Below is our annotated list of corporate media contacts. With each contact you will find a bit of logistical information as well as the media office’s opinion on the contact. They are organized by city, on the route and off, from the first being the closest to the beginning of the route and working further away. We tried to include only media outlets that are within a reasonable distance of proposed I-69 route in southern Indiana, though some contacts are included from far away because of their willingness to print I-69 actions in the past. Click on the links at the bottom of the page for a ‘non-annotated’ list of media contacts or a print friendly version of our annotated list. Please feel free to email i69media@yahoo.com with any questions about the information on this page.
print-version-of-annotated-list
News Outlets on the Route:
Oakland City:
* The Oakland City Journal- this newspaper is a weekly publication in the first small town along the proposed route of I-69. While the general feeling in Oakland City has historically positive towards the highway, in recent times they have started to question what it will do for them. Many of those effected directly by the highway read this newspaper, and for that, this is a good outlet to send action and event press releases. The Journal is the ’sister newspaper’ of the Princeton Daily Clarion, and therefore all releases should be sent to Andrea Howe, Editor, at andrea@pdclarion.com and news@pdclarion.com , but make sure to mention that the release is for both the Oakland City Journal and the Princeton Daily Clarion.
Princeton:
* The Princeton Daily Clarion- this newspaper is a daily publication from the county seat, Princeton, of Gibson County, which is where the entire first section of the proposed highway is. This is a good publication to get word out to people living in the rural areas of the proposed route. They don’t publish on weekends, so in general things that happen on a Friday or Saturday probably won’t be published unless they’re spectacular. They don’t like doing things over the phone, so if there’s someone in your group that can pay a visit to Princeton to talk to these folks, it would up your chance of getting a story. Send press releases to: Andrea Howe, Editor, at andrea@pdclarion.com and news@pdclarion.com
Evansville:
(Evansville is about 20 miles south of the beginning of the proposed route and is the only major metropolitan area along the route until Indianapolis at the very north end. Opposition to the highway in the general population to the highway is very low, but that’s not to say that everyone is in favor of it. Anti- I-69 actions and events would most likely be interesting, if nothing else, to most people in the area. There are multiple media outlets in Evansville, however some are much more receptive and friendly to the campaign than others, so send information with discretion. )
*Evansville Courier and Press- This is the most widely distributed corporate owned newspaper in southern Indiana. It has readership in the cities, small towns, and rural areas along the first half of the proposed route. For this, this a good outlet for action press releases. However, caution is urged when interacting with this outlet, as they have been second only to the governor’s office is pushing I-69 and have often twisted the words of I-69 opponents to the favor of their position. The I-69 Media Office encourages groups to consider not doing open ended interview with anyone from this outlet, but rather supply pre-written press statements and press releases only. Email , , , and/or
*WTVW Fox 7- Evansville’s main TV news station, Fox 7 has always been interested in and reported anti-I69 actions and events. They, like the Courier and Press, are proponents of the highways, but are not quite as biased as the CP. As with the CP, groups are encouraged to use caution when speaking freely with Fox 7, as their interviews generally try to twist groups’ positions. However, they are a good source for visual representation of action and, therefore, should be contacted if groups are interested in that kind of coverage. Email ureport@foxnews.com and newstips@wtvw.com with your press release or call (812)-424-7777 with news tips.
*WEHT ABC 25 , WFIE NBC 14, WEVV CBS 44, and WNIN PBS 9- these are the other four TV stations in Evansville. Their viewership is much more limited than FOX 7 for local information and their coverage of I-69 actions and events has been limited if at all. Send information if you want, but don’t expect too much. Email news@news25.us for ABC, wfie@14wfie.com for NBC, webmaster@wevv.com for CBS, and scato@wnin.com for PBS .
*University of Evansville Crescent-The student newspaper of the University of Evansville. their readership more or less limited to the small student population. Could be a good outlet to outreach to students, but this is untested. Seems as if I-69 coverage is sparse. They won’t be publishing again until summer break is over, August 27th or thereabouts. Submit your ‘news tip’ at http://www.uecrescent.org/tip.html
Washington:
*Washington Times-Herald- The daily newspaper of Washington, a medium-sized town along the proposed route. The outlet has shown interest in reporting I-69 actions in the past, though they have been known to twist positions. They have a large readership in rural areas, and, for that, should probably be contacted with press releases and event information. Email: mbrunson@washtimesherald.com with information.
Bloomington:
(Bloomington is a medium sized town at the end of the ‘new terrain’ section of the proposed route. It has been and is currently a hot-bed for anti-I69 opposition from a variety of groups and individuals. It would be advantageous to cast a wide net with press releases in Bloomington, given the nature of the reader/viewship. Make sure to check the Independent Media contacts page for info on even more friendly outlets in B-Town.)
