Editorial Board Meetings
What is an Editorial Board Meeting?
Most daily newspapers schedule meetings between their editorial staff and invited guests, called editorial board meetings. The approach to these meetings varies greatly, but the purpose is the same- to evaluate the issue and decide if it warrants editorial support, and if so, what position the newspaper should take.
Meetings can be small, informal gatherings or involve numerous reporters, editors and stakeholders. If the subject of the editorial meeting is air quality, reporters covering environmental, automotive, or health issues might be invited. Meetings last from 45 minutes to two hours.
The editorial position taken by a major paper will raise the level of awareness of the issue, give it credibility, and often influence the position of other media in the area. It is a serious undertaking but well worth the effort. Few outreach activities offer greater visibility or potential for eliciting community support. A successful editorial board meeting requires planning and preparation.
Requesting an Editorial Board Meeting
The following preliminary steps are essential and should be taken before you request a meeting with the editorial staff of your local paper.
Narrow the Issue
Reducing air pollution and traffic congestion is a broad topic. It is easy to envision people becoming side-tracked with a variety of related issues from zoning ordinances to mechanisms for financing mass transit. Be aware of related issues, but keep your focus on the importance of taking personal responsibility for improving air quality and reducing traffic congestion. Be clear and specific. Ask the newspaper to support the It All Adds Up to Cleaner Air public education program and its messages.
Conduct Media Research
What has the newspaper written about air quality and traffic congestion in the past? Has it taken a stand on air pollution reduction, mass transit, or related issues? Insure your credibility by knowing the facts. Review up to one year's back issues of the paper. Develop an understanding of the paper's past and current position on your topic.
Prepare your Case
Send your most knowledgeable and articulate representatives. Supply them with the most up-to-date, comprehensive information available. Your resource file should include all the basics of the It All Adds Up program plus supportive letters, articles, and editorials from other publications.
Schedule the Meeting
Contact the editorial department to express your interest in scheduling a meeting. Follow their procedure. Typically, they will request that you write to the editorial page editor outlining the reason for your request and providing pertinent information about the subject. Your letter should do the following:
- Address key points
- Stress localized information (e.g., air quality attainment status where applicable)
- Include relevant fact sheets
- Provide pertinent documents
- Identify your attending representatives (no more than three), their credentials and affiliations
- Designate the lead spokesperson
What to Expect in an Editorial Board Meeting
- Introductions
- Opening remarks by the editorial page editor who may suggest focusing on a particular aspect or choose to pose specific questions
- Presentation by your spokesperson (15 to 20-minute overview providing background information and making the case for editorial coverage of the issue)
- Question and Answer period
Arrive 15 minutes early. The spokesperson should be flexible, composed, and well-prepared. An editorial board meeting is a working session. Questions may come up at any time and people may come and go during the meeting. There may be a variety of opinions expressed during the session and differences of opinion on particular issues. Anticipate the paper's questions and concerns. Rehearse the Question and Answer portion of the meeting in advance. It may not be possible to answer all of the questions. Your spokesperson can offer to get back to the editor following the meeting. In some cases, it may not be appropriate to answer a question, particularly if it pertains to issues outside the area of discussion. It will be up to the spokesperson to guide the conversation back to the topic at hand.
Following the Meeting
- Contact each of the editors and reporters who attended the meeting thanking them for their interest and offering to supply any further information they require.
- Monitor the editorial page. If the paper does not run an editorial on your issue, place a follow-up call to ascertain whether they plan on doing so.
- When an editorial is published, monitor letters to the editor in subsequent issues.
- If letters of support are printed, you may want to enlist the writers in the initiative.
- Use discretion in responding to negative letters, if there are any. Ask the editor for the opportunity to respond publicly to the critic only if you think that doing so would benefit your cause.