That alternative school newsletter trick that actually got our story out

I'm part of a small parents group in Portland that tries to share updates about our kids' alternative school. For months our local paper refused to print anything we sent about budget cuts or program changes, they said it was too niche. A friend told me to try publishing it as a "community letter" in a free weekly paper that covers neighborhood news instead of the big daily. I was skeptical but submitted a 300 word piece about our music program getting slashed and they ran it word for word last Tuesday. It actually got parents from three other schools reaching out to us about forming a coalition. Has anyone else found a smaller local outlet that actually prints stuff the big papers won't touch?

2 comments

2 Comments

taraw1628d ago

My neighbor Jenna runs a tiny community garden newsletter in Seattle and she had the same problem with the local daily ignoring her stuff. She started submitting garden tips to a free neighborhood paper called The Columbia City Beat and they published every single thing she sent for months. Last spring she wrote about a grant opportunity for urban food projects and three local churches ended up applying together because they saw it there. It's wild how the big papers just miss what actually matters to people down the block, isn't it?

daniel55228d ago

Did your neighbor mention if the Beat has a physical bulletin board too? A buddy of mine in Portland had a similar thing happen with his little biking safety group. He kept trying to get the big newspaper to run a small item about their free helmet giveaway at the park. They never even replied. So he walked down to his local weekly, The Hollywood Star, and handed them a typed up note. They printed it word for word, and like 40 people showed up for the helmets. It's funny how these tiny papers still have that town square feel that the big ones completely forgot about.