GETTING NOTICED

Chapter Seven, from Campaign Against Cruelty, www.campaignagainstcruelty.co.uk
This chapter written by Alex Bourke, corrected by Ronny Worsey, Campaigner at Animal Aid and Tony Wardle, Media Director at Viva!, journalist and documentary producer

THE MEDIA - How can I get into the Press, Radio and TV?

IT'S EASY when you know how. Here's how ....

A story in an animal rights or vegetarian magazine will be read by a few thousand people who are already on the side of the animals. But a story in your local paper could reach everyone in your area, including the many thousands who are ready to do something for animals but don't even know that your group exists to help them.

WHAT THE MEDIA WANT

The media - press, radio and TV - shape public opinion. But they only print what they want to, or what the government and their advertisers allow. Once you know what their criteria for using or rejecting stories are you can make sure that you feed them just the right materials to maximize your chance of reaching the public.

Picking a Media Stunt

To get a story in the local media you will need to have a local angle. Children and animals are very popular with editors. Newspapers love photos. A TV story needs to be very photogenic.

It may not be politically correct, but if your group contains someone who fits the media stereotype of cute, you may as well make use of it. So a children's protest with balloons and people in animal costumes has a good chance of making the front page, whereas a talk to adults with slides in a church hall will probably be buried.

A protest march has a great chance of being covered, particularly if you do crazy stunts such as dressing up as giant vegetables, or if the subject of your protest is a controversial local issue.

Unfortunately it's also true that marches are more likely to be covered nationally if there are arrests, as we've seen with live exports protests. The national media there were initially more interested in violence and confrontation than in the animals.

If during a march a few people sit down outside the premises of a dodgy company and get arrested, there will almost certainly be a mention in the news unless a huge story breaks elsewhere, but you may not get a permit for the same demo next year.

LOCAL PRESS

Local papers are always looking for good local stories, so if you do it right it shouldn't be too hard to get coverage for some of your group's activities. The emphasis must be on local stories or national stories with a local slant. Make use of local supporters so you can quote a genuinely local spokesperson. Remember, local papers tend to avoid shock horror stories. Humour always works well.

In Britain, weekly local papers are often published around Wednesday, so if you want to guarantee newspaper coverage you'll need to send a press release to them about two weeks before your planned event. You can send it directly to the news editor or the editor, or better still ring up and ask if any of the journalists are vegetarian and make sure they get copies too.

Press releases all have a similar basic structure. They should be very short and enticing and contain enough information to get their interest so that they'll phone to interview you and get a story. At the top must be the title of the event or an eye-catching heading.

In the first sentence say what your event is. Follow with a brief description, no longer than two sentences, of what the event is about. Include some quotes from members of your group, for example "Fred Billings from AAA says the battery cage is the cruellest method of keeping birds...." Try to think of some punchy soundbites - quotations that will make the article fun or compelling to read. At the end give contact details for the public and a contact name and phone number where the journalist can reach the press coordinator of the event.

Make sure your press release is double spaced and printed in black ink. You can post press releases but it's much better to fax them to the news desk. Sometimes press releases in the post are binned before they reach the relevant person.

The national press are generally not interested in animal rights news and events and you'll need the help of professional journalists to get into these papers because they always have far more stories than they can print. Some national animal rights charities have experienced journalists writing their press releases and know the style that will appeal to each of the big papers. The success rate of getting into these papers is not as high as for locals, but the impact can be enormous when over a million people see even a very short piece.

They will often run a story on a special event such as National Vegetarian Week, especially if celebrity quotes and pictures are available. At such times you can get a local angle on this by linking up with the national organization and getting your name put on the press releases that they will send to all the press, including your local papers.

The local papers will ask you why you became a vegetarian, what your family think, what you buy and how you cook it, and what people can do to follow in your footsteps. If you have a local event running at the same time, such as a cookery demonstration, there's a good chance they'll send a photographer too.

If your paper has a 'What's On' section, send them details of all your meetings and planned events. Even if they don't use everything you send, they'll remember you. Next time a story breaks about animals, they may phone you up for your expert comments. This applies to radio and TV too.

