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This list gives you some guidance on what types of press releases to look for to collect. Some public statements will require you to make a judgement call. If you're not sure, err on the side of collecting it. We would rather take a speech no one will read than not take one that would be useful to a user.
Floor Speeches
Do Take:- Statements related to legislation, current events, or historical events
- Personal Tributes (These include congratulations to a constituent, scout troop, local business, etc...)
- Procedural statements such as speaker recognition, points of order, etc...
- Statements where the official is mentioned but never actually speaks
- Text of bills or amendments
- Text of Resolutions
- Extraneous materials that the official requests be included in the record if they do not help to clarify the official's position
- The pledge of allegiance or reading of the constitution
Websites
Do Take:- Items regarding legislation, current major events, or historical current events in which the individual speaks/is quoted
- Blogs written by the individual, or contain significant quotes by the individual
- Letters from the individual
- Opinion-Editorials (Op-Eds) by the individual
- Hearing Statements and summaries of Hearing Statements by the individual (follow the Hearing format for full hearing statements, treat as a press release or statement if only a partial/summary of hearing statement)
- Speeches by the individual - Except Floor Speeches
- Columns by the individual
- Hearing statements by the individual (If a full hearing transcript, format as a Hearing. If a partial/summary of hearing statement, format as a Press Release/Statement)
- Statements on Post Office Name Changes, and Anniversaries of Significant historical events such as WWII, Holocaust etc
- Issue positions
- Personal Tributes (These include congratulations/honoring a constituent, commenting on the passing or death of a person, awards given to representatives,scout troop, local business, etc...)
- Funding announcements (such as grants) unless there is significant discussion by the individual (use your judgement) on the function of the funding
- Radio/TV transcripts - If you find one on an official's website, communicate with the person assigned to the TV Transcripts schedule, so they know to keep an eye out for it.
- Scheduling or meeting announcements
- Constituent services announcements
- Roundtables/Business Meetings unless there is significant discussion by the individual (use your judgement) on the purpose of the meeting
- Floor Speeches
- Statements by people speaking for the official/candidate.
- News Articles (Be sure to check sections labeled 'News', 'In the News' etc... however, as they may contain Op-Eds)
- Blogs written about the individual or quoting individual out of context
- Resolutions relating to National Police Week, National Donut Day, etc
- Statements about Holidays and Anniversaries unless there is significant policy discussion
Blogs
Do Take:- Blog posts written directly by the official/candidate
- Interviews with the official/candidate not found elsewhere
- Blogs containing substantive quotes by the official/candidate not found elsewhere
- Blog posts written about the official/candidate
- Blog posts quoting the official/candidate out of context
Candidates
Do Take:- Press releases in which the individual's own words make up the majority of the text except if listed under Do Not Take
- Press releases regarding legislation, major current events, or major historical events
- Blogs written by the individual
- Letters from the individual
- Op-Eds
- Speeches
- Columns
- Radio/TV transcripts when available
- Issue positions
- Statements by people speaking for the candidate, such as a campaign manager.
- Personal Tributes
- Fund-raising announcements
- Scheduling or meeting announcements
- News articles
TV Transcripts
Do Take- Items regarding legislation, current major events, or historical current events in which the individual speaks/is quoted.
- Statements by people speaking for the candidate.
- Personal Tributes (These include congratulations to a constituent, scout troop, local business, etc...)
- Quotes by other officials (add BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT) - only include quotes by individual (do not share Transcripts)
Mention that we don't want quotes if they are already in admin. News articles, newsletters, and blogs can often be repetitive of press releases and statements. The best way to avoid this is by searching
"site:votesmart.org (whatever the quote is)" in google.