Earning media coverage

Our Defund Planned Parenthood protests have tremendous potential for earning local media coverage. Many media outlets will be covering the Planned Parenthood hearing at the Supreme Court, which means reporters in your town will be looking for a local angle.

That means your Protest can be the local flash point they’re looking for. And remember, even if a media outlet or reporter has some kind of bias, the thing they’re always looking for the most is a good story. Follow these steps to bolster your media outreach.

Media list and press release

Your first step will be to build a list of local media outlets in your area, along with contact information for each outlet. and their contact information. For instructions on this, see “Engage the Media and Earn Coverage for your Event” on the Pro-Life Action League website.

The Defund Planned Parenthood team has provided you with a press release template to fill out and send to the media.

Special notes for preparing your release:

  • Fill in your info: Be careful to fill in all the bracketed content in the release that is related to your event, and delete any bracketed material that is not relevant.
  • Proofread: Carefully check your press release for errors and accuracy before sending it out.

When to send your press releases? You will reach out the media about your Rally at least twice:

  • Send the release on Friday, March 28, to let the media know you’ll be holding a protest on April 2 when the Supreme Court hears oral arguments in the Kerr v. Planned Parenthood case.
  • Send the the release again the morning of April 2.
  • You could also send a shorter “media alert” on Tuesday, April 1 with some brief bullet points about the protest.

If possible, call your media outlets after you send your release to increase your chances of getting coverage.

Follow up after your Protest

You should follow up with your media list after your Protest, whether or not any reporters, photographers, or cameramen shows up. Provide a brief summary of the event (when it took place, number of participants, any guest speakers, etc.), and share 2-3 of your best photographs.

This kind of followup will sometimes lead to coverage of your event after the fact. But even when it doesn’t it helps to establish a relationship with your media contacts, increasing your chances of earning media coverage in the future.