{"id":2454,"date":"2008-12-07T12:40:57","date_gmt":"2008-12-07T12:40:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/publicityhound.com\/blog\/?p=2454"},"modified":"2025-06-06T14:45:34","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T14:45:34","slug":"how-to-persuade-newspaper-editorial-boards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/marketing\/print-media\/how-to-persuade-newspaper-editorial-boards\/","title":{"rendered":"How to persuade newspaper editorial boards"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Meeting<\/a>Today’s Crossroads section in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has an excellent package of articles<\/a>\u00a0on how the newspaper’s editorial board works.<\/p>\n

It includes an explanation of how it chooses letters to the editor,\u00a0how it decides who will be the community and syndicated columnists,\u00a0bios of the editorial board members, and how the board formulates the positions it takes in the daily editorials. It also includes a somewhat boring video of a typical editorial board meeting in which there’s little if any dissent,\u00a0no arguing and none of the\u00a0sparks that can really make those meetings fun.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The one article missing from the package was an explanation of how to work with the editorial board. It mentions that members of the public can schedule a meeting with the board, but it doesn’t explain the types of circumstances when someone might want to meet, or how to prepare for the meeting.<\/p>\n

As a former member of four newspaper editorial boards during my 22 years in the business, I recommend you approach the editorial boards of your local newspapers, particularly\u00a0when you need their support for a cause or issue. You can also ask for a meeting when:<\/p>\n

—You are about to break a sensitive news story and you want to meet with the board before the story appears, to provide background and try to win them over to your side early.\u00a0 Some sources ask for “off the record” editorial board meetings, and sometimes editors agree because they want to be in the loop and have all the information they need when the story breaks.<\/p>\n

—The newspaper has been printing unfavorable editorials about you and you want to present your side.\u00a0 But don’t expect to change their minds.<\/p>\n

—You feel the newspaper has treated you unfairly or has demonstrated media bias.<\/p>\n

—You feel that the reporter who has been assigned to your beat has a vendetta, an agenda, or is purposely out to get you.\u00a0 Meet with the board only after you have exhausted all other means.\u00a0 That includes contacting the reporter’s immediate supervisor.\u00a0<\/p>\n

—You have a new chief executive officer who you want to introduce to the board simply for a “getting to know you” session.\u00a0 Few organizations bother to do this.\u00a0 Yet the bigger and more newsworthy your organization, the better the chances they will want to meet with you.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In my “Special Report #33: How to\u00a0Win the Support and Respect of Newspaper Editorial Boards,”<\/a>\u00a0I explain several important things you should do before meeting with an editorial board. Here are a few of them:<\/p>\n

Do your homework<\/strong><\/p>\n

Decide beforehand the key points you want to get across and be prepared to present appropriate background information to support them.\u00a0 You might even put your key points in writing and present them to members of the board when you meet with them.<\/p>\n


\nPractice your presentation
\n<\/strong>
\nMake sure you know how long you’ll be able to present, and leave time for questions. Practice your presentation so you aren’t tongue-tided, particularly if you dread the thought of sitting at a\u00a0table with seven or eight newspaper executives who might grill you.<\/p>\n

Anticipate difficult questions<\/strong><\/p>\n

Compile a list of the most difficult questions you can image being asked.\u00a0 Craft responses for each one.\u00a0 Then practice your responses until you are comfortable with them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I’ve written here about how newspapers are dying,\u00a0but until they’re gone forever, the newspaper editorial board\u00a0remains a powerful group of people you’ll want on your side.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today’s Crossroads section in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has an excellent package of articles\u00a0on how the newspaper’s editorial board works. It includes an explanation of how it chooses letters to the editor,\u00a0how it decides who will be the community and syndicated columnists,\u00a0bios of the editorial board members, and how the board formulates the positions it\u2026 Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","iawp_total_views":2,"wds_primary_category":615,"footnotes":""},"categories":[615],"tags":[29],"class_list":{"0":"post-2454","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-print-media","7":"tag-media-relations","8":"entry"},"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Joan Stewart","author_link":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/author\/jstewart\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2454"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2454\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41425,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2454\/revisions\/41425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}