If we do this, we need to have a briefing BEFORE they get there to try and make sure that noone makes the kind of "from my cold, dead fingers" comments that the media LOVES to make the lead of any kind of story.
So true!!
Be careful dealing with the media. As all too many people have found out, they are agenda driven. That agenda usually tilts to the left. All too many people have told their side of a story only to find that in the editing process, the story came out the exact opposite of what they intended.
This is reasonable concern.
As Dwarven1 states, there would need to be some structure to the event that precludes nut bags from preaching/spewing ("...FROM MY COLD DEAD FINGERS!!").
So the question is, can we affect less institutionalized papers like your local news paper. I wouldn't suggest trying for the Boston Globe, Worcester Telegram and Gazzette.
My local paper has one reporter. If I wrote an article for them about an event and provided some pictures, they'd print it. No question's asked. Do you have newspapers like that in your town? I bet many of you do. So WE can be the "reporters" in many cases. No, it won't be something Deval or Martha reads when thier drinking thier morning coffee, but VOTERS will read it.
There was a Fox News TV report a while back about Cowboy Action Shooting that involved some NES members. I never saw the clip. Was it positively reported? As I recall from the comments on here it was.
Also, there are some pro gun reporters. Remember a while back there was a reporter from the Worcester area that did a very pro story about going to a rental range in Worcester and trying out a few guns. Many of us invited him to go shooting with us. He responded very warmly to this. (I think he may have been a friend/aquantance of Darius).
Maybe one of NRA Basic Pistol instructors could invite a known quantity (like the reporter above) to attend a NRA basic pistol class for free and give him a certificate. Make him one of us!
So, I think it is possible with proper planning and selecting the right reporter/paper/news outlet combination to get a good report.
One thing to remember is that we don't need to pick any one method. All of these ideas are good and pursuing multiple strategies will produce more awareness.
Matt