For example, stories about Animal Liberation Front actions are usually ignored because the papers have been asked by the police not to print them since "they encourage more of the same". But if they do decide to print a story on, for example, an arson attack on a meat distributor, and ask for your comments to contrast with those of the owner, you can safely say something like:

"Our group is completely law-abiding and we would never condone illegal activities. But let me explain why these people feel that the meat industry is evil and why they did this. Two million animals are killed every day in Britain for food that isn't even healthy. Many of them are fully conscious when slaughtered.
"Their entire lives were spent indoors in factory farms in cramped conditions, and they are fed hormones and pumped full of drugs to try to cure all the diseases that such overcrowding and stress causes."

Never forget that over issues such as this they are not usually looking for truth or objectivity. They could be looking to 'do a job' on you. Think carefully about what you intend to say and do not be drawn into saying something that can be misinterpreted.

Never say anything 'off the record' to a journalist.

If a fur shop has been targeted, you could say: "Our group campaigns using legal methods such as leafleting and demonstrations against the fur trade because we feel that it's totally sick that in the twenty-first century some people are still walking around in coats made from wild animals that have been either kept in tiny cages all their lives and then gassed or strangled, or caught in gruesome leg-hold traps, which cause a slow, agonizing death".
"Decades of campaigning have almost got rid of the fur trade in this country, but there are still some shops selling fur and we can understand why some people feel driven to try and put them out of business for good."

GETTING ON THE RADIO

As well as writing to the local papers, send press releases to your local radio stations. They too are always looking for stories with a local angle - you! If you have a good knowledge of all the issues, then offer to go on the radio for a phone-in or discussion about going vegetarian.

You can talk about your own story, reaction of family and friends, what to say to schoolmates or workmates, what you eat and how to cook it. You could even take some food into the studio.

Going on radio is very exciting and not too scary because it's just you and a presenter in the studio. It's okay if you fluff your lines a bit at first. They may simply arrange to interview you on the phone, in which case they'll call you a few minutes before going on air. You'll be able to hear the programme down the line and the presenter will bring you in to have your say.

Preparation is vital! The leaflets and guides produced by national organizations contain good answers to all the standard questions that have been tried and tested. We strongly recommend that you get all the Viva! guides and Vegan Society leaflets and get to know them well, and the other factsheets recommended in the Resources sections.

Being interviewed is like taking an oral exam in animal rights - easy but only if you're well prepared. Memorize the points in these and your own leaflets so that you're ready for anything. As before any exam, read through the day before and practise your key points.

Always ask who else is to be interviewed, the format of the programme, how your contribution will be used and what the focus of the programme is to be. Always have three important points you want to communicate and try to get them in. Use the presenter's questions to say what you want to say; don't allow them to control the agenda and don't allow them to push you onto the defensive. The moment you do that you've lost it. If in doubt listen to a politician being interviewed to learn how it's really done!

If you know that there will be a devious representative of the Meat and Livestock Commission (MLC) or the National Farmers' Union (NFU) on the same programme, then you really must know what you're talking about. Make sure you're up-to-date on the issues for discussion. Be ready with answers to all their standard lines (or is it lies?) about protein, iron, meat being necessary as part of a balanced diet, calcium, B12, vegetarians being short of things, "We have the highest standards in Europe" and the usual drivel these public relations experts excrete. If you prepare thoroughly you can have them for breakfast every time.

Before going up against government or academic types, practise taking turns with a friend interviewing each other, increasing the speed and intensity. If they say something you don't know the answer to, do what they do all the time: just ignore it and make one of your points. Keep talking and get as many points in as you can. After the broadcast people won't remember that you lost a couple of points but they will remember the new information you gave them about factory farming, nutrition and health, and they may try their local health food shop or get more information from you.

Always finish by telling them what they can do for animals and where to get more information and advice.

Finally, be ready for the trick question at the end such as "Well that's fascinating, but tell me, what do you think of people committing acts of violence in the cause of animal rights?" Or, "So you're saying that your aim is to put all our livestock farmers out of business?" which can come as a nasty surprise ... unless of course you've done your homework!

TELEVISION

Don't miss out your local TV stations. Your hit rate with them will be lower but the coverage will be brilliant. Local TV often picks up a story which has appeared in the papers. Again, before going on TV, practise what you'll say by getting a friend to test you hard and then swapping roles.

