Public support for the You Drink & Drive. You Lose. enforcement periods is crucial to their success. Support can be gained only if individuals in your community are aware of the need for enforcement periods and the direct impact these actions have on their personal safety.
The most efficient method for creating greater community support for your enforcement and prevention efforts is through public education. And one of the best ways to reach your community is by partnering with the media. Most news organizations are committed to promoting worthwhile causes and improving community relations in their media markets. The following information will lead you through the process of how to effectively work with the media to increase support of your law enforcement activities and raise community awareness that impaired driving is no accident.
BEFORE YOUR BEGIN – PREPARATIONS
The first step in ensuring your success in a media outreach effort is research. In order to "sell" your story to the media, you must know which individuals are most likely to "buy" the information. It is essential to become familiar with community and police beat reporters and writers for your local print and broadcast media, and stay up-to-date on which reporters cover which issues. This will help prepare you for when you feel you have a story worth "pitching" to the media. It is also important to consider the reporter’s viewpoint. In developing a story, reporters look for several things, including impact, drama and controversy. It is your responsibility to develop interesting and appealing storylines or events that tell your story and are likely to attract media attention. Media is less likely to get involved if you rely on them to create the "hook" and less likely to express the story you want to tell.
CHOOSING YOUR OUTLETS
If you are located in a large city, you will have many more options available than you would if you were in a small town. But no matter where you are, you will always be able to find media outlets to convey the You Drink & Drive. You Lose. message to the public. Cast a wide net in your outreach, as impaired driving is an issue affecting everyone. The following is a list of media outlets you should contact:
- cable and local television stations;
- radio stations;
- daily newspapers (urban and/or community-based);
- weekly newspapers (urban and/or community-based);
- industry magazines; and
- diverse media outlets.
CHOOSING YOUR TOOLS
Included in this kit are a number of tools to assist in your media outreach efforts. Before you begin, you should have a thorough understanding of what each tool is and how it fits into your outreach efforts. The following section highlights the tools included in this kit, and how each piece can help you gain positive coverage of your efforts:
Media Advisory: Media advisories are used to "sell" your event to the media. The advisory tells media the who, what, when and where of your event in a concise manner. Nearly every media organization has an assignment editor whose job is to decide which events and stories will be covered. The advisory is your "pitch" to the media, explaining why your event is news worthy. It should be released at least three days before the event and followed up by phone calls to assignment desks and reporters you think might be interested in covering your story to ensure they know about your event. There are always other stories competing for news coverage and it is crucial that you sell your event. Often, news organizations will be more likely to commit early on if you offer them exclusive opportunities like ride-alongs with law enforcement officers during sobriety checkpoints and saturation patrols.
News Release: News releases tell your story. A newspaper editor may run the release exactly as it is written, but will more likely assign a reporter to conduct interviews based on the information contained in the release and write an original story. News releases are typically released on the day of the event for publicity, or following an event to describe what took place. You should adapt the sample release provided in this kit to suit your organization’s event and send it out to all media you have identified in your research.
Letter to the Editor: A concise letter to the editor is an appeal to the public to join in supporting your enforcement period efforts. It is also helpful in raising advance awareness about your efforts and helps to create a deterrent effect. It is an opportunity to inform the community about this very serious problem and the steps you are taking to remedy it. You should send the letter approximately ten days to two weeks before your enforcement period to ensure it is placed in daily newspapers.
Opinion-Editorial (op-ed): The op-ed is a brief statement from an opinion leader in the community on the subject in which he/she is considered an authority. In this case, that authority is you. The op-ed provides you with an opportunity to get your messages out to your community, in your own words. You should send the op-ed to the editorial staff at the newspapers you have identified approximately seven to 10 days before your planned event. Every newspaper also has a section written by the editorial staff that reflects the news organization’s position on issues. Many television stations also air similar statements to voice their opinions and support of issues affecting their viewing audience. These statements have great influence on public opinion and are opportunities for the media to directly support your cause. The ideal time for your op-ed to appear is just before or during your enforcement period efforts.
Drop-in News Article: The drop-in article is a completely pre-written news story. The article provided can be used to inform your community about impaired driving and the need for greater enforcement. It can be used in your community newspapers or on Web pages. Many smaller news outlets may also use it as a basis for their own story.
