Best Practices for Op-Ed Writing

Sample Op-Ed

We Don’t Need Bush to Fix Our Culture

by Michael Connery

Originally published in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer on June 24, 2004

At a recent news conference President Bush declared it was his job to change our culture — to replace a “do what feels right” mentality with an “Era of Responsibility.” The image is comic; one could almost imagine Bush wearing a trucker hat emblazoned “Jesus is My Homeboy” as he spoke. Well, on behalf of the culture he so desperately wants to reform, thanks, but no thanks, Mr. President.

Don’t get me wrong; responsibility is a good thing. It’s just that a man who evasively describes his first 40 years of life by saying “I did some irresponsible things when I was young and irresponsible” doesn’t really have the credibility to tell anyone how to live their life. Especially when his conception of responsibility has less to do with personal accountability and more to do with a punitive, fundamentalist version of morality. The hypocrisy reeks and our generation has grown up with a knack for sniffing it out.

During his three years in office, Bush continuously has pursued policies that inhibit personal responsibility and has shown that when it comes to himself, his administration and his corporate backers, responsibility is a nuisance to be dodged. Accountability is a concept applied to others.

Bush’s conception of responsibility tells him to deny non-violent drug offenders the education and treatment that could make them responsible citizens. It vilifies a woman’s right to choose even as it seeks to outlaw practical sex education that could reduce abortion rates. Bush’s vision of responsibility preaches cleaner air but excuses corporations from environmental regulations while limiting the rights of citizens to hold corporations accountable. It condones the abuse of prisoners and then shifts the blame onto the backs of our soldiers.

In Bush’s “Era of Responsibility,” the buck always stops somewhere else.

We don’t need Bush to fix our culture; the culture is all right. We don’t need him to tell us how to live responsibly. The culture is becoming responsible of its own accord. We don’t need an “Era of Responsibility” that preaches one thing while it does another. We need a new Culture of Opportunity that provides us with the resources to live responsibly.

Doing what feels right and living responsibly are not mutually exclusive. It feels right to have a job when you get out of school. It feels right when you know you have health coverage. It feels right when you can trust your government to act responsibly in the world. And when you practice safe sex, it feels pretty good.

A movement is growing in this country. Through such organizations as Music for America, artists and music fans are becoming politically active in greater numbers than we’ve seen since the ’60s. They are working to register, educate and motivate their fans to take responsibility for their lives and participate in the political process.

In his State of the Union speech, Bush said it was the job of government to counteract the “negative influences of the culture.” It is not Bush’s job to unilaterally change our culture. Nor is it his right.

Culture is powerful because it is fundamentally democratic — trendsetters can point the way, but everyone has to agree in order for change to occur. A movement is under way — a movement of artists and fans, activists and average Joes, bachelors and bachelorettes. Our culture is waking up and realizing that it has the power to counter the negative policies of our government. In a few months, we may see the end of the “Era of Responsibility” and the rise of the Culture of Opportunity.

See Also

• [[Media and Messaging 101]]

Links

Best Practices

Reporters are busy and deluged with information. It’s important to help them understand your campaign in the most direct, helpful, efficient way possible. Here are some tips:

• Do the research and present it clearly. Provide the reporters with accurate, well-researched information that conveys your message. Don’t make a reporter wade through news stories, reports, studies and other information stories. Do that yourself, and present statistics and information in concise nuggets of information. For example, don’t make the reporter find out how many people are living under the poverty level in your state – find that information for him and provide the source.
• Get to the point. Be ready to make your case to reporters and editors quickly over the phone. Tell them why you’re calling and give them the key information up front. If it is not an urgent call, ask if this is a good time to talk and offer to call back if it is not.
• Stay on message. Before you go into an interview, make sure you know the points you want to make and make them clearly. Try not to be drawn into tangential topics or long, wandering answers. Answer questions directly and positively, and always bring your answer to the point you want to make. Signal your intent to the reporter with words like, “If I leave you with only one thought today, I want it to be this:” and stay on message. If you need some time to think about the question, find out what deadline the reporter is working on and offer to call back.
• Don’t guess and never lie. If you do not know the answer to a question a reporter asks, never speculate, guess or invent an answer. It’s okay to say, “I don’t know.” Tell the reporter you will call back when you have accurate information.
• Give yourself time. You don’t have to answer immediately. Ask a reporter when his or her deadline is, and arrange a time to call back when you’ve had a chance to think about what you want to say.
• On the record. Assume that any time you are speaking to a reporter you are speaking for the campaign and not for yourself. Never say anything you would not want to see in a news story. The rules for speaking off the record or on background can be murky. Avoid speaking off the record.
• Timing is everything. Respect reporters’ time limitations and deadlines. Call them back in a timely fashion. If you have an interview scheduled, show up on time and be prepared. If you do not feel you are the right person to speak on an issue, tell the reporter and suggest alternatives.
• Practice makes perfect. Before an interview, editorial board meeting or media event, make sure your principals are prepared. Be ready with a succinct opening presentation that sets out your message. Compile a list of likely questions and practice responding. If you anticipate hostile questions, organize a “murder board” with friends throwing tough questions at you. Practice will help you organize your thoughts and give you greater confidence.

