DO IT NOW

• Notice who writes articles on issues important to members—jobs, construction, the economy, continuing education, stories about where members work or any other issues in which LIUNA makes a difference. Make a list of those reporters with their contact information.
• Strategic Communications can provide you with a reporter list and contacts for your area, as well as other media assistance.
• Make a brief introductory phone call about what kind of information you commonly have, followed by a 15-minute get-to-know-you talk over coffee. Then, when you have something you think is newsworthy, you’ll know who to contact, and they’ll know you.

DO IT 10 DAYS IN ADVANCE OF YOUR EVENT

• Line up spokespeople and potential resources for reporters to interview. It might be yourself, as well as a rank-and-file member whom you’ve prepared and an ally outside the union who supports the union’s position.
• Begin thinking about how the event is newsworthy—if it’s a rally, march, phone-banking or other type of activism, there is likely to be a reporter who is interested in the event, or the issues behind it.

DO IT 5 DAYS IN ADVANCE

• Determine the best message. What would the headline be if you wrote it? How would a TV news anchor describe it?
• From your perfect message, draft talking points—the headline you’d like, and the key facts and statements that support it.
• Determine who delivers each part of your message. Practice, and help other participants practice.
• Draft a news advisory—a paragraph or so with the “who, what, when and where” and a contact name and number reporters can reach at any time. See the sample News Media Advisory Template.

DO IT 4 DAYS IN ADVANCE

• Prepare background information for reporters—fact sheets, bios of workers and leaders who will participate, a Q&A—the more you repeat your message in different ways and put it in reporters’ hands, the more likely it will become a part of their reports.

DO IT 3 DAYS IN ADVANCE

• Confirm participants.
• Review your message

DO IT 2 DAYS IN ADVANCE

• Distribute the news advisory by email and fax to your list of reporters.
• Call each reporter to confirm they received the advisory.

DO IT THE DAY BEFORE

• Fax and email the news advisory again.
• Call each reporter to determine if they will be attending or reporting on your news.
• Prepare a news release to distribute the day of your news. See the sample News Release Template.

DO IT THE MORNING OF

• Call TV assignment desks and radio news directors before 8 a.m. and ask if they’re covering your news.
• Fax and email advisory one last time.

FOLLOW-UP

• Distribute your news release to those who attend your event; fax and email it to reporters who are not there.