true?”

For an advocate, you should almost always restrict yourself to things that can be used on the record and attributed to you. If you’re giving reporters information that you don’t want to be linked to, you should realize that this situation could easily backfire on you. If you really feel that you must give this information, make sure to let the reporter know that this information is off the record BEFORE you say a word.

You should never assume that any information you give is off the record. No matter how much you trust a reporter, make sure she agrees that information is off the record before you begin speaking.

There are other categories for sharing information with reporters. One is called background. Saying something on background means that you don’t necessarily want the information to appear in the story, although it can, depending upon your agreement with the reporter. It cannot, however, be attributed to you. Background information is used to help a reporter frame a story or more accurately understand the context of the issue. The reporter might attribute it to “a source in the activist community” but that should not jeopardize your anonymity. While this information can be useful to the reporter, she will probably still try to have someone confirm the information on the record.

Not for attribution is another method of dispensing information. It can be used in the story, but it should be attributed to a “source.”

If a reporter uses a tape recorder to record the interview, it should be turned off before you provide any information that is anything but off the record. No matter your relationship with the reporter, mistakes can be made.

Remember, reporters aren’t there to protect you from yourself. If you volunteer too much information; forget to say that something is off the record before you say it; misunderstand what the reporter means when she says off the record, on background, or not for attribution, you’re going to be the one who’s hurt. The clearer you are in the beginning, the less damage control you’ll have to do later.

Ending the Interview

Once the interview has come to an end, make sure the reporter has your phone number (if she did not call you first) or other contact information such as e-mail to insure that she can get in touch with you if she has any follow-up questions as she is writing her story. Get her phone number as well, in case you have anything really important to add. If possible, find out when she expects the story to run. Sometimes, even when a reporter has written a story, it does not run due to the newspaper’s space constraints. You never know when a water main might break and drive you from relevance. In closing the interview, make sure to thank her for her time.

Collecting Clips

If this is the first time you have ever seen your name in print, you probably won’t need to hear this advice; however, it’s important to collect and file your clips. These clips can be used in soliciting other articles on your issues, can be included in press kits, used in testimony, brought to editorial board meetings, sent to funders, and analyzed for future interviews. And besides, they may come in handy for your organization’s 25^th (or 50^th) anniversary celebration!

Families USA

1334 G Street NW

Washington, DC 20005

Phone: 202-628-3030

Fax: 202-347-2417

E-mail: info@familiesusa.org

ImPRESSive

A MEDIA TIP SHEET FOR ADVOCATES

Families USA l December 2000

Tips for Interviews

Part II: Radio

Hearing yourself on the radio for the first time is an overwhelming experience. Part of you is cringing to hear your voice replayed over the airwaves as you discover, to your horror, how many times you say,“um” when you are nervous. You know how important it is to give a good radio interview. Now you need to prepare.

Many of the same skills employed in newspaper interviews are also needed for news and talk radio interviews. You must have a clear goal of what you want to convey in your interview and you must be prepared and knowledgeable about the subject. However, there are some techniques unique to radio that will enable you to give a better interview and will increase your chances of being a resource for the reporter in the future.

Imagine you have recently released a report studying the number of children in your state without access to dental care. You have been approached by several radio producers who want to interview you on this subject. Here’s how you can prepare and give a great interview.

Format

In radio interviews, you not only need to be knowledgeable about your subject, you also have to be savvy about the format itself. Try to find out as much as possible about any media outlet that approaches you for an interview. “Outlet” is another name for a news organization or media group. Research the station, program, and interviewer. Using the Internet or a media directory such as Burrelle’s or Bacon’s, you should be able to find out who their target audience is, if the program focuses on news, business, or current affairs, and whether or not it has a political slant.

It’s important to have this information because it will help you prepare for the kinds of questions you might be asked. Knowing that you will be interviewed on the most conservative talk show in the state will not only help you decide whether or not you want to do the interview, it can also help you tweak your message and anticipate the hard questions.

