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Advocacy Works—Press Helps

In early 2008, a decade after the opening of the supermax prison in Tamms, Illinois the grassroots coalition Tamms Year Ten had what they needed to win changes at the facility, where men are kept in permanent, long-term isolation.

They had personal stories from former inmates, testimony from current prisoners, research about the damaging psychological effects of prolonged isolation, evidence the prison was in violation of its original legislative mandate, and more. But as an all-volunteer group with little clout of their own, they would have to leverage the media and any other tools they could to make a dent.

They succeeded in pressuring Gov. Quinn and the Illinois Department of Corrections to reform the controversial facility—in part through adroit use of the news. But it was a challenge.

“We had press problems,” said Laurie Jo Reynolds, who asked the Workshop to provide free coaching on messaging and spokesperson skills. “First, the media is very reluctant to report on prison conditions. Second, it was risky for the ex-prisoners to talk to reporters who often tried to undermine their credibility.”

Laurie Jo and other volunteers began to reach out to the press with their story, rather than wait passively for the press to come to them. As the year unfolded, the campaign gained steam. Legislative leaders, then Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch took supportive positions. The group melded arts and activism—including mud-stenciled messages in public places—garnering attention from online news sites. And, a huge press break came when the Belleville News Democrat did a devastating investigative series about the prison (as did the Chicago Tribune).

“This is a public information campaign–understanding how to work the press is critical. We would not be looking at reforms right now if we had not had the Community Media Workshop as a sounding board and advisor,” Laurie Jo said.

Microsites? Yea, verily

For a few weeks in April 2009, tens of thousands of people unleashed their inner bard on the Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s companion Web site, talklikeshakespeare.org. Suddenly it was fashionable for office mates to ask for “yonder tape dispenser” while mothers counseled their children that “All’s well that ends well.”

The site received a million-plus hits and attracted international news coverage for the Theater while exposing a new audience to Shakespeare beyond the hopes and goals of Theater staff. Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley even declared “A Talk Like Shakespeare Day” And NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, two London newspapers and National Public Radio ran the story.

Michael Wood, director of planning and program development for the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, says the idea was cooked up by Theater staff as a novel strategy to celebrate Shakespeare’s 445th birthday but he began to contemplate a temporary web site or social networking tool to supplement an organization’s “official’ message during a Community Media Workshop session on crisis communications.

Crisis communications? “Yes, I know it doesn’t sound like that would be the one,” Michael explained. However, as he listened to how Northern Illinois University officials skillfully used Facebook and other unofficial web and social networking tools to communicate in the aftermath of a tragic campus shooting, Wood began to think about online communication in a new way.

“I saw how an institution could use a microsite to have a whole different personality,” Michael said. “Also, when you are using interactive tools, you can let your friends help you tell your story.”

“The Community Media Workshop offers lots of different ways to learn; it has a seemingly endless line-up of programs,” said Michael, who has attended a variety of Workshop programs in recent years. “CMW is a good bargain, close to home and easy to use.”

Simplify

In 1895 the German Evangelical Orphanage and Home for the Aged pioneered intergenerational living by housing two seniors and nine children. Today, its descendant Lifelink provides services from foster care to affordable senior housing to international adoption in five states. Charged with telling their stories is Communications Manager Sylvia Daniels.

Her attendance at Community Media Workshop’s a webinar on how to “develop and sharpen the message,” is coming in handy as she takes the lead on revising the agency’s mission statement: “The key point I took away is the importance of simplifying the message,” Sylvia said. “I was reminded that you don’t have to explain everything in detail.”

As of the end of the summer she was still wordsmithing but offered this advice gleaned from the training—and her work as a solo communicator in her agency: “We are living a time where people expect immediate gratification. You have to focus and get your point across as fast as possible…. No matter how long you’ve been in your role, it’s always good to get new ideas. A Community Media Workshop seminar re-energizes you.”

Confidence matters

Ahlam Said, communications coordinator at Inner City Muslim Action Network, was skeptical about taking the Professional Media Relations workshop in January 2009. “I go to a lot of trainings and I never really use what I learn right away or at all,” she said. “However, I recommend this training to people because it gives you a new skill set and an opportunity to put those skills to the test immediately during the class when you have to pitch actual journalists who give you on the spot feedback.”

Her meeting with a reporter from Chicago Public Radio at the Workshop training session led to an interview and coverage for IMAN. Afterward, she reflected that one of the benefits of the session was to create a place where she was comfortable learning and trying out her pitching skills. One of her key lessons learned: “To proactively approach the media takes skill and confidence.” Ahlam said she now will pass along the communication skills she learned last January: this past summer, she planned to have nervous interns start helping her call reporters in the next few weeks.