See Also

• [[Media and Messaging 101]]

Links

• [[http://www.youngpeoplefor.org/pdf/MEDIAMESSAGELBB.PDF| YPF Little Black Book: Media and Messaging]]
• [[http://www.youngpeoplefor.org|Young People For]]

Best Practices in Letter Writing

1. Keep your letter brief. You are most likely to get printed if your letter is 200 words or less.
2. Type your letter.
3. Make one point or two, at the most, in your letter. State your point clearly, ideally in the first or second sentence.
4. Your letter must be timely. Address a recent article, editorial or letter that appeared in the paper to which you are writing. If you are not addressing a recent article, then tie the issue you want to write about to a recent event.
5. Familiarize yourself with the coverage and editorial position of the paper to which you are writing. It is acceptable to refute or support specific statements or address relevant facts that may have been ignored by an article or editorial, but do not attack the media in general or the newspaper in particular.
6. Check the letter specifications of the newspaper to which you are writing. Length and format requirements vary from paper to paper. This information is usually available online, or on the editorial page of the newspaper. You usually must include your name, signature, address and phone number.
7. Support your statements with facts. You may consider sending documentation along with your letter or citing the information you are quoting in the letter. But do not overload the editors with too much information. Use the talking points in this tool kit for specific information on the issues.
8. Find others to write letters, when possible. If the newspaper receives a variety of letters on one issue, it will express to the paper, and to the public, that other individuals in the community are concerned about the issue. Sending a variety of letters will increase the chances of one getting published. But, be sure not to send form letters. It’s important to be original – multiple form letters to the same paper will only annoy the newspaper to which you are writing.
9. Monitor the paper to see if your letter runs. If your letter has not appeared within a week or two, follow up with a call to the editorial department of the newspaper.

See Also

• [[Media and Messaging 101]]

Links

• [[http://www.youngpeoplefor.org|Young People For]]
• [[http://www.youngpeoplefor.org/pdf/MEDIAMESSAGELBB.PDF| YPF Little Black Book: Media and Messaging]]

A strong message and a good media plan are essential to the success of any campaign. In order to succeed, you must reach your target audiences with a compelling and convincing message that supports your campaign, brings in partners and allies, and helps you achieve your goals.

Here are some basic questions to get you started:

1. What are the goals of our campaign?
2. Who are we trying to reach? What are our target audiences?
3. What messages and ideas resonate with those audiences? Why should they care about the campaign?
4. Which media outlets reach those audiences?
5. Who are the people and institutions who have credibility with those audiences?
6. How will we measure our success?

Setting Goals

Your goals should drive your message and your media plan – not the other way around. Whether the scope of your campaign is local, state or national, setting clear goals is essential. Be specific and lay out achievable goals with clear measures for success.

Defining Targets

With clear goals in mind, you can determine your target audiences, and the media outlets and communications tools that will reach them. Target audiences fall into three general categories:

• Groups and individuals who can take action to achieve your goal- Sometimes they are legislators, school board members, or local activists
• Groups and individuals who already agree with your goal and will help you
• Groups and individuals who can be persuaded to support your goal- A story in the local newspaper or on a popular radio or TV news show can raise your visibility enormously, but do your research and don’t limit your thinking.

First Target: The People You Must Convince In Order To Achieve Your Goal

• Where do they get their information?
• What media outlets do they pay attention to?
• What newspapers, columnists and reporters do they respect?
• What blogs do they read; what web sites do they visit; where will they see ads, posters or fl yers?

Second Target: People Who Already Agree With You

• How do you get them to take action on your behalf?
• How do you broaden your appeal?
• Where do like-minded people get their information?

Third Target: People Who Would Agree If They Knew About Your Campaign

• Research: Polling data can help you identify “persuadables”.
• Think: Which groups in your area share your interests?