The first thing you need to find out is what the format for the interview will be. There are talk radio shows that will let you speak almost without constraint for thirty minutes or an hour. Then there are news shows that will give you five to ten seconds to make your case. Although the preparation for both is largely the same, the short news clip, requires much more discipline.

Sometimes talk radio shows invite other guests to speak during the program. If you will not be the only guest, find out how the producer is arranging the show. Will you be speaking at the same time as the other guest, in a debate format, or will you be alone for part or all of the interview? Some producers will book one speaker for the first thirty minutes of the show and an opposing voice for the second thirty minutes.

You also need to know if you will be taking call-in questions. You can find out by asking the producer who booked you or by looking in one of the media books. Learning about the demographics of the radio station will help you brainstorm likely questions.

Think of this as opposition research. You know that the same message will not work with every audience. Therefore, take the time to research the station’s audience and particularly, this program’s audience. You don’t have to radically alter your goals, but you should see the benefit in taking a different tack with very liberal and very conservative audiences.

Know Your Message

No matter how long you have to speak, you must stay on message. Otherwise, the interview does you no good and may do you a lot of harm. Before you talk with the reporter, write down what you need to convey as simply and clearly as possible. If you are doing a short news segment, you will have to cut your message to its most basic form; for instance, “Every child deserves a healthy smile.” If you are preparing for a longer talk radio show, flesh out your argument with three main points that support your message. For example:

· 3,450 children in Generic County have no access to dental care.

· 235 dentists in Generic County refuse to accept low-income children as patients.

· The School Nurse Association of Generic County says that children with no access to dental care are more likely to miss class and less likely to pay attention in class due to dental pain.

Don’t be nervous about repeating yourself over and over. In a taped interview, some of your comments may be cut. Therefore you want to make sure that you convey your message within every response to every question.

Sometimes reporters will try to bait you with a trap questions. Practice deflecting these kinds of questions with phrases like: “While you may have a point, the real issue is . . .” or “I don’t believe that is an issue, what is at stake is . . .” If you’re in doubt about how to deflect unwanted questions, watch televised press conferences or listen to public radio interviews to see how other people handle them.

Prepare

Just because you know this topic inside and out doesn’t mean you shouldn’t prepare for the interview, especially if this is the first time you have been interviewed by this reporter or been a guest on this program. Run through the questions you may be asked with someone who can critique your responses. Feel free to write up notes and use them during the interview, just don’t rustle your papers. Try to listen to the program a few times before your interview to get an idea of the kind of questions the interviewer and his or her listeners will ask. Ask someone to run through sample questions with you and get feedback from several people.

(For more information about message development and preparation, see the October 2000 ImPRESSive “Tips for Interviews Part I: Newspapers.”)

Text Box: Before the Interview:
P Verify time, date, and location or who will be contacting whom.
P Set aside some time to practice your responses to likely questions.
P Prepare a press kit to leave with the reporter. Make sure you include your business card.
P Make sure your message is clear and active.

Interview Confirmation

Before the interview, make sure you have the directions and the correct day and time of the interview. Sometimes interviews take place at a radio station and sometimes they can be conducted in your office or even over the telephone. Make sure you know who is going where or who is calling whom.

Feel free to ask the reporter how long the interview is scheduled to take and if it will be live or taped. Make sure you know the name of the reporter who will be interviewing you.

Pre-Interview

Often, the interviewer will request a pre-interview. This may take place a few days or a few minutes before the interview. He or she will take this opportunity to ask you a few questions about the subject. Some pre-interviews are thirty minutes long and some are about 5 seconds! Use the pre-interview to find out what the reporter is looking for from the interview. You can often get a sense of where the reporter would like to take the interview from the pre-interview.

Radio reporters, like print reporters, do not have time to become experts on every subject. They depend on the people they interview to help them better understand the subject. However, do not be lulled into thinking that the reporter will merely ask you soft questions. Reporters are trained to think critically. If there’s a chink in your armor, it’s their job to find and exploit it.

Text Box: You Need to Look Good for the Radio: What to Wear
Interestingly enough, it does make a difference what you wear to radio interviews. You don’t want to wear jewelry that will create feedback or make noise when you turn or move your head. That means no dangly earrings, necklaces, or bracelets.

