This is one of the best ways to get your campaign into your local media. It doesn’t have to be a Pulitzer Prize winning piece of journalism to get published, so don’t put yourself under too much pressure — just focus on communicating the main points of your campaign.

In terms of structure, you want your press release to sound like a news story you’d read in your local newspaper — that way, the editor will be able to easily slot your press release into the paper with minimal edits. Remember — always write about yourself in the third person when writing a press release, so no “I”.

A good structure for a press release would be as follows: 

• Opening paragraph: Who? What? When? Where? How? Try to answer as much of these as possible while also keeping it succinct. For example: “A local activist has launched a petition calling on Mayo County Council to take action on vacant homes.” 

• Second paragraph: Start rounding out the rest of the crucial details. You might include a bit more information about yourself, i.e., your name, age, where you’re based, how many signatures your petition has gotten.

• Round out your story: Take another two to four paragraphs to get across the extent of the problem (“There are more than 1,000 vacant homes in the area, and some of the homes that are derelict pose safety concerns for residents”). Explain why you’re taking action — maybe an election is on the horizon, or maybe your local TD is engaged on the issue.

• Quotes: Include a good quote from yourself next. This could be one to three paragraphs long and should reinforce what has already been said above, but is less about the facts and more about the emotion. For example: “It’s disgraceful that so many homes are sitting empty when people are desperately searching for a place to call their own. That’s why I’m urging everyone in this community who cares about this issue to sign my petition/take action/write to the council, etc.” 
• Notes: At the end of the press release, include your mobile number, your email address and let editors know they can contact you if they need any more information. Also, make sure to either attach pictures of yourself to the email or send a link to photos. Try to include a few pictures of yourself — four or five if possible — and have a good mix of landscape and portrait. Make sure pictures are high quality to maximise your chances of getting your press release published.

Another good option is to write an opinion piece for your local newspaper about the issue you’re campaigning on. Some people might find this easier than writing a press release — it’s more about the emotion and communicating the extent of the problem from your own perspective, and there’s more creative freedom. There’s a good guide on writing opinion pieces from Harvard University that’s available here. 

Some of this advice is more geared towards national newspapers — most local newspapers probably won’t have an opinion or comment editor, so feel free to contact the overall editor of the newspaper. If you don’t hear back after a few days, don’t hesitate to follow up — editors are often busy, and they might have missed your first email. Finally, if you still don’t hear back after a second email follow up, try giving them a call.

Not every newspaper still publishes letters to the editors, but for those that do, this can be a great way to get your message out. 

Pick up your local newspaper and see if there’s a letter to the editor section, or try calling your local paper and asking them if they’re accepting letters to the editor. Try to keep this short and sweet — letters to the editor should be no longer than 200 words, but ideally even less. Letters to the editor can be funny, sarcastic, biting, angry, or hopeful — the tone is all up to you. Follow your instincts, and communicate your message in a way that you feel is right.

Another great way to get your campaign into your local media is by getting on your local radio station. You can do this in one of two ways: by sending a press release to your local station, or by reaching out and asking if they would be interested in interviewing you about your campaign. 

If you’re doing the latter, try to find a few different people to contact — you can approach presenters and producers, and make sure to communicate in your email why the issue is so important. If your campaign has already had some success, such as a few hundred people signing a petition, make sure to tell them that so they know locals are engaged on the issue.

Before going on air, ask whoever is interviewing you if they can give you a steer on the kind of questions they’ll be asking. This will help you get prepared before going on. If they ask a question you don’t know the answer to, that’s OK! Just say it’s a difficult question to answer, or you don’t have all the facts, and try to pivot to talking about something you are more certain on.