Example: If you are working on an education issue think about students, teachers, administrators, parents and the service clubs they belong to.

Crafting Your Message

A clear and compelling message is the heart of a successful campaign. Ideally, a message should encapsulate the problem and your solution in a phrase that is easy to understand, and easy to present visually. The top-level message can’t convey all the information of your campaign, but it should capture the essence. The worlds of politics, advocacy and advertising are full of great examples.

Remember, you’re already convinced. You’re trying to reach your target audience. Put yourself in their shoes. Think about the messages that will resonate with your target audience and build support.

• Why should your target audience care about this issue?
• What words and phrases do they f ind persuasive?
• Think about possible opposition or resistance to your campaign. If there are people and groups you know will oppose your campaign, think about their arguments.
• Do they have an existing message?
• Does your message effectively counter theirs?
• Do you have a response to their best arguments?

TIP: Be ready for opposition arguments, but don’t start on the defensive or anticipate a counterargument before it is made. Criticizing the opposition is fine – but make sure you have an attractive alternative.

DO’S and DONT’S

DO:

• Reach out to your target audience
• Think about the potential opposition
• Change your message only if it’s not working, or worse, having a negative eff ect

DON’T

• Assume your audience knows where you are coming from
• Preempt your opposition with a defensive message
• Change your message frequently

Organizing a Media Plan

A media plan will help you focus your efforts and follow through. The plan should include specific assignments and deadlines. Set a date for achieving your ultimate goal and work backwards to determine the steps along the way – what you need to accomplish and when. Include milestones that may affect your campaign: a primary election, a legislative recess, the anniversary of a key historic event, etc.

Elements of a media plan include:

• A statement of your goals
• A statement of your message
• Identification of your target audiences and target media
• A list of the documents and campaign items you need to produce, such as press kits, T-shirts, brochures, reports, fact sheets, fl yers, ads, etc.
• A calendar with a schedule of time lines, deadlines and milestones
• Plans for creative campaign events, including launches, rallies, news conferences, visual events, photo ops and message events.
• A list of media contacts, including the beat reporters and publications that cover your issue

Tools for Reaching the Media

There are standard formats for reaching the news media, described below. Don’t be afraid to be creative and try non-traditional means for reaching the media. A well-designed media event can bring attention to your campaign and tell your story, but beware of stunts that can backfire.

News Release – News releases are an easy way to disseminate information and the most common form of media outreach. For tips on how and when to write a press release, see the appendix “Press Releases Do’s and Don’ts” at the end of this course book.

Media Advisories - Media advisories inform reporters, news directors, editors, etc., of upcoming events. They should include a brief description of the event, the date, time, place and participants, and contact information for someone who can answer questions about the event. Advisories should be sent at least a week in advance or earlier for a major event such as a concert or rally. The advisory lets reporters and editors know the event is coming so they will cover it; ensures the event is listed in the daybooks that the wire services (e.g., Associated Press, Reuters) prepare for journalists; places public events in local community calendars and schedules; and may inspire pre-stories describing the event and the campaign.

Photos / Photo Ops – Reach out to photo editors at local papers and television stations when you’ve got a good visual. Even if you don’t get a full story, newspapers may run a picture and a caption. Take your own high-resolution photos, and post them on your website. News agencies may ask to use them. Have photos of your campaign leaders ready for news outlets who request them.

Press Packets – Create folders that include a summary of your campaign, information about the campaign principals and their biographies, and other information such as brochures, fact sheets, studies, reports, clips of news coverage, lists of partner organizations, and quotes from supporters and allies. Give each member of the media covering your campaign a folder.

Events – Creative, funny or dramatic events are an excellent way to attract media coverage. Create your own events, and scour campus and community calendars for events or activities that you can play off of to create a campaign event (for example, the “unemployment line” that stretched through Manhattan as a counter-event to the GOP political convention). Make sure the event has strong visuals and conveys your message.

News Conferences – News conferences and briefings should be called only when there is significant news. When possible, hold news conferences between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. in a location convenient for reporters. It helps to hold a news conference in a place that supports your message visually – a park, a hospital, a factory — but it should not be hard to reach or too far from the reporter’s home base. Always make sure you have permission before holding an event in a public or private space; the story should be about the event, itself, or the fact that you were denied permission to use the space you wanted, not your failure to obtain needed permits.

News Briefings - Briefings are informal events designed to give reporters detailed background information about your issue. Have your experts and spokespeople available to make presentations, and have all the information available in written form for the reporters to take with them.