During the Interview

Remember to speak slowly and clearly during the interview, even if the interview is a very short “soundbite.” A soundbite is a clip, usually not more than one to two sentences, that reporters insert into their stories to provide a first-hand or expert perspective. You don’t want to speak so quickly that no one understands the wonderful message you’ve worked so hard to craft.

Text Box: Soundbite Checklist:

P Who is the interviewer?
P How long do you have to speak?
P What is the news peg? Why are you being interviewed now?
P What is the main topic of the piece? Here’s a checklist of things to remember for soundbite interviews. It should also serve as a checklist of important information you should ask producers when scheduling an interview.

If you have a high or squeaky voice, practice speaking slowly and lowly. Likewise, if you are apt to speak in a monotone, try to liven up your speaking style. Ask a trusted friend or colleague to listen and critique your style. You can also record and listen to yourself.

Try to be as entertaining and active as possible. Give free reign to your action verbs and use your voice as a tool to convey mood. If you’re happy about recent legislation that would encourage more dentists to accept low-income children as patients, let that come through in your voice. Use inflection to vary the rhythm of your sentences. For more pointers, listen to your local NPR affiliate. These broadcasters have mastered the art of holding the audience’s interest through their voices, no matter the subject.

After the Interview

Thank the reporter who interviewed you. Make sure he or she has your business card and one of your press kits, if possible. Ask when the program will air and find out if you can get a copy of the tape for your archives. This is important for many reasons. You can review the cassette to see how you might improve. Pay careful attention to your enunciation and the speed at which you speak. Listen for how well you responded to questions and stayed on message.

Conclusion

The ability to speak well and convey your organization’s message is an important tool. Being able to give good interviews that further your goals, inform the public, and are interesting and newsworthy to journalists takes a lot of preparation. However, the benefits are clear. With practice and preparation, you’ll never say, “um” again.

Sample Booking Sheet

Interview Booked
Who will be interviewed:
What day and date:
What time: (Eastern)
Interview Length:
City, State:
Interviewer:
Contact person/Producer:
Who calls? (station or spokesperson):
Phone number:
Backup phone number:
Topic:
Facts (specific state statistic):
Station call letters/name of show:
Format (talk, news, call-in):
Subject and/or tone of show (friendly, hostile):
Fax number:
Date/time show will air:
Date/time(s) show airs regularly
Date booked:
Interviewed by:

Families USA l 1334 G Street NW l Washington, DC 20005

Phone: 202-628-3030 l Fax: 202-347-2417 l E-mail: info@familiesusa.org

ImPRESSive

A MEDIA TIP SHEET FOR ADVOCATES

Families USA l January 2001

Tips for Interviews

Part III: Television

Many people consider television interviews to be the “big time”—and with good reason. Studies show that more Americans get their news from television than from any other source. Because of this, many different people and organizations compete for airtime. They know that getting one minute on the evening news can do more to further their issues than almost any other media hit.

Imagine that your organization held a press event about the uninsured in your community a few months ago. You wrote a report with graphs and statistics showing the number of uninsured, their average income, and other demographic information. The press conference was successful, in part because you had real people available to tell their stories and have their picture taken. At the press conference you met Will Clark, a television reporter for KYW-TV. He was very interested in your report and your issues.

Yesterday, the governor proposed a plan to cover the uninsured in your state. Will wants to interview you on-camera for your group’s perspective. You’ve accepted and now you must prepare for the interview.

Anticipate the Reporter

Before you ever walk into an interview, your message should have already been established. Message development can take a lot of time and thought so it should be done in advance of any media opportunities. You never know when you’ll have the opportunity to talk to a reporter.

When news breaks and you are asked to respond, the first thing you need to do is think of how the news affects your message. How does your organization feel about the governor’s proposal? Is it a real solution to the problem of the uninsured or is it merely a political prop for the governor’s re-election campaign? These are the kinds of questions you may be asked, so be sure to have clear responses that push your perspective. (For more information about crafting a message, see the October 2000 ImPRESSive, “Tips for Interviews; Part I: Newspaper.”)

