The media

The media can be important allies in a campaign, though need to be managed carefully.

Prepare a list of local media organisations including press, radio and television.
Try and develop a personal relationship with a particular journalist and invest time to brief them thoroughly and get them on your side.
Suggest the local paper could be your media partner for the campaign, covering progress over a period of time.
Nominate a media contact person on a reliable contact telephone number who is prepared to be contactable out of hours to ensure publicity opportunities are not lost.
The local media will be particularly drawn to covering your story if they feel a sense of injustice and you can demonstrate you have the support of local people. One way the media will judge the strength of local feeling is by the size of their ‘Letters to the Editor’ postbag, (or, for local radio,thenumber of phone-ins), so letters of support to the Editor and/or calls to the local radio station should be encouraged and specifically requested in campaign letters to supporters.