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Home , Alex Wind, David Hogg, March For Our Lives

Getting Media Attention for Your Participation in the

Students are rallying adults to support them in the fight for their lives in this pivotal moment in time. Momentum is growing, and WEST is proud to be a part of the movement to end gun violence. If your organization is participating in the March for Our Lives in , D.C. or elsewhere, here are some steps you and your marchers can take to increase your chances of breaking through to media.

1 Prepare in advance for social media participation: Have a designated marcher who will send social media posts from your organizational account and capture photos. Write a few tweets in advance and save them as drafts in the app on your phone. Have the right hashtags and right profiles to tag ready (see the next page). Make an announcement on your organization’s homepage listing who is participating in the march. Be ready to stream on Live. Facebook offers an option for a person or page to “Go Live,” which allows the user to stream video taken from a mobile device to their followers in real time. Be ready to livestream important moments, whether they are generated by your group or through the event itself. Having a robust chant to go with your livestream can help it catch on, e.g. “Hey! Hey! Ho! Ho! AR-15s have got to go!” “Protect kids, not guns!” or “Not one more! Not one more!” Create an Story for your participation. Instagram Stories allow users to post photos and videos, but in a more streamlined format than posting a picture in the regular Instagram feed. A user can take a picture or video within the Instagram app and post it immediately to their story or can add from their camera roll. Stories are different from regular Instagram posts in that they disappear after 24 hours, so they are very much a temporary post.

2 Highlight youth voices: Part of why this particular march is gaining traction is because it is being actively led by young people. Nearly all of your content should be coming from the youngest people in your group. They are those with the most to lose in this fight; they are the ones being killed at school. Take photos of them, quote them and write from their perspective.

3 Provide great visuals: Protest signs should be compelling or clever. Put an image of a victim of gun violence or one of the march slogans on your sign. Make sure that you show the diversity of your group – people of all ages and across racial, faith and cultural groups – in your photos. This could lead to photos of your group being featured in stories or in a listicle of images of the day.

4 Reflect after the march: Designate a few people to write short 200- to 300-word reflections on their experiences. Post these reflections to social media, accompanied by photos you took (remember to use the hashtags). Post the reflections on your website. Tweet and email your local news outlets one last time and let them know your reflections are up.

5 Don’ts: Don’t respond to negative trolling. Don’t use offensive language or imagery; we can make our arguments without vulgarity. Don’t interfere with live reporting; if a reporter wants to talk to you they will ask. Be prepared; don’t shy away from reporters either.

2101 L St. NW, Suite 440, Washington, DC 20037 • (202) 776-7700 westendstrategy.com 349 Fifth Ave., 5th Floor, , NY 10016 • (212) 498-9300 Social Media Resources WEST has a few Twitter lists of members of Congress and reporters that cover social justice issues on our account @WestEndStrategy.

OFFICIAL EVENT ACCOUNTS EXAMPLE TWEETS

@AMarch4OurLives – March for Our Lives “Youth from [@Org] are out at @AMarch4OurLives Official today! We say that #enoughisenough and better gun safety is needed to protect students.” @MattxRed – Matt Deitsch, Outreach Director for March for Our Lives “Student leaders are marching with [@Org] today at #marchforourlives. We are here in @NeverAgainMSD – #NeverAgain Official solidarity with the students of @ForParkland.”

@ForParkland – March for Our Lives Parkland “.[@Org] is standing up to the @NRA today. It’s Chapter time for Congress to stop doing their bidding and put #kidsbeforeguns.” @Everytown – (When beginning a tweet with a handle, it is best to use a “.” first to ensure better visibility) HASHTAGS

#MarchForOurLives “We at [@Org] have been advocating for an end to gun violence for years and we are proud #NotOneMore to stand with @AMarch4OurLives #NeverAgain

#NeverAgain “We join today’s march like we have joined many other pivotal moments calling for #EnoughIsEnough reforms that protect our children from gun violence. [@Org] is in the #marchforourlives” #EndGunViolence

MSD STUDENTS

@Emma4Change – Emma González

@davidhogg111 –

@Sarahchadwickk – Sarah Chadwick

@firepfeiffer1 – Diego Pfeiffer

@al3xw1nd –

@kaylynpippy – Kaylin Pipitone

@Aly_Sheehy – Aly Sheehy

2101 L St. NW, Suite 440, Washington, DC 20037 • (202) 776-7700 westendstrategy.com 349 Fifth Ave., 5th Floor, New York, NY 10016 • (212) 498-9300