TO SCORE WITH EDITORIAL BOARDS, ISSUE MUST RESONATE WITH PAPERS’ AGENDAS

SUMMARY OF THE DISCUSSION

By David Brimm

When you contact a newspaper’s editorial board to try and push your client’s or organization’s agenda, keep in mind that the newspaper has an agenda of its own. So your batting average goes way up when the two complement each other.

From left: Huntley, Beery, Milliner, Dold, Clark

That was the consensus of a terrific panel of this town’s leading Editorial Board editors who addressed a sold-out crowd at November’s luncheon meeting of the Publicity Club of Chicago at Maggiano’s.

The panel for the meeting included: David Milliner, publisher, Chicago Defender; Steve Huntley, editorial page editor, Chicago Sun-Times, R. Bruce Dold, editorial page editor, Chicago Tribune, and David Beery, assistant managing editor/editorial, Daily Herald. The meeting was moderated by Thom Clark, co-founder and president of the Community Media Workshop.

Bruce Dold, who is a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial page editor, has been editorial page editor since July 2000. Under his stewardship, the Tribune received a second Pulitzer Prize in editorial writing in 2003.

Dold enumerated four reasons that editorial boards must exist: to monitor the actions of the government (reflecting Thomas Jefferson’s belief that to be governed properly, one needs information); to set the agenda for the community and for the nation, at large (often reflecting the Tribune’s own priorities); to provide "brain food" to readers to provoke debate; and for pure entertainment (writing must be concise and lively).

Milliner, who in January 2003 became only the fourth publisher in the nearly 100-year-old history of the Chicago Defender, emphasized that the role of the Defender was "to empower our readers to empower others" and to "take a stand and represent those whose voices are not being heard in other media." His immediate goal is to "stabilize the institution that is the Chicago Defender and restore its name and dignity."

"Our job is to help set the agenda for the community by focusing on issues that impact the community," said Dave Beery, who has held his assistant managing editor position for 12 of the 16 years he has worked for the newspaper. Beery noted that while the Daily Herald is often perceived as being too "parochial" because of its strong suburban and downstate Illinois emphasis, he suggested that this localized approach is what gives the paper its strength and niche.

Huntley, who joined the panel late after attending the funeral for the recently departed Sun-Times columnist, Irv Kupcinet (PCC took time to remember Kup during the meeting), joined the editorial board at the Sun-Times in 1997. Under his leadership, the paper’s editorial page staff was awarded the Peter Lisagor Award for exemplary journalism in 1998. Huntley offered a succinct suggestion for the best method to approach him for editorial consideration: "tell me who you are and what you want to talk about." In other words, be concise and succinct.

Clark pushed the panel to divulge the topics that really resonate with their respective papers and editorial staffs. Dold believes that the death penalty debate deserves ongoing consideration, as well as the failure of the DCFS to properly monitor their charges (one of the Tribune’s editorial Pulitzers was for their coverage of this topic.)

Milliner believes that HIV and health care issues deserve ongoing consideration, while Beery wants to see more emphasis placed on DUI offenders who continue to drive after being arrested for this crime. Huntley is concerned that not enough attention is being devoted to education funding, which, he notes, is both an "economic and education issue."

When asked to describe a good editorial meeting, Huntley believes it is one where there is a strong, focused message and point of view that sticks to one major topic. His attention span, and that of his fellow board members, begins to wane when multiple issues are raised. Another turn off is having a "mob" attend the session. He prefers a group no larger than four, an opinion shared by the other panelists.

As you might expect, there is considerable competition for editorial board consideration (both the Tribune and Sun-Times receive 250-300 requests a week). To get to first base, in addition to Huntley’s advice to be concise, Dold strongly recommended that PR people monitor the issues being covered by the paper and try to tie your pitch to these issues. Send material in advance of the meeting so that the paper’s board members have a background and won’t waste time asking elementary questions.

The frequency that each paper’s editorial board convenes differs. The Tribune’s board, with 10 members, meets three-times a week. The Daily Herald’s board, consisting of three full-time editorial writers and rounded out with other reporters, meets two-times a week, but communicates frequently via email to hash out decisions. The Sun-Times, with five board members, meets daily to stay current with the news cycle. You can meet the board members on-line by visiting each paper’s website.

While the editorial boards are made up of a core team, reporters from all sections of the paper are invited to attend the board meetings, especially if the meeting is related to a topic on which a reporter is writing.

All four panel members emphasized that you must come to an editorial meeting with a point of view. These meetings aren’t for pitching stories, but for advocating a stance on an issue. There is a "firewall between editorial board members and reporters," cautions Dold, so don’t expect editorial coverage just because you met with the editorial board -- and even if you meet with the editorial board, there is no guarantee that the meeting will result in a printed editorial. Huntley added that all editorial meetings are "on the record," so don’t expect to meet to "background" reporters.

To contact editorial board editors, there was a 100% consensus that this be done via email (a change from three years ago, according to Clark, when most editors wanted letters or faxes). Keep editorials to 800 words for the Tribune and 650 words for the Sun-Times. Contact Dold at bdold@tribune.com, Milliner at dmilliner@chicagodefender.com, Beery at dbeery@dailyherald.com, and Huntley at shuntley@suntimes.com.

Once again, meeting attendees walked away with hands-on information that could be immediately used in their individual practices. Most importantly, the opportunity to go one-on-one with editors following the presentation was invaluable.