A good first step is to become familiar with all the media sources in your area and how they report on and publish news:
- in print only, online, or both?
- through local reporters or national news services?
- how much advance notice do they need to cover events?
- do they have reporters dedicated to political or environmental issues?
There are a few standard ways you can let media in your area know about your town hall event.
Send a brief media release, not more than one page, highlighting who the speakers will be and that they will be part of a town hall on the topic of #GreenRecovery. Include a general explanation of #GreenRecovery from the For Our Kids website. Give the date and time of the event and a link to the event page. Include a contact name and phone number. Media releases can be sent up to a week before the event; if your local media are primarily community newspapers, they may need up to two weeks’ notice. Send a reminder the day prior to the event.
Op-eds are typically written by well-known or authoritative members of the community, but not always. The intent is to start a discussion, rather than to promote a particular event, so it could be useful to submit an op-ed about #GreenRecovery to generate some interest and participation prior to the town hall. Here are some good tips on writing an op-ed. Not all newspapers invite op-eds, so check with the paper in your area before preparing one.
Letters to the editor are another form of communication used to generate discussion rather than promote a specific event. Papers will tend to publish letters that relate to an article that appeared in the media within the past few days, or an issue that is top of the news that day. You could send a letter to the editor prior to or after your town hall event to keep the discussion going.