Editorial Boards – Special briefings for the editorial boards of local newspapers can introduce your campaign and your campaign leaders, and give you the opportunity to demonstrate why the newspaper should write an editorial supporting your issue. Research past editorials in the newspaper related to your issue and send your press packet to the appropriate editor before your meeting.

Op-Eds – Op-Eds are guest opinion articles in newspapers and other publications. They allow you to make your case on your terms and in your words. Submit the article to the appropriate editor (rules are usually listed on the publication’s web site) and follow up with a phone call. Be prepared to make the case as to why your article in newsworthy. It should be substantive, thorough, thoughtful and accurate. Off er your Op-Ed exclusively to one paper at a time. If your fi rst choice rejects it, then go to your next priority.

Letters to the Editor – Your campaign team and supporters should be encouraged to send letters to the editor to bring attention to your issue and demonstrate support. Each letter should be individual. Form letters or mass mailings will not be printed. Provide key policy and message points to your supporters, and urge them to write letters in their own words. For tips, see the appendix item “Writing a Letter to the Editor.”

Newsletters and E-mail – Consider sending out regular, brief e-mails or newsletters updating reporters and others on the progress of your campaign. These are designed not to engender immediate news coverage, but to keep journalists apprised of your progress and engaged with your issue. If your campaign leadership is addressing a campus group, you may want to send out an e-mail, or you might send interested reporters copies of news coverage or commentary that relates to your issue, whether your organization is mentioned or not.

Contacting the Media

Build a complete list of media contacts in your region. Include wire services, newspapers, television, radio stations, magazines, web publications, trade publications and newsletters, as well as individual reporters. List phone numbers, fax numbers, a general e-mail address for the newsroom, and e-mails and direct phone numbers for specific reporters.

Newswires: Wire services, such as the Associated Press, are largely invisible to news consumers, but play a key role. Include all local newswires in your contacts – AP, Reuters, Knight-Ridder, Gannett, Scripps-Howard, Dow Jones, Bloomberg, UPI, etc. Some states have news services organized to serve specific outlets, such as the Capital News TV service in Tallahassee, Florida, which prepares TV news reports for markets throughout the state.

Newspapers: Contact assignment editors with advisories and announcements. Establish relationships with reporters and columnists who cover your issues, and with the editorial or opinion editors in charge of op-Eds, letters to the editor and editorial board meetings. Don’t neglect weeklies, alternative papers and minority papers.

Television: Contact news directors, assignment editors and weekend assignment editors with events and announcements.

Radio: Contact assignment editors and bureau reporters for all-news radio stations; news directors for music-and-news format stations; and producers/bookers for talk radio shows. Pay particular attention to those contacts from stations that target the audiences you want to reach. Magazines: News stories should go to the editors in charge of specific departments. Look for features editors, political editors, minority outreach editors, columnists, etc. Be sure to allow for long lead times on magazines which appear only weekly, monthly or quarterly.

Campus Media

The media on your campus (college radio, student newspapers and publications, and television if you have it) should be prime targets for your campaign.

Build relationships with campus media outlets. Relationship building should start as soon as (or before) your campaign begins. You might want to begin with a campus newspaper, for example, by inviting the news editor to join you and other leaders of your campaign for coffee or lunch and then explain what your campaign is about and what you hope to accomplish.

Campus Newspapers: Talk with the newspaper’s opinion editor and ask if she or he will consider accepting an Op-Ed submission from people within your campaign. Write letters to the editor. And see if you can meet the editorial board and persuade them to write an editorial supporting your efforts.

Campus Radio Station: Ask the show’s producers if they’d have you on to talk about your campaign. Also make use of friends’ shows on the station. Better yet, see if you and others involved in your campaign can get your own radio show.

Finally, use the coverage you generate on campus to create coverage elsewhere. Forward stories that appear in the campus newspaper to other media outlets in your area. One of the best ways to convince outside reporters that something students are doing is newsworthy is to show them that this activity is being covered in campus publications.

Reinforce Your Message on Campus

Once you’ve determined what your message is, and once you’ve started working to generate coverage of your message in the media, you ought to consider employing some of the following message reinforcement techniques. Be sure you employ a consistent message throughout, regardless of the medium.

Ads: Often too expensive, but may be a good idea if you can aff ord them.

Posters: Learn what the rules are for putting up posters on your campus and in your community. The most affordable option is to copy a design on 8.5x11 paper, but larger posters attract more attention while allowing for more space to project your message.

