Comms Lead Role Description & Checklist

This was originally drafted in 2019-2020 and some parts may be out-of-date

Introduction

One of the most important elements of any action, big or small, is communications.  When we say communications, we mean all outward-facing messaging for an action; the messaging that reaches the general public, largely via the press. As far as the public is concerned, an action that received no press coverage never happened at all.  And similarly, if an action ended up smaller or messier than the tactical team planned -- but still resulted in a great photo or interview -- then that action was a great success.

We’re excited to help you develop the communications strategy and game plan for your next action.  Attached is a checklist to help you keep track of the main elements of planning for great communications; this checklist includes links to other documents and resources that you can review if you want more background for completing these tasks.  You’ll also have me, your communications coach, for talking through any items on the checklist that may be more unfamiliar or challenging, or if you just want to bounce some ideas around.  

Additionally, I’ve attached a worksheet that you can use to help the entire action-planning team to hone your action’s messaging and narrative.  The best way to get coverage that meaningfully reinforces your action’s messaging is to have really well-defined messaging that extends through every element of the action.  This means that everyone -- not just the folks working on communications -- needs to understand who we are, why we are here, what we are doing, what we want, and how we are getting there.  Everyone making decisions or speaking for Never Again Action should be on the same page for these questions.  The tactical team for your action might have a really solid narrative already grounding their plans, but if they don’t, then your first task will be to work with the leaders for your action to define the story that you will be telling to the public, via the press.  

I recommend working through the attached messaging worksheet with a few other members of the action planning team, including folks working on tactical and digital, as well as one of the MCs or scriptwriters.  You might find that you all already agree on the answers, in which case your work is done!  Or you might need to talk for a while to decide how to define your answers to each item.  If this happens, as the communications lead you should facilitate the group to ensure that the message and narrative of the action gets defined clearly and powerfully.

Messaging Questionnaire

Who is Never Again Action?

Why Jews?

What is our target for this action and why are we targeting them?

What are we asking of the target?

What are we asking of the public?

Who is the audience for this action?

Why is this action happening now?

How does this action support immigrant organizers / organizations?

What do we hope to accomplish via this action?

Never Again Action Comms  Checklist

The role of the comms team is to ensure that the action is on message and that the action gets press coverage. This is vital work that spans before, during, and after the action!  Depending on the size of your action, you may wish to divide these comms tasks among several coordinators (someone to focus each on spokespeople, press release, and general messaging coordinating, for instance).

Pre-Action:

• Messaging: Ensure that the tactical action plan & script are on message. Review the master narrative & talking points and make any adaptations necessary for your action.
• Spokespeople:
• • Recruit 3-5 spokespeople who can be available to speak to press during and especially after the action. How to find a great spokesperson
  • Connect with partner organizations to ask them to provide a spokesperson as well.
  • Prep spokespeople on the talking points. See tips for spokespeople.  Do a practice interview with each spokesperson if they are new to the role.
• Press List:
• • A press list is a list of all the journalists you will send your media advisory and press release to. 
  • Create a new tab for your city/location in the Never Again Press Lists spreadsheet.
  • Places to start building your press list:
    • Local journalists who cover relevant “beats” (subject areas). Relevant beats for Never Again actions may be: immigration, religion, politics, or local news
    • Reach out to other local organizing groups to see if they have press lists that they can share with you. 
• Media Advisory: 
• • Draft a media advisory.  This is an announcement letting members of the press know that an action is going to be happening, and explaining why they should cover it. See [here] for a media advisory template and some sample advisories.
  • Send out the media advisory to your press list 24-48 hours before the action
  • Follow up individually with journalists to invite them to cover the action. 
• Press Release:
• • Draft a press release.  The purpose of a press release is to provide all the information a reporter needs to write an article about your action, regardless of if they attend or interview anyone.  A great press release will suggest the angle that you hope a reporter will take.  You should also include quotes from both Never Again and from an immigrant partner organization. 
  • Check out this resource here if you need support for writing your press release, and reach out to your coach for support or feedback.
  • You may not be able to finalize your press release until after the event is over, to include details of what actually took place. It’s still helpful to have at least a skeleton of your release drafted in advance so that you will be able to send it out quickly once the action has taken place.
• Local News Outreach:
• • Call local news stations early in the morning (before 7am) to notify them about the action.
• Red Team comms:
  • Identify members of the red team who are willing to talk to the press after the action, and coach them on the talking points and on their personal stories ahead of time if possible
• • In smaller media markets you may be able to place op-eds by those arrested; identify members of the red team who may be interested in writing an op-ed after the action, and pitch to local newspapers.  If any members of the red team are students, their school’s newspaper may also be a good place to pitch an op-ed.
  • If op-eds are being pitched or planned, connect with NAA staff or the content team team for support.

 

During the Action:

• Help spokespeople identify themselves to the crowd and the media with a piece of brightly-colored tape, a vest, or other signifier. 
• Tell marshals how to find spokespeople and ask them to help connect reporters to spokespeople.
• Encourage spokespeople to exchange contact information so that they can keep each other--and you, as the comms lead--informed about interviews they’ve given. (Often, a reporter will be happy to speak to multiple spokespeople, so if one spokesperson has given an interview to Channel 5, they should make sure the other spokespeople know where they can find the Channel 5 reporter as well.)
• Ask the MCs identify the designated spokespeople.  Suggested language for MCs to crowd: “If you are approached by a reporter, feel free to talk with them if you’d like!  If you would rather not be interviewed, you can point members of the press towards one of our designated spokespeople; these are folks who have volunteered to talk to the press during today’s action. You can find spokespeople by their (arm band / stickers / etc) or just flag down a marshal and they’ll connect the press to these volunteers.” 
• Have an eye on the action visuals -- make sure that the message is being captured through signs, banners, formations, etc.  Have on message signs placed with people standing behind speakers and story-tellers, and flanking the red team if possible, so that any photographs or videos of the action will always have the top-line messaging visible on signs.
• If something big happens, reach out to NAA staff for support.  Not everything that happens at an action can be planned.  If something happens that you think might result in this action getting a lot more press than anticipated, the national comms team is ready to support you.  

Post Action: 

• Update and send out the press release immediately after the action. You should be able to include information such as number of attendees, reaction from the target of your action, additional speakers, or anything else that you think is important to the messaging for the action..
• As requests come in, connect press with spokespeople.  If you find that you are receiving a lot of media requests, reach out to your coach and the national comms team for support.
• Track your action’s media hits, and share them with your digital coordinator to make sure any good coverage is retweeted and shared.  
• Let Never Again staff know about any press hits