Ask the same questions as you would for radio. Local TV will almost certainly prerecord a lot of material, reshoot anything they're not happy with and edit it to just a short piece with the best bits. There's really nothing to be afraid of and it is brilliant seeing your group on the News. However their aim is often to make you look radical or threatening, so protect yourself. If it's a documentary, again ask all the questions about editorial focus, who else is appearing, how your contributions will be used - and get the answers in writing!

Finally, when you do get into the media, some people might accuse you of being more interested in promoting yourself than in promoting animal rights. The truth is that in the process of publicizing the facts about animal cruelty it is inevitable that people will be seen in the media and those watching will remember those who turned them on to animal rights.

Remember, preaching to the converted won't change much. Preaching to the convertible will - and the best way to reach the 90% of people who aren't even vegetarian yet is through the mainstream media.
Go for it!

The Power of the Internet

Almost as soon as the internet was developed, campaigners began to see its potential for ideas and information-sharing. It is no exaggeration to say that during the last few years the internet has become one of the most effective tools available to campaigners.

The internet is amazing in that it allows us to cross the barriers of time and distance effortlessly. Campaigners from all over the world can now send large amounts of important information to one another within seconds, for virtually no cost!
Campaigning organizations now produce colourful websites packed with information and very easy to use. We can all access this information from anywhere in the world, at any time of the day or night.

Within the last couple of years the internet has been used to plan and promote large-scale national demonstrations. This has boosted the turnout at some high-profile events and brought thousands of new campaigners into the movement for social change.

As we stated earlier in this chapter, any media coverage for our campaigns is an asset to us, but our pro-animal message is frequently censored and distorted by the media, and this can set us back in our campaigning and alienate us from the public.

Using the internet, however, we can at last take control of how we promote our ideas. We can free ourselves from damaging media stereotypes and say exactly what we want to the whole world. We can make our own media!

We urge all campaigners to get on-line. Not only will you then be able to look up websites, but you can subscribe to forums and e-mailing lists and have totally up-to-date news and information sent to you on a daily basis.

We are living in the midst of a communication revolution. The internet gives us opportunities that previous generations never had. It is our duty to seize these opportunities and use them in our struggle to bring about a more compassionate world.

Getting On-Line for Beginners

Choosing a computer, modem, Internet service provider and browser is like choosing a car. Basically they all do the job. Questions to consider are cost, do they give 24-hour support on line and by telephone, do they charge for support, can you access your e-mail in other countries?

Quite honestly, if you're a beginner, it doesn't make a lot of difference who you sign up with. Find out what your friends use and choose the same then you'll be sorted for support, since most internet providers either offer little help or it's shut at the times you surf, or you can't get through, or they charge premium phone rates by the minute, whereas your mates will already have solved whatever problems you might encounter.

Some ISPs (internet service providers) such as Freeserve offer free connection to the internet but you pay for phone calls and they get a commission from the telephone company.

Other ISPs such as America On Line (AOL) offer free phone calls for a fixed monthly charge, which can work out cheaper if you're on line a lot. If your ISP offers you several screen names for one account, then other people in your house (or elsewhere) can connect using your account, each of you with your own private e-mail box, though only one of you can be on line at any one time.

For a free e-mail forwarding account that works anywhere in the world, try www.hotmail.com or www.bigfoot.com. The advantage over many of the free services provided by other companies is that you're not locked into a single browser, which can be a major problem when you stay with friends in another city for a month, or go abroad and try to retrieve your email from a cybercafé in northern Thailand that hasn't got a copy of your browser.

For a good browser (the software that lets you look at websites on the net) everyone gets a copy of Internet Explorer with their PC. Outlook Express is good; it can divert incoming e-mails into particular directories, which is wonderful if you get a lot of e-mails you want to keep.

Ronny uses Bigfoot since she rarely stays in the same place for long and is always using other people's computers.

Alex uses America On Line, which is easy, with unlimited access for a fixed fee, and unlike some free ISPs growing too quickly you don't ever lose e-mails and you can always get connected, but he has a back-up hotmail account which at the time of writing offers some facilities for receiving certain kinds of complex e-mails (with multiple attachments) more easily than in AOL. A very nice browser is Opera, which you can download from www.opera.com. In the end, one TV set is much like another; it's what's showing inside the frame that you're really interested in.

