They say all politics is local. Local and regional news dominate media coverage in communities across the country. Because of this a lot of national issues which progressives are passionate about, such as the War with Iraq and human rights, get little local media coverage. As a consequence many national issues fail to get the critical mass necessary to bring about change.

How then do activists make national news relevant in their local community?

This is a timely and critical question for a variety of reasons: first, support is diminishing for the Iraq Occupation, President Bush and Conservative policies. Secondly, bloggers and the Internet have altered how news is made and how it is reported. It is an opportune time for Progressives to make hay.

Make it local.

Activists need to make national issues local issues by giving them a local flavor. This can be done by adding a local face or personal story to a national issue or by showing the effect of a national issue on your local community.

Many national issues fail to gain broad appeal because they seem inconsequential to the lives of many in communities across the country. The story has to gain lots of momentum before it begins to resonate beyond the beltway. Think, will the local Kansas City TV stations sports broadcast talk about how the NY Yankees are doing? Usually not, but they will talk about the Yankees if there is a local connection to their hometown Royals–a pending trade with the Yanks, a upcoming series, or a local resident on the team, etc.

It is all about marketing.

A little work such as a press release or a phone call to local media can go a long way to getting local coverage of an issue. You can provide the media with a local news peg/angle for a national issue -- a contact, a story, statement, image, etc. Knowing the needs and preferences of your local media will help.

It is essential to keep a pulse of the national news and issues. When news is breaking or gaining momentum, such as we saw with Cindy Sheehan in Crawford, Texas this summer, there is an excellent opportunity to drive the anti-war story home. You need to be prepared and ready to move quickly.

Think beyond traditional activist actions such as a demonstration with signs and banners to create an image for the media. Carrying signs can be effective, but should be used as a last resort. You can come across as complaining all the time. Signs are about outrage.

The more creative and innovative you are in providing the media with novel news angles and new images, the greater your chances for coverage are. If you do the same thing all the time and have the same faces all the time you will become boring and predictable. You also begin to influence the story by turning it from the war, to "Oh, there is that protester again." The media will begin to typecast you like a character actor who can only play one role and all this means less coverage. Remember you are trying to spin news, not make it.

The following are some ways to help make the national news the local news in your area:

Celebrity -- Have a well known local celebrity comment about an issue.or show their relationship to the issue. For example, Etan Thomas, former Syracuse (local) college basketball player, turned NBA star, spoke at the September 24, 2005 anti-war rally in Washington. Democracy Now broadcast his speech. On September 26^th I sent out a press release with a copy of the speech and a link to Democracy Now and pointed out the local connection. This resulted in two op-eds and several letters to the editor in the local paper as well as several news stories on local TV and radio about the War, Etan and the rally. Several radio stations told me that they would have been interested in interviewing Etan if I had been able to contact him. This story reverberated because Etan was an eloquent speaker, a national figure, and he had been a local person.

Local Residents involved/affected -- The press is always keen to report on local people involved in national issues. A press release with the names and numbers of local activists traveling to join Cindy Sheehan in Crawford in the summer of 2005 got lots of positive media coverage. In fact, several waves of supporters traveled there and each one got some coverage. One local activist that went to Crawford, exchanged phone numbers with the press and attempted to be their roving reporter on the scene. Note that this was a human interest story, not a sign carrying story.

Consequences to the local community -- Conveying the consequences of breaking international/national news to your local community turns the story into a local story. For example, detailing how Washington budget cuts are hurting the local area is news. It is also about community. You can humanize the story by providing a contact for someone affected by the cuts.

Talking heads -- Have people available to speak about an issue. Send a press release out when news breaks with comments from local experts, for example, "Professor so and so calls the indictment of Scooter Libby a major blow to the President." Be careful to bring in fresh faces and people, not to be same old, same old. Establish a contact list with people and issues, preferably something beyond what the media has and update and change it regularly.

For example, when the Washington Post article broke about the Black Sites where foreign prisons were detained and tortured, I sent out a press release with comments and contact information from a local religious leader who is passionate about the issue. This resulted in his being interviewed on talk radio.