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Behind the scenes in the NRLC 2015 Press Office

Jul 15, 2015

by Derrick Jones
NRLC Communications Director

11703305_10100690406392202_8257291356011818500_nOn a weekly basis, the National Right to Life Communications Department fields a dozen interview requests from a broad range of media outlets from across the country. When we travel every year for the annual National Right to Life Convention, that number doubles or triples.

Throw in a governor, two U.S. senators, a U.S. congressman, four presidential candidates, two veteran political pundits, three reality television stars, and a Tony Award nominated and Emmy and Golden Globe Award winning star of stage and screen, and it’s a pretty safe bet that the communications team doesn’t have time to sleep.

Such was the case during National Right to Life’s 45th Annual Convention in New Orleans, Louisiana. And the resulting media coverage bears that out.

eloiseChances are, if you weren’t able to join us in New Orleans, you read about Gov. Bobby Jindal’s Thursday night appearance or Friday morning’s Republican Presidential Candidate Forum via wire reports by Bill Barrow, the southeast political reporter for Associated Press reprinted in your local paper.

Or maybe you saw Dr. Ben Carson do a live interview with Neil Cavuto on FOX News Channel from the convention, or watched FOX News Channel’s Senior Political Correspondent, Mike Emmanuel, discuss the candidate forum during “Special Report with Brett Baier.”

And then there was that moment, captured by LifeNews.com, when Dr. Ben Carson stopped by the press office to say hello to Kelsey Grammer, star of “Cheers,” “Fraiser,” and, most recently the Netflix series, “Boss.” (Grammer and his wife, Kayte attended the convention on Friday.)

In addition to managing the press office and providing information to reporters on site, the communications staff arranged print and broadcast interviews for reporters with speakers at this year’s convention…some of which occurred in the week before the convention kicked off.

Since 2007, the Communications Department has also published the NRLC Convention Daily News. Distributed to convention attendees each morning of the convention, the Daily News is a way to share some of the most exciting convention news with attendees.

And, because we live in a 24/7 news cycle, there were issues requiring commentary while we were on location in New Orleans, including the proposed Medicare rule to pay for end-of-life counseling and the Wisconsin Assembly passing the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (the 12th state to do so).

In total 25 media outlets – local and national, mainstream and religious, conservative and liberal – were credentialed by the communications department to cover NRLC 2015. There were over 70 stories appearing in more than 200 outlets written or broadcast as a result of the convention. And the job isn’t over. There are follow-up calls, monitoring, and tracking that will continue as the communication staff builds relationships with journalists that will enhance their understanding of National Right to Life and the life issues with the ultimate goal of encouraging fair and accurate reporting on those issues.

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