Hand in Hand: Grassroots Advocacy and Earned Media

1. Hand in Hand: Grassroots Advocacy and Earned Media Dawn Berney, MPA Wisconsin Public Health and Health Policy Institute Teresa Ryan, BS Tobacco-Free Dane County Coalition

2. Problem • Madison City Council passed a weak smoke-free law in 2002 • 100% Smokefree Workplace Campaign had a short timeline (5 months) • Tobacco-Free Dane County Coalition needed to educate elected officials and Madison area residents • Little money available for paid media

3. Solutions – Earned Media • Find grassroots advocates within the community • Letter to the editor campaign • Find support in local media

4. Solution – Find Grassroots Advocates • Work with community members to obtain earned media • Volunteers found at University - STUDENTS • Smoke-free Madison website (www.smokefreemadison.org) • Petitions at community events • Database of potential volunteers

6. Solution – Letter to the Editor Campaign • A letter to the editor campaign at the beginning and end of ordinance campaign • Each volunteer assigned a date and a topic • Volunteers sent letters to papers and to politicians • Newspapers were more likely to publish letters on new topics, not just on health

7. Bar owner in support Pregnant women exposed at work Workers’ rights Right to breath clean air Ventilation problems Positive impact on Madison’s image Positive economic impact How this will impact youth from a youth’s perspective Some Topics from the Letter to the Editor Campaign

8. Solution – Find Support in Local Media • Staff and volunteers met with writers from student papers, daily papers, and weekly papers • Met with Editorial Boards • Offered to Write Op-Ed pieces • Interviewed on local news program

9. Results of Advocacy Campaign • Local papers published at least fourteen Letters to the Editor written by coalition members • Two Op-Ed were published • Over twenty articles were published with quotes from staff and volunteers. • Four television appearances including an arranged interview on NBC affiliate morning news program • Madison alders and community learned the benefits of 100% smokefree workplaces

10. Editorial – Before Advocacy Campaign The Capital Times November 12, 2002 “We would prefer to see the council find a reasonable compromise that respects the rights of nonsmokers and smokers alike and that pays due reference to small business owners struggling in Madison.”

11. Editorial – After Advocacy Campaign Capital Times April 20th, 2004 “It appears that much of the hospitality industry, which had resisted earlier efforts to impose a ban, is beginning to accept the inevitability of this initiative. . . . But, on balance, this looks like a better one than most.”

12. Results-- Campaign for a Smoke Free Madison Succeeds • Proposed ordinance includes all workplaces as smoke free (including restaurants, bars and bowling alleys). On April 23th, 2004, the Madison Common Council passed the ordinance with a vote of 15-5. • First city in the Midwest to pass a 100% smoke-free workplace ordinance.

13. Staff Time Printed Advertising* Printing/Mailings Phone Banking Website TOTAL $24,000 $ 3,600 $ 1,000 $ 850 $ 300 $29,750 Campaign ExpensesJanuary 2004 – April 2004 * The only printed advertising we paid for were billboards and they seemed to have no impact.

14. Grassroots Advocacy & Earned Media Savings

15. Conclusions • Volunteers are key to getting message out to media, politicians and media • Identify ways that you will use your volunteers around media even before you begin your campaign • Encourage relationships with the media

16. Questions on Madison, Wisconsin’s Clean Indoor Air Campaign Contact: Dawn Berney Training & Technical Assistance Program in Tobacco Control Wisconsin Public Health and Health Policy Institute University of Wisconsin Medical School 370 WARF Building, 610 N. Walnut St. Madison, WI 53726 (608) 265-9705 (phone) (608) 262-2425 (fax) berney@wisc.edu