*Bloomington Herald Times: The Herald Times has been one of the most interested outlets in printing action reports and I-69 information. With a huge readership in Bloomington and the surrounding areas, where the resistance to the road is greatest, this outlet is a good way to update people who are already against the road but might not necessarily know up to the minuet information about resistance. The paper has always been pro-I69, but their reporting on the issue isn’t nearly as swayed as the Courier and Press. The I-69 Media Office would caution against open ended interviews, but more leniency might be afforded to the Herald Times to ensure that they print a comprehensive article about the action or event. To submit a press release, use the form at http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/tips.php/ . Also, contact jlivarchik@heraldt.com and jhogan@heraldt.com who have reported on the campaign in the past. To write guest articles, fill out the form at http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/htoletters/guest_m.php
WFIU- The local NPR station in Bloomington. Very light on local news, but might run an interesting story or interview. Email wfiu@indiana.edu with information.
WTIU- The local PBS station in Bloomington. As with WFIU, it is very light on local news. Has large viewships, however, and anything that does run would reach lots of people in the effected area of the proposed route. Email wlshaw@indiana.edu or aestrahl@indiana.edu with press release and contact information.
Indiana Daily Student (IDS)- this is the daily (during the school year, twice a week during summer break) student newspaper of Indiana University. It has a very large distribution in Bloomington and is read heavily by both students and non-student alike. Their reporting on I-69 issues in the past has been generous, but slight misguided. They will most likely run and interesting action press release or event. Email ids@indiana.edu with press releases.
Martinsville:
*The Reporter-Times- Main paper of Martinsvile, a small town between Bloomington and Indianapolis. This paper generally prints favorable articles about I-69, but the readership in Martinsville and Morgan County are more than not opposed to the highway, so sending them information is probably beneficial. Go to http://www.reporter-times.com/contact.php to submit an press release. As well, email rhawkins@reportert.com with information. An email can be sent to busterb31@sbcglobal.net, who is an active I-69 opponent in Matinsville and has done work with the Reporter-Times in the past.
Indianapolis
(The capital of Indiana and by far the biggest city on the proposed I-69 route, at the very north end. The city has a number of different corporate media outlets, though most will only run short pieces about the most exciting of events or actions. The opposition to the highway is strong in southern Indianapolis, and getting information to these outlets might be a way to encourage more opposition in the area).
*Indianapolis Star- This is the main corporate newspaper in Indianapolis and has the largest circulation in Indiana. Their readership extends all over the state, and therefore is a way to reach wider than with most other outlets. They have printed lots of I-69 information, but mostly stuff released by the state. Their coverage anti-I-69 actions is sparse, with the most coverage coming from large, spectacle-like events. Despite this, however, anything in the star will be read by 10s of thousands of people, so most things could be sent to them. Submit news releases to indystarnewsroom@indystar.com . kelly.wilkinson@indystar.com has written anti-I69 action articles in the past.
*Indianapolis Recorder- this is a smaller Indianapolis newspaper, and information about its willingness to print anti-I69 action information is unknown. Email newsroom@indyrecorder.com
*WISH CBS 8, WRTV ABC 6, WTHR NBC 13, WFYI PBS 20- These are the local TV stations in Indianapolis. Their coverage of anti-I69 actions has been limited to actions taking place in Indy. However, for larger actions and mobilizations, they might be good outlets for visual media. For CBS email newsdesk@wishtv.com or call 317-931-2222, for ABC use (317) 269-1440 or http://www.theindychannel.com/contact/index.html, for NBC use 317-636-1313 or http://www.wthr.com/Global/category.asp?C=28218, for PBS use http://www.wfyi.org/contactUs.asp
Indiana Associated Press Contact
There is one email address for the AP in Indiana, which is indy@ap.org, but there are two numbers, one for the Evansville office,(812) 423-8136 , and one for the Indianapolis office,(317) 637-8701 .
Small town papers, not on the proposed route:
The following is a list of of small town, southern Indiana newspapers that don’t have large readerships in the directly effected area of the proposed route, but should be contacted on the off chance that they might run something.
Bedford- Bedford Times-Mail- http://www.tmnews.com/forms/news/submit_story.php
Jasper- Dubois County Herald- news@dcherald.com
Paoli- Paoli News Republican- http://www.paolinewsrepublican.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=104&twindow=Form&mad=No&sdetail=&wpage=&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=Press_Release&sc=1182&hn=paolinewsrepublican&he=.com
French Lick- Spring Valley Herald- 1-888-884-5553
Vincennes- Vincennes Sun Commercial- vscnews@suncommercial.com
Bloomfield- Bloomfield Free Press- rmjohnson@bloomfieldfreepress.com
Large Cities in Midwest that Might Print I-69 Action Reports
Terre Haute-
(a medium size city on the western edge of Indiana. Media outlets have a lot of view/readership with people along the route)
*Tribune Star- zach.taylor@tribstar.com
*WTHI CBS 10- news10@wthitv.com or 812-232-4953
*WTWO NBC 2- news@wtwo.com
Chicago-
*Chicago Tribune- this paper has printed very short articles on I-69 resistance in the past, mostly things picked up on the AP wire (see contact above).
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-email-newstips,0,5633809.customform
Louisville
*Courier Journal- 502-582-4691 or jtaylor@courier-journal.com
St.Louis
*Post-Dispatch - tpoor@post-dispatch.com or 800-365-0820