After you set your message, sit down with a colleague and think through the kinds of questions you’ll be asked. Carefully craft short, interesting responses. Remember, this is your opportunity to have your message heard. Repeat your message relentlessly and find ways to include it in your response to every question. Practice responding to tricky questions and ways you can shift the reporter’s questions to those more in line with your message.

Once you feel comfortable with your message and your ability to stick to it, begin looking at the way you convey your message. It’s important that you look natural on-air so, if possible, try to videotape yourself during these mock interviews. It may seem silly at first, but it will give you the opportunity to critique yourself. If you have done a television interview in the past and have a copy of the tape, make sure to look at that as well. It may give you some ideas about how to improve your posture, gestures, enunciation, and eye contact.

Appearances Count

When you are being interviewed, sit up straight and look directly at the interviewer. Resist the urge to look directly into the camera lens. This comes off as overly aggressive and unsettling to the viewer. Try to keep both feet flat on the floor.

Use gestures to make a point. Some people find that holding a pen in an interview helps them with their nerves and gives them something to do with their hands. What you don’t want to do is look stiff or artificial.

Speak clearly, enunciating your words. Most of us tend to speak quickly when we’re nervous. Try to control the speed at which you speak. Because you’ve practiced so much, the content of your speech should be second nature. Relax and concentrate on the interviewer. Remember to use your voice as a tool to convey doubt or approval. Using active words to describe the situation will also help keep the viewer’s attention.

Smile and be engaging throughout the interview, even when you don’t think the camera is on you. The reporter will appreciate this and the audience will pick up on it as well. You don’t want to look and sound dour no matter how much you may dislike the governor’s proposal. You want to appear active and upbeat.

Text Box: LIGHTS! CAMERA! ACTION!
1. Sit up straight
2. Avoid large gestures
· 3. Speak clearly and animatedly
· 4. Smile
· 5. Make eye contact with the interviewer

What to Wear

Your clothes are very important in a television interview. This is a visual medium and you want to look as polished and professional as possible. In choosing your wardrobe for television interviews, avoid anything distracting or unflattering on camera. You may love that brightly patterned sweater but the camera doesn’t. It can distract the viewer from listening to your message. Therefore, try to stick to dark, solid clothing. Avoid white and light-colored clothing. Too much jewelry can also be distracting. Sometimes necklaces rub against lavaliere microphones, obscuring your voice. Large, dangly bracelets can also be distracting, especially if you are using your hands to gesture. If possible, remove your glasses or wear contacts as the lens may cause a glare. However, if your vision is so bad that you will be squinting, definitely leave the glasses on!

     Clothes Make the Interview

P      Avoid shiny, bright, or otherwise distracting clothes

P      No funny ties or short skirts

P      Leave the large jewelry at home

P      Remove glasses or wear contacts, if possible

P      For women, apply slightly more makeup than usual. For men, allow the professional make-up artist to apply foundation

What to Bring

Always make an effort to bring a press kit. Especially include materials such as your report on the uninsured and a one page executive summary. The producer may ask the graphics department to adapt some of your charts and graphs to be shown on air.

You may also want to bring one page of notes with you. While you don’t want to be reading from notes, if you do have specific points you want to make you should feel free to have them handy.

The reporter may wish to interview someone in the community who is uninsured. If you have someone who would be willing to speak, bring his or her name and telephone number with you. (For more information about gathering stories, see the July 1999 ImPRESSive, “The Art of Storybanking.”)

Follow Through

Once you have finished, thank the reporter for his or her time. Make sure he or she has your business card for future reference. Find out when the interview will air and ask for a copy of the interview, if possible.

If you cannot get a copy of the tape from the station, make sure to record it yourself. Review the tape to see how you might improve for future interviews. You can also use the tape for soliciting possible funders or showing your board of directors.

