6 Steps to Ensure a Successful Editorial-Board Meeting

A smart nonprofit communications strategy often includes meetings with newspaper editorial boards, because they can help you influence public policy and build support for the issues you care about.

To learn more about their importance, read 5 Reasons Your Communications Strategy Should Include Editorial Boards.

If you schedule an editorial-board meeting, here are six ways to increase the odds of getting the outcome you want.

1. Know Who’s Who: Carefully research board members before the meeting. Identify each one and his or her area of focus and figure out which members cover your topic.

Next, review editorials the board has written over the past several months as well as columns written by the member who focuses on your issue to see if his or her positions are similar to yours. You shouldn’t limit your meetings to editorial boards that are likely to agree with your position — you may be able to change the editors’ minds or at least help them understand your position — but carefully consider whether it makes sense to engage a board that will never see your point of view.

2. Practice: Prepare for the meeting with mock sessions so you won’t be stumped by the questions the editors lob your way. Assemble a cross-section of your team and compile a list of all the questions the board will likely ask you. Because the editors could ask you about anything in current events, be prepared with answers to all issues dominating the news cycle.

Think of questions you’d rather not answer – including what detractors might say – and then practice your responses.

3. Clarify the Terms: Most editorial boards prefer on-the-record conversations. They will sometimes agree to go off the record for a portion of the discussion, but you must discuss the terms of the meeting in advance.
   • an editorial supporting your position
   • an agreement that the board will remain neutral by not writing about your issue
   • an invitation to submit an opinion essay laying out your position
   • an editorial and a news story

Also, make clear what you hope the outcome of the meeting will be, such as:

While the board alone determines next steps following the meeting, there’s nothing wrong with making requests, so long as you are respectful.

4. Take the Right Team: Besides bringing your communications director, include subject-matter experts on your team as well as other people who can speak to your issue in broad and engaging terms. If you’re a national or statewide organization meeting with a local editorial board, bring someone from your shop who lives in the newspaper’s circulation area. Ensure that at least some of the information or data you share is specific to the paper’s circulation area.

Don’t bring too many people or you will risk running out of time and missing the chance to cover your most important points. Bring only those people who are essential to the conversation. Don’t bring five people if only two will speak.

5. Clarify Roles: If several people will attend, discuss each participant’s role so editors will be more likely to remember who made what comments and to ensure that you make all your points in the time allotted.
6. Be Sure Everyone Is in the Room: I organized an editorial-board meeting in which a member of my team joined by phone. This disrupted the flow of the conversation, and the caller couldn’t read the room and discern whether the editorial board was interested in the points he was making. Moreover, when an editor raised a question, it was difficult for the team to know whether those in the room or the person on the phone should answer first. If it isn’t possible for everyone to be there in person, consider postponing the meeting.

Jennifer R. Farmer is the author of “Extraordinary PR, Ordinary Budget,” a practical guide to generating media coverage regardless of your resources.