Environmental Attorneys and the Media: Guidelines for Effectiveness

Abstract

It is often difficult for a public interest advocate to compete with wealthy interests that have vastly greater resources at their disposal and opposing policy preferences. In order to level this playing field, advocates can effectively employ media strategies that allow the public to participate in the public policy debate. This public awareness can often be very effective in influencing the course of the debate and sensitizing policy makers to the competing interests at stake. Accordingly, media tools and goals should be considered at the outset of strategy development, and should inform everything from a project’s title to its budget. Public involvement, made possible through media coverage, can play a pivotal role in influencing policymaking proceedings in the judicial, executive, and legislative branches of government.