I get thousands of letters every year from people who say they have been victims of injustice in family court, and who would like me to publicize their cases.  This blog entry is intended to give advice to these people on what to do, and on what not to do.

The best way to begin is to get a reporter from your local newspaper, or TV or radio station to do a piece on your case.  This is not easy to do, but it is very possible, and many people do it.

When approaching reporters, I suggest you first have everything as organized as possible, and as compact as possible.  Avoid terms like "Feminazi" and "conspiracy," as well as references to your violated constitutional rights.  Keep the focus on the children as much as possible.

Mention child-support only in extreme cases, such as when there has been an error made (which is common), or when you are being charged a legitimately outrageous amount.  Hint: $350 a month is not an outrageous amount, and will gain you little sympathy from the media.

Once you have this original story, it helps give you legitimacy, and it makes it much easier for newspaper columnists, bloggers, and radio hosts, including myself, to cover your case.

One common misunderstanding is that people think that I will cover a case from scratch.  I do not do this for several reasons. For one, I do not know if what you are telling me is true.  Yes, you will offer to send me your case file, or any documentation you have, and I am sure you are quite sincere in this offer.  However it grinds up an enormous amount of time for me to do that research, and my time for large, unpaid projects is limited.

However, if you already have an article on it from your local paper or TV station, I may consider your case to be publicly vetted.  If you send me the link, I may well be able to write about it on my blog, or even in a newspaper column.  But I will not write something based upon a case that has not already been vetted.

Fathers & Families and I are often contacted by TV propducers and newspaper reporters who are looking for cases to fit into stories they are doing. We've often placed our people on TV and in newspapers--to be the first to know of media opportunities, join the Fathers & Families Action Squad (FFAS). Some examples are listed below:

3 Fathers & Families Supporters Featured by Associated Press in 300+ Newspapers (8/27/09)

Two Fathers & Families Supporters Quoted in Huffington Post (7/17/09)

Fathers & Families Supporter Quoted in National Associated Press Story (6/4/09)

NPR Covers Fathers & Families’ Member's Case
Out Of Work, Parents Struggle To Keep Up On Child Support
(WBUR [NPR, Boston], 5/4/09)

Fathers & Families Supporter Featured by Fox
Child Support Woes Amidst Bad Economy
(FOX News 10 [Phoenix, AZ], 5/4/09)

Fathers & Families, Member on Front Page of the Boston Globe
Amid layoffs, child support pacts fraying---Stressed-out parents ask family court for help, relief (4/13/09)

NPR Covers Fathers & Families’ Child Support Lawsuit, Two Members’ Cases
Lawsuit Says Child Support Guidelines ‘Unfair’
(WBUR [NPR, Boston], 3/16/09)

Reader, Wife Featured on Inside Edition
(1/9/08)

FOX Houston Does Special on Child Support & Custodial Dads
(11/5/07)

This entry was posted on Monday, March 10th, 2008 at 10:11 am and is filed under Men and the Media. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.