On The Anniversary of Roe v. Wade:
NRLC and the National Media

By Laura Echevarria

The day before and the day of the Roe v. Wade anniversary are usually the busiest days of the year for NRLC's Media Relations Department. This year was no exception.

On Monday, January 21, final preparations were being made for NRLC's press conference that would take place at 10:00 the following morning at the National Press Club. Copies of speeches for the press conference were being checked and double-checked to make sure everything was just right. Press releases, fact sheets, and statements were then inserted into the press kits to help make reporters' jobs easier.

A member of my staff was checking on final arrangements for the room setup with the Press Club's staff. Everything was almost ready and we felt good about our preparations.

Then, at 5:41 p.m., C-SPAN called.

The producer I spoke with said that they were coming to the press conference.

I'm always very happy when C-SPAN covers us. It has a well-earned reputation for neutrality, thus our explanation of NRLC's direction for 2002 would get to the public without that message being altered by passage through the typical pro-abortion filter.

We took a few minutes to go over the details about equipment and lighting.

Knowing how much C-SPAN covers each and every day, right before hanging up with the producer, I asked about something I thought I already knew: "Now this is going to be taped, right? Not live?"

"No, we're covering it live," she replied.

That changed everything! Given the demands made on reporters, timing for the press conference already had to be as precise as possible. But now I also had to take C-SPAN's schedule into account. A headache, to be sure, but one I eagerly welcomed.

C-SPAN is received in over 70 million homes and, at any given time, as many as 29 million people can be watching. Considering that coverage in newspapers and on other networks can be sparse or incomplete, C-SPAN's presence gives us a great opportunity.

However, having C-SPAN on hand meant certain additional requirements. It was crucial that we start exactly on time. Also, I had to make sure the press conference would be as close to an hour in length as possible in order to guarantee that C-SPAN would use it throughout the year as "filler" between other programs. Obviously, the more frequently it is shown, the more people hear our message.

This meant that, the evening before the press conference, I had to rearrange the order of the speakers, statements had to be timed more precisely, and I had to pray that the question and answer session of the press conference lasted at least 20 minutes.

As promised, C-SPAN was there well before the press conference began. Although we had a few technical glitches along the way, the give and take at the press conference was excellent. Altogether, it lasted one hour - - almost to the minute. Better yet, C-SPAN re-aired our press conference later that afternoon and will likely use it several more times this year.

But C-SPAN was not the only electronic media outlet on hand. We had cameras from Black Entertainment Network, Fox News Channel, and CNN, among others. And we had a number of print reporters in attendance as well. As always, some stories covered our press conference extensively and others didn't mention us at all.

Especially when you are presenting your message on television, you just never know if someone who's watching will change his or her mind about abortion because of something that is said or because of information that is given. And with a potential audience of 29 million, that opportunity was tremendous.