ACTION PLAYBOOK

Reach Out to the Media

  • Ensure that media coverage of the climate crisis is fair, accurate, and inspires action by raising your voice as a consumer of content.

    1. Choose your reporters

    2. Find their contact info

    3. Reach out with your message

    4. Turn into a social media post

According to an analysis by the publication HEATED, only 44% of 133 national, international, and major regional digital breaking news articles about record-breaking weather in the U.S. mentioned climate change as a contributing factor. Even fewer articles mentioned the fossil fuel industry, the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions.

Climate progress depends on an informed, civically engaged public. On the flip side, climate laws like the Inflation Reduction Act are rarely mentioned even when they directly catalyze major positive news stories, like a city grant or a new county power plant. The media’s failure to link positive news of climate progress with the policy source is, at best, a major oversight or lack of awareness. We as content consumers can demand better media coverage.

1. Choose your regional reporters

Make a list of media people you read, follow, watch, or listen to in your local area.

These might include:

  • local news reporters

  • reporters on the climate/environment beat (meaning their stories are primarily on that topic) at large national publications

  • climate bloggers

  • essayists and opinion contributors

  • newsletter authors

  • podcasters

  • social media creators who primarily cover climate change at the state or local level

Keeping your outreach localized greatly increases your success rate, since there’s much more competition for national media attention. And while it deserves national attention, climate change is also a hyper-localized issue with different effects on different populations.

2. Compile contact information

Look for an email, social media handle, phone number, etc. associated with their content or profile page. Often, you can figure out the email format for a specific news outlet by searching Google for other email addresses at the outlet and then plugging in the reporter’s name or initials into that format. Most content creators are accessible via social media DMs or public tags, such as on X, so if you can’t find their email address, feel free to send your whole letter via DM.

3. Write your letter

The goal is to let them know that you’d like to see more reporting on timely climate stories that highlight the growing public concern and desire for government action. A few tips:

  • Be kind. Bloggers are small business owners, be nice. And reporters are often beholden to their editors and the views of the media outlet that employs them. It’s possible they’re on your side and wish they could mention climate more! If you think that’s truly the case, consider framing it like, “I know you care about this too. Please feel free to forward my email up the chain so your team hears from viewers like me directly.”

  • Always personalize! Include your personal climate “why” to help build a connection with the reporter and keep your message locally relevant. If you’ve never written a sentence or two about your own connections to the climate crisis, try checking out our Write Your Climate “Why” playbook.

  • Spend time on the subject line. This is a pro tip! The subject line of an email or the first sentence of social media outreach is critical for catching the attention of the reporter/content creator. Use punchy words like "New [STATE/CITY] climate survey blew my mind.”

Below are writing guides to help build your letter, organized by featured priority. Don’t forget to bcc advocacy@climatechangemakers.org!

4. Tag the reporter or media outlet on social media

Now, choose one or more social media platforms where you can tag the reporter. Journalists are actually quite accessible online! They increasingly rely on social media to monitor their beat, connect with sources, receive tips and pitches, and build their organization’s profile. Social media is truly as effective a way to reach them as email. Adapt the message you wrote in Step 3 to the correct length and for a public audience, then use the social media handles you found in Step 1 to tag the reporter/creator.

And that’s it, playbook complete! Feel accomplished.
Thank you for taking action.

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Want more action?
Go to the current Action Plan

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