Inspiring Leadership in Immigrant Communities - ILRC

Inspiring Leadership in Immigrant CommunitiesJanuary 2003• It is an effective way to encourage people to take advantage of programs such asnaturalization that will benefit their families as well as the immigrant communityas a whole.• It can complement community outreach through meetings and fliers.B. Discussion: Ask the leaders what is meant by media or press. (5 minutes)Points to be elicited:• print media (newspapers, magazines)—large, urban dailies (give local examples);smaller local papers (give local examples)• television and radio—non-print media)— - local stations (give examples);networks (give examples, especially CNN and PBS)• foreign-language media (Spanish TV, radio and newspapers)—local stations (giveexamples); networks (give examples)• centralized news sources (Bay City News, Associated Press)C. Lecture: What is a press conference? (5 minutes)A press conference is an event you hold for reporters in order to give them importantinformation that you hope they will publish or broadcast. Although this kind of eventis generally called a press conference, it includes all types of media.A press conference is held to publicize an important case or issue that you think thepublic should know about. Often the goal is to encourage institutions to change theway they are treating our clients or other community members. Hopefully, once thepublic and the press know about the issue, pressure can be placed upon the targetedinstitutions to help change the situation.You, and not the reporters, are in charge of the press conference. You decide when tostart, what information to give and in what form to give it. Don't let them take over.A press conference is very different from an interview with an interview with anindividual reporter. In the case of an interview, the reporter usually contacts youbecause you have access to information about a special issue of interest to him or her.When an interview is arranged, you and one member of the press are usually the onlyones present. Your role in an interview is to answer the questions asked by thereporter. Your role in a press conference is to determine the time, place, issues andeven individual questions that will be covered.D. Mock Press Conference1. Before beginning the role-play, the trainer should make the following points:a. On the morning of the conference, one would ordinarily make some morecalls to press contacts.12-26