|
BEYOND THE BASICS: Print Media
Print media is one of the most versatile forms of communication. Opportunities for campaign coverage include:
Food Drives,Volunteer Days, and Masquerades Balls in Oklahoma
All across Oklahoma, students will be involved in a range of innovative activities to promote Raise Your Voice—A Week of Action. Here’s just a sampling.
Oklahoma State University—will conduct a Video Conference Dialogue with Stanford University and Providence College to discuss a topic such as “What is America’s role in the fight against terrorism?”
Southwestern Oklahoma University—will host a Masquerade Benefit Ball with proceeds helping to build new community parks.
Oklahoma State University (OKC)—Native American Association and the Multicultural Student Association will host a cultural recipe contest for students, faculty and staff.
The University of Central Oklahoma—will give an Outstanding Volunteer Award to a student who has achieved outstanding participation in the community.
To access resource guides on how to get the Raise Your Voice campaign jump started on your campus click here.• Campus newspapers and magazines
• Education news
• Metro/city news
• Community news/events
• Lifestyle features
In addition to approaching reporters with story ideas, there are several others ways to obtain coverage including drafting opinion editorials or writing a letter to the editor. Below you will find an explanation of each of these means of coverage and the process by which you can reach out to different writers and editors. You will find sample op-eds at the end of this handbook.
Op-eds
Op-ed pieces are a highly effective way of expressing your opinion in the newspaper. Op-eds are guest opinion columns that appear opposite the paper’s own editorials. They are persuasive, well thought-out, well written, short in length (usually about 750 words) but longer than a letter to the editor, and authored by a high-profile person or someone who has experience with the issue. The published op-ed should be timely, and present a strong, well-informed position, supported by facts.
Op-ed policies differ from newspaper to newspaper. Therefore, it is important to learn in advance the criteria and format for placing op-eds and who should receive the piece. When submitting an op-ed article, draft a short cover note that includes the author’s contact information and reason for writing the piece. After sending your submission, follow up with a telephone call expressing your hope that the publication will publish the op-ed.
An op-ed is likely to be published if the opinion is unique, rather than just adding to the chorus of similar viewpoints. Below are suggestions on ways to frame an op-ed which will help increase the chances that your piece will be published:
• Use examples: Make your piece memorable by using a few good examples and statistics to make a strong point.
• Localize the issue: Discuss specific local issues in the community and how young people are dealing with these issues.
• Add credence to your issue: Have a student leader co-author an op-ed with the college president or a community leader.
• Discuss solutions: Editors look for creative solutions, so op-eds that criticize an issue but offer no solutions or new ideas are much less likely to be published.
• Be structured: Move from a specific problem to a broader public issue. Personalization is more likely to get people interested in a topic that might otherwise be seen as esoteric and not connected to their daily lives
Letters to the Editor
Dialogues, Speakers and Interactive Events in Massachusetts
Events are planned at colleges and
universities across Massachusetts to launch Raise Your Voice—A Week of Action. Tufts University will host a special interactive simulation to inform students about education and civil liberty. The Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences will hold panel discussions
on HIV/AIDS and Northeastern University will focus dialogues on Freedom of Information and Libraries. Emerson College will present a series of Community Speakers who will address the issues of housing, health, employment, and education in Boston. If you are planning campus events for Raise Your Voice—A Week of Action make sure to click here to learn how to track your progress.
A letter to the editor represents your perspective in the local newspaper and can be a counter argument for articles that you do not agree with. They also reach a large audience; are monitored by elected officials and other decision-makers; and create an impression of widespread support for or against an issue.
• Be direct: Make one point (or at most two) in your letter. Because letters are often edited, state the point clearly in the first paragraph. Start with a catchy opening and use the active tense.
• Be timely: Address a specific article, editorial, or letter that recently appeared in the paper you are writing to or a recent event. Refer to the title, date, and author of the piece you are agreeing with or disputing.
• Support your facts: If the topic you address is controversial, consider sending documentation along with your letter—but do not overload the editors with too much information. Refute or support specific statements, address relevant facts that are ignored, and avoid attacking the reporter or the newspaper.
• Find a local angle: Look at the letters that appear in your paper, you will notice that many of them tie into a local or personal impact on the community. Addressing an issue through one of these two impacts will give your letter a greater opportunity to get published.
• Know your audience: Familiarize yourself with the coverage and editorial position of the paper. Be professional. Write for the community who reads the paper (do not try to discuss technical terms if the audience will not know the technicalities of the issue).
• Maximize use of the letter: Send the letter to neighborhood, alternative, and college papers – the smaller the publication the more likely it will get published. Get others to write letters – if your letter does not get published, perhaps someone else's letter on the same topic will.
• Confirm logistics: Check and adhere to the newspaper's letter specifications, especially regarding word limits. Write in short paragraphs (three sentences long), find out the editor's name, include your contact information (name, address, phone number, email), type or email the letter.
Reader Representatives
Most major newspapers employ a reader’s representative or ombudsman. This person is charged with answering reader questions and responding to reader complaints. If after several attempts you have failed to gain the attention of anyone at your local newspaper, contact the reader representative and ask if they can provide you with any helpful advice or at least explain why your story isn’t getting noticed.
