Concentric Media: Resource Guide

Note from
Dorothy

Resource Guide

Broadcasts

Promotional
Materials

Organizational
Resources

Discussion
Guide

Bibliography

How to contact the Press - for television broadcasts and other events such as community screenings

REASONS YOU MIGHT WANT TO NOTIFY A REPORTER

To bring attention to and to promote the broadcast

To extend an invitation to the reporter to attend a preview screening

A preview event is often held before the broadcasts to generate interest for press and community leaders

To publicize home viewings/discussions held the same night as the broadcasts

To publicize an event held for the community

A community event is a gathering independent of the broadcasts, at which one or more of the films are shown on videotape, VCR and TV/monitor, followed by discussion

CALL LOCAL NEWSPAPERS, MAGAZINES, and/or NEWS PROGRAMS

Identify reporters, producers and news editors in your area who write about women's issues. If you don't know who they are, call your local newspapers, radio, and TV stations and ask who covers these issues: Women, Reproductive Rights or Abortion, Health Care, and Religion.

CONTACT THE REPORTER

Once you have the name of the reporter most likely to be interested in the subject, you can contact the person by fax, letter or e-mail (see SAMPLE LETTER). You can use this letter, or parts of it, in a more personal letter of your own. Be sure to include local interest. Follow up by calling the reporter to check if your letter and any enclosures were received.

IF YOU ARE HAVING AN EVENT, YOU MIGHT INVITE THE REPORTER BY PHONE

Suggested script: On [date and time] I [or the name of the organization] will be hosting a screening of [name film(s)]. We thought you might be interested in writing something about the personal stories of people whose lives have been and are now being deeply affected by the struggle for abortion rights. If you would like to join us at our event on [date] and see these documentaries, please contact me at [phone number].

If you have invited guest speakers, whether local community members who have agreed to tell their stories, or a well-known celebrity, give a brief description about whomever will be speaking - without the names of local residents sharing their personal stories, if they don't wish to be identified in the press.

FOR REFERENCE

Here are one sentence summaries of the films when speaking to the press: WHEN ABORTION WAS ILLEGAL documents personal stories from the back-alley days; FROM DANGER to DIGNITY traces underground networks and the fight to change the laws through Roe v. Wade; THE FRAGILE PROMISE of CHOICE is about the current situation. Films in the Trilogy have been nominated for an Oscar, won an Emmy, and received the Corporation for Public Broadcasting's Gold Medal. If the reporter wants to see a preview tape and you do not have one, contact us by sending a fax to (650) 321-5079 or email to order@concentric.org.