Conclusion

Despite the amount of preparation involved, television interviews are very important to master. The more time you take perfecting your message and “stage presence,” the more likely you’ll be asked back to do more interviews on health care topics. Many people clamor to do television interviews and then don’t do the preparation necessary. As a result, they end up looking stiff and unnatural. You can always spot the television novices; they stare into the camera like deer in your headlights and barely manage to raise their voice above a whisper. You can bet they won’t be asked back. Producers love to find people who are knowledgeable about their subject are and give good interviews. This is definitely the reputation you want to cultivate.

Families USA

1334 G Street NW

Washington, DC 20005

Phone: 202-628-3030

Fax: 202-347-2417

E-mail: info@familiesusa.org

ImPRESSive

A MEDIA TIP SHEET FOR ADVOCATES

Families USA l June 2000

Getting Your Message into

National Stories

You have a golden opportunity. A major national news organization is running a story on one of your issues. Your local media will likely carry the story in the next day or so, but you’re not sure how you can get your group into that story.

Mention of your group in the national story would benefit your work in many ways. First, the story is going to raise awareness of the issue on a national level. This will lend credibility to the importance of the issue and may help to speed you toward your goals.

Second, the story gives you an opportunity to raise your organization’s profile and increase name recognition.

Third, the story could help coalesce local efforts and focus the goals you and your coalition are seeking.

The Issue

Your group, Citizens for Affordable Prescriptions (CAP), has been working to raise awareness of the high cost of prescription drugs. You’ve done the background work. You’ve talked to senior and disability groups and collected information about how much they pay for prescription drugs. You’ve collected stories from them illustrating the magnitude of the problem. You have the names and phone numbers of at least seven seniors and three young to middle-aged people with disabilities who are juggling prescription drug costs and necessities like food and rent. They’re willing to talk to the media and are knowledgeable about the overall issue.

You’ve already laid the groundwork for a successful media campaign. In the past, you’ve made efforts to talk to the media, but have been rebuffed. You’ve talked to reporters at the major newspaper, radio, and television stations. They’ve been interested in the story, but have been unable to get the go-ahead from their news directors or editors.

You’ve written and submitted op-ed pieces and pursued editorial boards. While you’ve been given a hearing, there wasn’t much enthusiasm from any of the people you met.

You have an up-to-date media list of reporters’ e-mail, fax and phone numbers and their organizations, just itching to be used. But before you can use your resources and connections, you have to know the story is coming.

How Do You Find Out About the Story?

Keep in Touch with Other Organizations

A national group might notify you that they are planning a major press event on your issue. It could be they are releasing new data or they are reacting to newly-introduced legislation that affects your state.

The national group could also know that an important reporter is working on a story about the issue. The national group would know this either because the reporter has contacted the organization for quotes or information, or because the national group provided the reporter with newsworthy data and got a solid commitment to run a story.

Follow the News

Another way to keep tabs on current stories is by following the “newswire”. The newswire is breaking news. Do you remember in old movies how people used to watch the “ticker”? Well, that’s the newswire, the front line of the news business. It’s now computerized, but its function is still the same. The newswire is a round-the-clock operation. Reporters for the newswire can get stories out almost immediately; they don’t have to wait for the next day’s edition of the newspaper or the morning news. Nearly every news organization subscribes to one or more newswires. The newswire is fast and easy and the lifeblood of small newspapers and radio and television stations.

The most important such service is the AP newswire. The websites of most large papers offer a link to the AP wire, as does the website www.commondreams.org. While the AP does have its own website, it is not very user-friendly.

The AP newswire is updated constantly throughout the day and night and is a great resource. Other major news services are Reuters, Knight-Ridder, Bloomberg, and the New York Times.

Why is the newswire so important? Well, most local media don’t have the resources to keep large staffs. They need a tool that will help them keep on top of breaking news without having a reporter in every corner of the world. They will have a staffer watch the wire and notify the news director when important news hits. Stories can also be lifted, with attribution, directly from the newswire and put in the newspaper. It’s the cheapest, easiest way for local media with small budgets to maintain their newsworthiness.

