Editorial Board Meeting

Nearly every newspaper has an Editorial Board that convenes regularly to discuss their views on various news issues. This is how the paper arrives at the positions it takes on the paper’s Editorial page. You should consider requesting a meeting with the Editorial Board to present your views on health care coverage and its effect on the community.
The following tips will help you secure a successful Editorial Board meeting:

• Identify your key points. Editorial Board meetings are formal and structured. You need to identify the four or five key points you want to make, and think about what information you will use to support those points – facts from your state or community, personal anecdotes, etc. You should also think about what you would like a resulting editorial to include and make sure you provide this information.
• Select spokespersons. Editorial Board meetings typically involve no more than four spokespersons who are joined by members of the paper’s editorial page staff (typically from two to eight people). You should identify spokespersons who bring diverse perspectives, have credibility on the issue and can personalize the facts.
• Contact the newspaper. Call your newspaper’s editorial page and ask when Editorial Board meetings are conducted and how you can request a meeting. Most papers have standard times and procedures. You will probably need to prepare and send a brief email that explains who would like to attend and what you want to discuss. Appointments are booked within a matter of days.
• Do your homework. Prior to meeting with the Editorial Board, visit the paper’s Web site to see how it has covered similar issues. Nearly every paper has a good search engine to help quickly review past media coverage.
• Provide a brief presentation. At your Editorial Board meeting, you will be asked to provide a brief presentation – about 1 -1 minutes – presenting your view and the facts that 05 support it. You should plan in advance who among your spokesperson will make which points. Remember that nothing you say is off the record.
• Be prepared for questions. The Editorial Board will follow with up to a half-hour in questions. Think through the tough questions in advance and how you will answer.
• Follow up. At the conclusion of the meeting, ask if the paper will consider writing an editorial on this topic. You can also offer to submit an op-ed that you write. Once you return from the meeting, follow up with an e-mail thanking the Editorial Board for its time.