Leafleting: You might want to consider producing a fl yer that communicates your message and provides information about your issue and how to get involved. You can distribute this flyer through dorms, as well as to houses and apartments in your community.

Tabling: Many campuses allow student groups to set up tables in highly trafficked areas. If you do this, make sure to have posters or visuals that clearly communicate your message to those walking by, as well as more detailed materials for people who stop and ask about your campaign.

Dining Hall Info Cards: Some campuses allow student groups to place informational cards on tables in their dining halls.

Chalking: Sidewalk chalk can be a fun and creative way to reinforce your campaign message. If a group of people are chalking, make sure they know what the key points that you want them to convey are so that they can remain on message.

Are there events already scheduled where your campaign can have a presence (e.g., board meetings, job fairs, candidate debates or other places where people with an interest in your campaign will gather)?

Tracking Coverage

Keep good records of media coverage, including copies of print and web coverage, and recordings of radio and TV stories. Good records will allow you to assess which strategies were most eff ective, and remind you of the ways key reporters, columnists and editorial writers view your issue. Good records also will give you good materials to show to funders, allies and new reporters.

The easiest and cheapest way to monitor coverage of your campaign is to track it online through daily searches – something you should be doing anyway to keep yourself informed.

Case Study: Brandeis University

Using the Campus Media to Your Advantage – Failure and Success

by Nicole Karlebach, former YP4 Program Associate

In early 2004, after having been respected for years as an active, effective student organization, the popularity of the Brandeis University Student Union Government (SUG) was on the decline. Student interest in its initiatives was decreasing and the sentiment on campus was one of general apathy toward its operations. In an effort to reverse this process, members of the government made the decision to hire a Director of Public Affairs and Communications.

This new position had three main objectives:

1. To restore a positive reputation to the SUG on campus
2. To utilize the campus media to the advantage of the SUG by framing its actions in a positive light
3. To ensure media coverage of its work and projects, which benefit students

The new Director laid the groundwork for communication between the government and the campus media – including the newspaper, and radio and television stations. First, the Director provided her personal contact information to each of these organizations so that she could be contacted when any story began to develop involving the SUG. Next, she collected the contact information for the SUG members so that she could easily refer media to specific people when necessary. Lastly, she set up meetings with representatives of each campus media organization to establish relationships and lines of communication. This later evolved into weekly radio spots and “press gaggles,” which were weekly meetings of the Director and SUG President with the editors of the campus paper, The Justice.

The Director was first put to the test when the SUG passed a resolution supporting the use of clean, renewable energy in all new construction on the Brandeis campus. The intention of the resolution was to inform students about the energy initiative and galvanize support for it. To ensure that this goal was met, the Director sent a press release to the campus newspaper and used her weekly radio spot to broadcast the passage of the resolution.

The release framed the issue in terms of the SUG’s role and included quotes from the group that had presented the clean energy proposal. The Justice responded well to this strategy and printed an article, “Student Union Senate approves environmental improvements, changes.” The framing was successful since the article focused on how the SUG had taken the lead on the issue. This gave the SUG more leverage in its negotiations with the administration – the only body with the power to commit the University to the energy policy – and increased awareness among students.

Another conflict for the director came in the midst of budgetary disagreements between the SUG and the administration. The administration had audited and confiscated student funds, and the SUG believed that the administration was wrongly refusing to grant them back a portion of their allocated money in a timely manner in the hopes of stalling until the end of the academic year, when the issue would be moot. To help prevent this, the SUG reached out to the media. The Director scheduled a meeting between the SUG’s top leaders and members of The Justice. The meeting took place before the disagreements between the SUG and the administration were made public. This afforded the SUG leaders a rare opportunity to frame their issue from the ground up. When reporters then questioned the administration, they did so largely from within the SUG’s frame (i.e., using the students’ information, terminology, and ideas). The resulting article gave voice to the issue, which until then had only been discussed in private, and did so in a way that reflected the SUG’s framing. Thanks in no small part to the article, the money issue was resolved before the school year came to a close.

See Also

• [[How to Write Press Releases]]
• [[How to Write an Op-Ed]]
• [[How to Write a Letter to the Editor]]
• [[Talking to the Media 101]]

Links

• [[Young People For]]
• [[http://www.youngpeoplefor.org/pdf/MEDIAMESSAGELBB.PDF|YPF Little Black Book: Media and Messaging]]
• [[http://www.fenton.com/pages/5resources/1bestpractices.htm| Fenton Communications Best Practices]]
• [[http://spinproject.org/article.php?list=type&type=22|The Spin Project: Online Tutorials]]