At the same time, media can lift essential, national information from the newswire, then tailor the story to their readership by including local information in the story—for example, how the high cost of prescription drugs is affecting area residents. Your group could get a quote about how seniors are being price gouged by the pharmaceutical industry. Or, if you’re really lucky, you can get an entirely separate story—called a sidebar—uniquely addressing local people (remember your seven seniors and three disabled spokespeople?) and their situations. This story will hopefully include your group’s suggestions for how to resolve the problem.

Text Box: What Is A “Sidebar”?
A sidebar is a related story that provides additional information augmenting a larger story. You can help get a sidebar by providing:
· Local data supporting the national story
· Quotes from local health care consumers and organizations
· An event or photo opportunity If you have internet access and an intern to spare, you can watch the wire for relevant news. Watching the AP wire by logging onto a website a few times a day can be a simple way of monitoring media coverage of health care issues. On the Yahoo or AOL websites, for example, you can set up a default homepage that tracks the AP and Reuters. Every time you log on, you can be monitoring the newswire. Still, not all organizations have the resources to do this.

If monitoring the newswire doesn’t seem feasible, your group will have to rely on your personal relationships with reporters and editors. As advocates, these relationships should always be a high priority. Good relationships with the media are instrumental to good press coverage of your group and your issues.

It’s a good idea to put together a press kit about what your organization does and what its goals are and then meet with reporters, news editors, and editorial page editors. Familiarize them with your organization and make sure they have your contact information. Let them know that you have real people they can interview. If you have a good relationship with your local reporters and they’re familiar with you and your group’s issues, they may tip you off to a breaking story and ask for your comments. This is the best situation to be in because it means your group already has a relatively high profile in your community. If you’re not at this stage yet, there are still plenty of things you can offer reporters.

What Should You Do?

Now that you know the story is coming and you’ve got some connections at your local media outlets, you have to start working the phones and e-mail. Knowing the story will be on the wire gives you an advantage. Make your calls to friendly reporters and tell them you’ve heard there’s a story about prescription drugs coming out over the wire. Offer them your resources and expert information to localize their story, and offer to provide them with one or more people to interview. This is called “putting a face on the story.”

What Are Your Resources?

Tell reporters you know real people who would be willing to talk about their prescription drug costs. Real people help humanize the issue and make it more interesting to readers and reporters. You need to have sympathetic examples, too. Be sure to stop and carefully think about who is the most likely person to generate support for your issue.

In addition to providing reporters with health care consumers, consider asking sympathetic health care providers to speak out on the issue. If you have a relationship with a local pharmacist, ask if he or she would be willing to talk to reporters. Doctors and nurses are also respected sources for reporters.

Provide reporters with any local data you might have. The national story addresses the big picture, but what people reading their newspapers over a bowl of cereal and a cup of coffee want to know is: how does this affect me? If you can prove that it has an impact on their parents, their neighbors, friends, and possibly themselves one day, then you will have done 80 percent of the work. Readers and reporters need to see the issue in terms of their own backyards before they’ll really sit up and pay attention.

Think about organizing a media event. If you’ve gotten your information off the wire, this is probably too ambitious considering your time constraints. Depending upon when the story appeared or how you got the information (from the national group or the newswire) you might have a couple of days in which to schedule a small event at a senior center where seniors can show off the quantity of prescription drugs they consume and provide testimonials.

You could also organize an event at the local pharmacy and have consumers and a pharmacist available for pictures and interviews. If the national group informed you a few days or even a week ahead of time, then you’ve got enough time to throw together a good visual for the evening news or a nice picture for the morning edition. Some examples of good visuals would be a senior citizen holding up the prescriptions he or she has been unable to fill due to cost, or surrounded by his or her prescription drug vials, or a senior standing at the cash register at his or her local pharmacy.

The best thing you can do, after making your all-important phone calls, is to provide reporters with a press release about the issue. You should have bullets detailing the information you’ve accumulated on prescription drugs in your area and a soundbite—which is a short, attention-grabbing quote—that may be included in a story.

Detail the three or four most important things that reporters should include. Make them newsworthy. For example, the bullets could look like this:

· From January 1998-January 1999, prescription drugs in Generic County rose 2.5%

· From January 1998-January 1999, Social Security and Disability payments in Generic County rose 1.9%

· Three out of four Generic County seniors have admitted not filling necessary prescriptions due to cost.