Finding Information On-Line

There are plenty of places to start. Check out our list of websites in the Resources chapter 16 or in the online version of this book at www.CampaignAgainstCruelty.co.uk, and look at www.yahoo.com (under Society and Culture, Animal Rights) or try www.excite.com (under Lifestyle, Pets and Animals, Animal Rights). Most sites have a page of links to other sites. After you get your next phone bill you may then consider unlimited access.

Building a website

Once you've figured out e-mail and surfed a few of the funky vegsites, it's time to put up a page about what you're up to. The easiest way is to use the free software FrontPage Express from Microsoft, but then you have to figure out how it works. Ronny particularly recommends Dreamweaver. You can also find sites that help you to make your own site. Try www.moonfruit.com.

Every bookshop has hundreds of books about the web, most of them too advanced or too simple. Alex, who used to be a programmer and a computer science lecturer, highly recommends the book Teach Yourself to Create Web Pages in 24 Hours by Ned Snell, published by Sams, which includes a diskette with FrontPage Express on it.

You'll also need some hard disk space at an Internet Service Provider (ISP) to store your site. You can get free webspace in many places. Perhaps with your e-mail account you may get 10MB, but you may be stuck with the provider's adverts on your site and there will be a limit on how many people can view it.

For example you can register for a free e-mail account with www.freeserve.co.uk and they will give you free web space. Or try www.geocities.com for heavy-duty access. This is a good place to put up a free homepage about your group or yourself. If you build a serious site, once you get it working it's worth paying a little to get space that you control fully without adverts and that has more bandwidth, which refers to how fast it can transfer data or how many people can access it at the same time. As with choosing your ISP, ask other groups what they use and then they can help you get started if you're bamboozled by all the techno-jargon.

If you have products such as a veggie guide to your town, T-shirts, tickets for coaches to demos etc. you may want to open a shop on line. First you must contact your bank to arrange to be able to take credit cards, and this could cost you a set-up fee plus a monthly charge. Or check out sites such as worldpay.com that collect money for you online for a commission. Then you'll need the software to run a shop.
Some companies will build and host a shop for you for a fixed fee per month, but if you work out what this fee adds up to over a few years you may be in for a bit of a shock. A cheaper way is to buy the software for a shop, work through the manual and build it yourself. Alex went to computer trade and e-business shows, looked at lots of packages and chose Actinic (from www.actinic.co.uk), which has different versions according to how many products you sell and whether you want to offer wholesale or foreign currency.

Pictures can really make a website look exciting, but they greatly increase the time it takes for people to download your page. A recent study claims that most people will, on average, wait for a maximum of eight seconds for a page to download before losing interest and going elsewhere.

Keep any pictures you use small, perhaps a square inch or less in size, and limit the number of colours. Use photos saved as JPEG files and cartoon artwork saved as GIF files so that the image is compressed. Scanning at 72 dots per inch (dpi) gives a good resolution on big pictures stored as JPEG files but is slow to load, so try scanning at 24dpi or 36dpi and using a smaller image on the screen.

If your images are around 7 kilobytes then they load quickly and net surfers can always click on the small image to go to a page with a big version, as you can see for example with the book covers at amazon.com. 1,000 characters of text take up 1KB and download very quickly. A 1,000 x 1,000 pixel picture in colour could take several minutes to download!

The internet is the life blood of the animal rights movement. It cannot be censored or blockaded or closed by the police or government. It links us all together to form one massive global movement for social change.

Just as cheap computers and printing created true freedom of the press, so the arrival of broadband access and digital TV will allow us in a few years to launch animal rights video channels with a global audience. If you think the internet is impressive now, believe us, you ain't seen nothin' yet.

Getting on line and finding your way around the net means investing a few weeks in figuring out how it works. It's easy if you have a friend to coach you and it gives you a phenomenally powerful set of tools to join in the global vegolution as a teacher or peace warrior. Don't give up if you get stuck, just pick up the phone and call a friend for help, then pass it down the line when you get proficient.

The truth is out there on the net, and it's a vital part of creating a vegan world - in our lifetimes.