Media Options: Where Do I Start?

When it comes to the media, there are a lot of different ways to get your message across. But it's important to know which tools to use when.

The major ways to reach the media are through letters to the editor, op-eds, feature stories, and press releases for media-friendly events.

To know which one to use, start first by thinking about the media outlets in your area. (To search for contact information for media outlets in your area see the Church World Service's searchable media database by zipcode, at http://capwiz.com/churchworld/dbq/media/. If you are from an area with a large, national newspaper (such as New York or Chicago), it's less likely that you would get a feature story written about you—although you can certainly try, and smaller papers in these cities may be interested as well. National newspapers cover Latin America regularly, though, so letters to the editor may be a good tool to use. If you're from a smaller town with a local paper, its staff will be interested in what members of the community are doing. In this case, you might want to try for a feature story. And if your local paper has an op-ed section, try to get one printed. In large national papers that is a harder task—you should still try!—but you may have more luck with smaller papers.

Then think about what you want your message to be. What do you want your audience to come away with?

So what are my options?

Letters to the Editor

A letter to the editor is usually written in response to an article or opinion piece that was published in the paper. For example, if there has been recent coverage of Latin American events in your local paper—especially if you disagree with the way they covered the issue—a letter to the editor is the way to go. The letter should be no more than 250 words, shorter if possible and its message concise and matter of fact in tone.

An op-ed is an opinion piece. These can be longer than letters to the editor—up to 700 or 800 words— and do not need to respond to an article previously published in the newspaper. The op-ed is an informational opinion piece meant to persuade a given audience. Before you start writing, take some time to clarify your purpose, audience, and message.

Another option for local media coverage is a feature story. This is a "human interest" piece, and local papers often use these types of articles to highlight a member of the community and their work. To do this, contact your local paper and ask to speak with the local desk, the features editor, or the assignments editor (they're usually the ones who choose what people write about). When you make this call, have a "pitch" in mind—a way to frame the story so that they'll want to write about it.

If you are holding a newsworthy event or releasing a report, you should use advisories and press releases to announce them to the press. Advisories are sent out a few days in advance announcing the event. Press releases are sent out the day before or the day of the event.

A quick word on follow-up: It's important that your members of Congress see any local coverage of Latin America policy issues; that's one of the ways that we get the word out to them that there's constituent support for a change in policy. Be sure to send any media coverage you to receive to your members of Congress. This is extremely important!