· 4,000 Generic County seniors are taking three or more prescription drugs a day.

Include a quote from your spokesperson in the release. “Generic County seniors are bearing the burden of the highest prescription drug costs in the industrialized world. They’re paying more than Canadians, Vets, and pets!”

Make sure to provide contact information and be available to reporters at all times. If you’re serious about getting some mileage out of a national story, you need to be reachable. (For more information on how to write a good press release see the October 1998 ImPRESSive).

Make sure you have the names and phone numbers of the seniors and disabled people who would be willing to talk to reporters.

What Can You Expect?

Okay, you’ve done a lot of work. You’ve talked the ear off every reporter in your area with an interest in the national story. You were pressed for time, so you couldn’t manage an event, but you did put out a readable, newsworthy press release with clear contact information.

In a perfect world, a story profiling your group and the work it does to promote the interests of seniors with high prescription drug costs would hit the front-page of the newspaper the next day.

In an imperfect world, the newswire story runs and there’s a sidebar on your most likable senior spokesperson, Mrs. Amelia Armstrong.

In a really imperfect world, the newswire story runs with no mention of you, your group, or Mrs. Armstrong.

Don’t Throw in the Towel

If you didn’t get any media attention for your group even after all your efforts, be comforted. Taking time to familiarize the media with your group and your issues is never wasted. At the very least, you’re laying the groundwork for future stories. You’ve got to regroup and remember your assets. A national story on prescription drugs ran in your local newspaper; that still puts you two steps ahead of where you were. Now it’s time to exploit that window of opportunity.

Invite the folks at the neighborhood senior center to write letters to the editor about the prescription drug story. Encourage them to describe their own experiences and congratulate the paper for running the story.

Write an op-ed piece with all that great, specific, local data. Keep it short (under 700 words) and encourage another group working in your issue area to co-sign it with you. Doctor, nurse, and pharmacist groups would be credible allies and help attract more media interest. Given the recent national story, you are much more likely to get your op-ed published.

Set up the round of editorial boards and go over it again. Be persuasive and persistent. Use your data, your anecdotal information and be sure to remind them of the national story their own newspaper recently ran. (For more hints on op-eds and letters to the editor, see the March 1999 ImPRESSive).

NOTE: Newspaper strategy is emphasized because plenty of small to mid-sized radio and television stations still look to newspapers to help them develop the news. An editorial or a front-page story in the newspaper will almost certainly get some attention from radio and television reporters.

Conclusion

It’s unrealistic to expect consistently good reporting on your issue without a lot of legwork reaching out to the media. While it’s not unheard-of for groups to luck out once or twice, nothing can replace a friendly, mutually beneficial relationship with reporters.

A national story can give you a strong bump onto center stage, but it’s not going to last unless you have a mapped-out media strategy, clearly-defined long-term goals, and a commitment to earning the media attention you seek.

Families USA

1334 G Street NW

Washington, DC 20005

Phone: 202-628-3030

Fax: 202-347-2417

E-mail: info@familiesusa.org

Newspaper Articles

All articles and letters to the editor in this section are reprinted

with permission of the applicable newspaper or wire service.

They may not be reproduced again without the express

permission of the specified publisher.

Concord Monitor

Editorials

Thursday, August 30, 2001
Editorial: Let him speak

*A controversial thinker deserves civil treatment in Concord.

The Governor's Commission on Disability is under attack for inviting a provocative and unpopular thinker to a Concord conference on genetics and bioethics. But such boldness is to the commission's credit. There is nothing to fear in Peter Singer's appearance but the fear of ideas.

Singer is a Princeton professor who has been described as "the most influential ethicist alive" and "the world's most reviled philosopher." He has earned these monikers, among others, by climbing aboard trains of thought that are offensive to others and riding them all the way to the station.

Consider this observation from Practical Ethics, one of Singer's two dozen books: "Killing a disabled infant is not ethically or morally equivalent to killing a person. Very often it is not wrong at all."

