Email is an excellent tool for communicating with media. It is a cost-effective way to quickly distribute press releases and newsletters, and is also useful for submitting letters to the editor or opinion articles. Electronic press releases and newsletters can also be posted to your Web site. NetAction offers the following suggestions for communicating online.
Distribute email press releases in plain ascii text.
Draft your press release as you would any other email message, using
an email software program such as Eudora or Microsoft Outlook. Never
send press releases as attachments to email, or attach other documents
to email press releases. If you need to prepare a paper copy of the
press release, copy and paste the ascii text into a word processing
document (such as Microsoft Word) after the release is written in the
email browser.
Keep the text brief and focused.
An electronic press release should follow the same "pyramid" format as
any other press release. Start with the most important information
(and remember the five "W's" - who, what, where, when and why). Use
short paragraphs and keep it brief.
Write a subject line that's compelling or provocative.
Keep in mind that the subject line is the first thing reporters will
see when they download your release. Never email a press release (or
any other message) with a blank subject line.
Include your electronic contact information.
Remember to include your email address and Web site URL in addition to
your phone and fax number, and address. Put all your contact
information at the top of the press release.
Use hyper-links where appropriate.
If there is additional information available on your Web site -- such
as a white paper or an event announcement -- include a hyper-link so
reporters can click right to it. Online publications will often
include these links in their stories, making this an effective way to
direct visitors to your Web site.
Send a test message before distributing your press release.
Always send a copy of the press release to yourself or to a colleague
before distributing it. Check the format to make sure there are no
broken lines of text, and check for any mistyped Web URLs by testing
them to make sure they work.
Avoid disclosing the recipients' email addresses.
Always type the recipients' addresses in the "Bcc" field of your email
message header, rather than in the "To" or "Cc" field. (See
NetAction's "How to Create An Email Media List.")
Post your organization's media contact information on the
home page of your Web site.
Be sure to keep the contact information up-to-date, and include
information on how reporters can be added to your mailing list.
Treat email media inquiries the same as phone inquiries.
Always respond just as promptly to email media inquiries as you would
to phone calls. Reporters who work for online publications are much
more likely to contact you by email than by phone. If you're
responsible for answering media inquiries, check your email frequently
throughout the day.
Set up an online archive for your media communications.
Set aside an area of your Web site where reporters can locate past
press releases. (If you publish a newsletter in electronic form, maintain an
online archive of past issues, as well.)
Post press releases only to appropriate lists, news groups, and publications.
If you plan to post your press release to any email discussion lists,
news groups or online publications, make sure the topic of your
release is appropriate content for the list or Web site. If your press
release announces a new report on air pollution, it would not be
appropriate content for a forum for race car enthusiasts, for example.
Collect email addresses from your media contacts.
If you've been distributing your press releases by fax or postal mail,
ask your media contacts if you can switch to email distribution.
Commercial media directors (such as Bacon's Metro California Media)
routinely include email contact information. Major newspapers
frequently have separate staffs for their online versions, so you'll
need to include those contacts on your list, too. There are also media
directories and news services specifically for online publications
that may be appropriate to add to your media list.
Limit the size of your email message window.
In many email browsers, text that is longer than the width of the
message window will "wrap" to the next line. (When text is set to
"wrap," you don't need to hit the "return" key at the end of every
line.) If the size of your message window is set for more than about
75, the automatic "wrap" may result in broken lines of text.
The simplest way to create an email media list is to use your regular email software. The most common products you might use are Qualcomm's Eudora, Microsoft Outlook, or Netscape Mail. To create your own email activism list, you will need to be familiar with two features of your email software: the address book and the "Bcc" field.
Most email software programs have a feature that lets you set up an address book where you can store the email addresses of friends, relatives, and business associates. Most email address books will let you store hundreds or even thousands of names, making it a useful tool for creating a simple announcement-only email list that you can use to send out press releases or email newsletters.
For example, if your organization distributes press releases, you
can set up an address book entry labeled "Media" to store the email
addresses of reporters and editors so you won't have to send
individual messages to each of them. In the example below, we created
an address book entry labeled "Media" in Netscape Messenger. The first
two email addresses in this "Media" entry are
and
. (The other addresses aren't visible in the screen
shot of the address book.)
When the email addresses have been entered in the address book, your list is ready to use. But you'll want to send messages to the list without disclosing any of the recipients' addresses. So if you haven't already been introduced to the "Bcc" field, it's time to get acquainted.
When you open a "New Message" window in your email software, the message form will usually include a header that looks something like this:
=====================================================================
To:
From:
Subject:
Cc:
Bcc:
X-Attachments
=====================================================================
(Note: In some email software, "Bcc" is not included in the default setting of the header display. If you don't see it, check the "Help" file or the User Manual that came with the software, or contact the software company's support service by phone or email.)
Using the Media list in the example above, here is how you can send a message without revealing the reporters' email addresses: Type "Media" in the "Bcc" field of the message header (instead of in the "To" field) and type your own email address in the "To" field, like this:
=====================================================================
To:
From:
Subject: PRESS RELEASE: CARAL lauds FDA approval of mifepristone
Cc:
Bcc: Media
X-Attachments
=====================================================================
Always use the "Bcc" field if you send email to a list you've created in your address book!
If you type "Media" in the "To" field instead of the "Bcc" field, all of the reporters' addresses will be displayed when the recipients open the message. There are two problems with this. First, some people prefer not to disclose their email address. Also, if the address list is long, the header will be long. This is annoying to some people because they have to scroll through screens full of addresses before they see the message. If your list contains several hundred addresses, just imagine how annoying it will be to scroll through all those screens! Here is an example of an email message from someone who neglected to use the "Bcc" field:
=====================================================================
From: "Jane Doe" <
>
To: James King <
>, Alan Williams <awilliams@sirius.com>,
Dave Garrison <DG@aol.com>, "Jennifer Reilly" <Reilly@Reilly.com>,
"George Kelly" <Gkelly@pacbell.net>, "Thomas Jones" <tj54@aol.com>,
Gina Rogers <GinaR@uswest.com>, Dan Stevens <dans@yahoo.com>,
Vincent Davis <vince@att.net>, Ron Butler <ronbutler@dnai.com>,
"Marc Smith" <marc_smith@earthlink.net>, Tony Altura
<tonya@food.org>, "Jeffrey Carr" <carr867@aol.com>,
"Michael Milton" <mmilton@ucla.edu>,
Peter Boyd <pboyd@mindspring.com>, "Susan Smith" <ss@home.com>
=====================================================================
Next: Part 3A: Web-based Advocacy and Outreach Tools -- Basic Strategies