Re: politics as usual

Louise Yarnall (lyarnall who-is-at ucla.edu)
Mon, 10 Nov 1997 17:01:01 -0800

>
>One of the issues we have been discussing lately at my own university is
>the university's institutional failure to make its expertise on
>language-related issues available to policymakers. There is no
>institutional channel even available for this...

One way to reach a policymaker is to just call him/her up or write a letter.
Put it on the university letterhead. Another way is to testify at public
hearings on issues.

Another way to reach the policymakers is through the media. Policymakers pay
attention to what goes into the media reports, and they may even call you if
they read your name in the newspaper, hear it on the radio or see it on TV.

Academics usually get tapped by reporters when somebody needs "perspective."
Reporters flit from one story to the next and their deadlines are tight.
They need insight and balanced perspectives at the snap of a finger. Every
university public information office has a book of experts that just about
every newsroom stocks. Get your name in this book, or at least update your
entry so that you're identified as someone who will talk about a "hot"
issue. Don't use the word "literacy." It's too vague. Use reporter words
like "whole language vs. phonics debate."

The best entree with a reporter is to call him/her up after a story runs and
share your perspective. Next time, you'll get a call to provide a quote.
Or, you could take up the issue with the editor, who will then mention your
comments to the reporter. Or, you could write an opinion piece and have that
published in the Op-Ed section of a newspaper or magazine.

Louise Yarnall