Or this, from Rethinking Life and Death: "If disabled people who must use wheelchairs to get around were suddenly offered a miracle drug that would, with no side effects, give them full use of their legs, how many of them would refuse to take it on the grounds that life with a disability is in no way inferior to life without a disability?"

Extracting such quotes from Singer's writings is unfair, because it strips them of context and nuance. And yet there is nothing to soften the edge of his most basic belief: Life has no value without self-awareness. This outlook leaves Singer defending a stray cat's right to life while questioning that of an infant born with Down syndrome.

Not surprisingly, Singer is loved in the animal rights movement, loathed in the disabilities rights movement and, perhaps, misunderstood to one degree or another by both.

One Monitor letter-writer equates him with Hitler, yet Singer lost three grandparents in the Holocaust. Though assailed for his cold-heartedness, the goal he advocates is to reduce suffering of all kinds in the world.

One advocacy group, called Not Dead Yet, is protesting the prospect of Singer's appearance in New Hampshire; it protested his appointment at Princeton as well. Republican gubernatorial want-to-be Bruce Keough has called on Gov. Jeanne Shaheen and the disability council to rescind the invitation.

They should not. Singer should be heard - and challenged, as he will be, by his audience and fellow speakers alike. Beliefs are like muscles; without exercise they grow flabby. Singer's appearance will invigorate what is an essential debate of our time, one that advancing technology forces us to confront.

As he once wrote: "Our increased medical powers mean that we can no longer run away from (questions of life and death) by

Participant’s Manual

CULTIVATES MEDIA RELATIONSHIPS

Agenda

Wed., Oct. 16

Thurs., Oct. 17

Fri., Oct. 18

TRAINERS

ILRU Lex Frieden Laurie Gerken Redd

Richard Petty Dawn Heinsohn

Laurel Richards

Darrell Lynn Jones

Raweewan Buppapong

ABOUT ILRU

ABOUT NCIL

HOW THE IL MOVEMENT

Media Checklist

Developed by The Media Advocacy Project

Developed by The Media Advocacy Project

Press release layout, on letterhead

HEADLINE, IN CAPS

Finish with ###

POINTERS FOR GETTING PUBLISHED

ImPRESSive

Reprinted with permission of:

Families USA

1334 G Street NW

Washington, DC 20005

202-628-3030 (voice)

202-347-2417 (fax)

info@familiesusa.org

http://www.familiesusa.org

ImPRESSive

A MEDIA TIP SHEET FOR ADVOCATES

BUILDING THE RELATIONSHIP

1. Send a Packet of Information

2. Introduce Yourself

3. Meet for Lunch or Coffee

Keep Reporters in the Loop With Any New Information

Media Call Sheet

ImPRESSive

A MEDIA TIP SHEET FOR ADVOCATES

ImPRESSive

A MEDIA TIP SHEET FOR ADVOCATES

On the Record

Script for Establishing a

Not-for-Attribution Agreement

You: I have some information that you’re going to find interesting, but you cannot quote me on this. (If you feel that you need to have further clarification.) My name cannot appear anywhere near this information.

Reporter: What is it? Is it good?

You: It’s very interesting, but I am not giving it to you until you agree not to attribute this to me.

Reporter: Is this necessary?

You: Yes.

Reporter: Okay, I’ll say it’s from a health care advocate.

OFF THE RECORD

Script for Establishing an Off-the-Record Conversation

ImPRESSive

A MEDIA TIP SHEET FOR ADVOCATES

ImPRESSive

A MEDIA TIP SHEET FOR ADVOCATES

ImPRESSive

A MEDIA TIP SHEET FOR ADVOCATES

ImPRESSive

A MEDIA TIP SHEET FOR ADVOCATES

ImPRESSive

A MEDIA TIP SHEET FOR ADVOCATES

Newspaper Articles

All articles and letters to the editor in this section are reprinted

with permission of the applicable newspaper or wire service.

They may not be reproduced again without the express

permission of the specified publisher.

© 2001 Concord Monitor