Telling your lake's story
Listening to a loon's mysterious call, helping grandchildren catch their first fish, feeding ducks off a pier, watching a summer sunset fade into the dusk; lakes offer beautiful experiences for recreational users and waterfront property owners alike.
As the people of the lake, you share a direct connection and common interest with your neighbors. Local stories from neighbors are more relevant, powerful, and sometimes far more meaningful than messages coming from a more removed source. It’s easy to feel disconnected from, say, a policy decision in Washington because it can be hard to see how it will affect your special lake. Putting large issues in the context of your local lake brings the importance/relevance close to home. Talking or writing about issues that effect your lake using your values and experiences can be helpful when communicating with legislators, local decision-makers, and the press.
Using values based language
You don’t need to have a command of lake science/limnology to care about your lake. You do need to know why your lake is important to you, what you appreciate about your lake, and be able to communicate your experience and passion for lakes to other people.
Try this exercise. Spend some time thinking about what makes your lake special and important to you. Write down experiences or images that you associate with your lake. What has changed since you’ve been on the lake? What has stayed the same? Are these changes positive or negative? What future do you envision for your lake? What do you hope your lake will look like in the future?
The worksheets below can help identify what you value about lakes and activities lake people are doing to protect the lakes they love.
Why are lakes important to Wisconsin? (PDF 16 KB)
Why are lake people important to Wisconsin? (PDF 16 KB)
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Examples of using values based language
Words can be powerful tools that can evoke memories, experiences, and emotions. Using language that communicates what you value about your lake (relaxation, family time, etc.) can help make lake concerns more easily relatable to your audience. The two examples below do a good job of painting a picture of a lake experience.
“Who among us has not heard the enchanting, mysterious call of the loon? Or seen its stunning silhouette as it glides gracefully across the surface of our favorite lake? Even our two-year old granddaughter hears them and tries to imitate their crazy calls! Wisconsin's northern lakes are inhabited by many of these strikingly beautiful yet very vulnerable birds.”
From the first sentence, this author is appealing to a common experience shared among audience members. Even if you have never heard or seen a loon, the descriptive language helps readers create a mental image of the experience. The last sentence sets up the context (Northern lakes) and foreshadows the vulnerability of the birds (and the commonly held experience of many lake people).
“You all say, ‘The waters of Wisconsin belong to everyone’, well they really don't anymore, not the canoeist, not the environmentalist, not the fishing family, not the sightseer, not the kayakers, nor even the shoreline viewer sitting on the water.”
This person is using examples of how people personally experience the water to express his opinion on how his lake has changed. Notice how people relate to the water is the primary value here, not water quality or health of the water ecosystem that may directly affect their experience.
How do you measure the value of lakes? Try making a list of the sights, sounds, activities, and feelings that are have helped create your lake experiences and memories. The article below summarizes how you can use value-based language to talk to others about lakes.
Framing the message: The use of values-based language to engage the public in lake management (PDF 464 KB)
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Tips on communicating local lake news with reporters
Newspapers want to print news that is relevant to their readers (that’s how papers
get sold). It’s important to remember that news means a story/story angle/topic/
current event that is relevant to readers. News does not only mean “new”
information.
Tailoring press releases and other contacts with reporters to make them as locally relevant as possible gives it the best shot at publication. Many lake groups tailor press releases by adding their local perspective, local examples, or quotes, and then send the release to their paper as a private citizen; or call a reporter who covers outdoor/environmental issues to talk about the issue.
Following an issue over time is appealing to reporters as they can write multiple articles from different angles and get a lot of mileage out of a limited amount of initial research. Once a base of knowledge has been established for readers, reporters can summarize/refer back to previous articles and—with a few tweaks—they have another article. If the topic is isolated and doesn't go anywhere in terms of future stories, it’s less appealing to cover.
Many reporters are not specialized in terms of the topics they cover. Good press releases are designed to make less work for reporters by giving them a fleshed-out, locally relevant story, that hopefully leads to other stories, with the least amount of follow-up required.
Sometime a paper may print a verbatim version of a press release. Larger papers frequently have an editorial board that decides if the whole topic is worth the paper generating an editorial and the press release will be used as one source to generate that paper’s opinion.
Smaller papers are more likely to print a release verbatim; they receive fewer releases because their readership is smaller, and they are more likely to have extra space to fill. Larger papers may take pieces of press releases or incorporate it into the paper’s editorial(s) as well as into articles written by the staff environmental writer.
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Ways to develop relationships with reporters
Identifying reporters to contact
A few larger papers have certain reporters designated to cover natural resource issues (look for the label Environment or Science reporter or sometimes Outdoor Reporter). More commonly there may be several reporters who write about a variety of issues, including natural resources. Watch for articles about natural resources and take note of who is writing them.
Many papers have websites and list their staff; often the topic areas the reporters focus on will be listed as part of their title. Calling the paper and asking which reporters cover environmental issues is another way to identify potential contacts.
It is important to remember that editors are generally not the main writers (especially true for larger papers); editors make decisions about themes/content of the section/paper and make sure the articles can fit in the allotted space. If you are trying to get an opinion page piece published, the editorial page editor may be an appropriate contact to make your case for the issue. If you are trying to get an article written, getting to the appropriate reporter is the better choice.
What are reporters looking for?
Many times a local reporter is looking for local perspective to round out a story about a larger issue (like polluted runoff, groundwater withdrawal, aquatic invasive species). It is important for reporters to know how these larger issues are impacting people locally, and have local examples to point to in their story. That’s where local lake people like you are a huge asset to reporters. Referring a reporter on to additional resources (including the WAL staff) is a good idea: you don’t have to be an expert on the entire issue, just its local significance.
Introducing yourself to reporters
Once you have identified reporters who cover natural resource issues, you can call or send an e-mail introducing yourself. Things to mention in your introduction might include:
- Your connection to local lakes (as a local lake person); establish yourself as a credible source about local lake related news.
- What local lake issues are relevant news in your area.
Introducing yourself can help plant some seeds as to what local lake issues are relevant in the area, and hopefully start developing a good relationship with local reporters.
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