Drop-in Newsletter Article: Similar to the drop-in news article, the newsletter article included in this kit is also a completely pre-written story. However, this article is provided for you to utilize in your or your partners’ newsletters to inform and build support among your internal constituency about your mobilization activities.
Radio Scripts: Radio stations have an obligation to broadcast public service messages to the communities they serve. You can use this to your advantage by providing the stations serving your community with the pre-written scripts provided in this kit. You should accompany the scripts with a "pitch" letter explaining how impaired driving is a serious problem in your community and ask for the station’s support in your efforts to reduce the problem. A creative suggestion to "pitch" to radio stations is to request that their traffic reporters remind listeners that if You Drink & Drive. You Lose. They can also report about increased enforcement activities as a public service to their listeners. It is a good idea to place follow-up telephone calls to the station to ensure they received the scripts; this is also a good time to further encourage the station to use them.
Print Public Service Announcements (PSAs): Print PSAs are similar to the drop-in news article in this kit, only shorter. Just as radio stations will utilize PSAs to fulfill their community obligations, so will newspapers use print PSAs. You should send the PSAs (along with a "pitch" letter) to newspapers approximately two to three weeks prior to your enforcement period efforts. Placement of these articles in the weeks prior to the event will help raise awareness of the problem and build momentum leading up to your enforcement period efforts.
OUTREACH STRATEGIES
You know your local media best and your preparatory research will have enhanced that knowledge to a point where you should be able to tell which stories various media outlets will find newsworthy. To assist you in this regard, we have provided the following outreach strategies that can be easily adapted to your individual efforts in generating publicity for your local You Drink & Drive. You Lose. enforcement period efforts.
Plan Ahead
The earlier you begin, the easier it will be for you to generate positive media results for your activities. Advance notice helps editors and producers plan their schedules to include coverage of your story or event. You can adapt the letter to the editor and press release (included in this kit) to notify the media of your intentions to mobilize and the reasons such action is necessary.
Be Prepared
After you have sent out your letters, PSAs and releases, don’t wait for the phone to ring. Contact media to pitch your event and story. Remember, news organizations compete for a living and they are always on the lookout for a new story.
When the time for an interview comes, it is important to understand the environment you will be entering – hopefully this has already been accomplished by your monitoring of local reporters. If not, do a little research on the types of stories this reporter has done in the past.
Also, be considerate of the interviewer’s schedule – journalists and other media professionals work with extremely tight deadlines. If they do not receive your input in time, they simply will not include you in the story and may be less likely to contact you for future media opportunities.
Additionally, it is important for you to provide the media with relevant information in advance. The reporter is only interested in information that constitutes real news, not self-promotion. In order to facilitate the process, you should provide prompt and accurate responses. If you don’t feel comfortable answering a question you did not anticipate or don’t have the information to accurately answer, be honest with the reporter and say you don’t know the answer but you will get back to them. By doing so, the media is far more likely to respect you and use your information, now and in future stories.
Finally, be sure to create your own agenda. Figure out the questions that you want to be asked and know your answers ahead of time and stick to your message regardless of the questions. (If you already know what you want to say, it will be easier to work those points into the discussion.)
After the Event, Stay Available
Encourage the media to contact you with follow-up questions. Reporters often will call you back as they begin to write their stories. This is another opportunity to pitch your message and ensure your views and statements are accurately expressed.
Further the Relationship
Don’t consider the media merely a venue for conveying your messages. The media can also play an active role by becoming a partner in your enforcement periods. You can schedule editorial board meetings at which you can further educate these individuals about the impaired driving problem in your community, or enforcement "ride-alongs" with media representatives that are interested in your efforts.
Remember, there are two sides to every issue and some editors/producers might take a negative view of enforcement. Initiating partnerships with media outlets gives you an opportunity to provide individuals with the facts to prevent such a point of view. Reporters maintain extensive contact lists and are always eager to include specialists on particular issues. If you establish yourself as an articulate and available source, reporters will continue to call you.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Once you have sent out your materials, contacted your local media outlets, and participated in interviews, there are some results you should reasonably expect to see. These include:
- Stories publicizing your enforcement period efforts.
- Stories highlighting the impaired driving problem in the nation and your community, as well as organizations (like yours) working to solve the problem.
- Educational stories highlighting alternatives to impaired driving.
- Reporters utilizing you as a community expert in future impaired driving stories.
- Sponsorships by media organizations of community You Drink & Drive. You Lose. safety events.
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