Creative Spaces NetworkWrite a story, opinion piece or letter to the editor in your local newspaper.
Local community newspapers are a great resource for creative spaces. A story, opinion piece or letter to the editor in your local newspaper (e.g. The Nelson Mail, The Post, theNorth Shore Times, Hawke’s Bay Today) will also be posted online (e.g. Stuff, the NZ Herald).
In a recent article in The Post, Minister Paul Goldsmith talked about his plan to develop a national strategy to grow NewZealand’s arts and creative sectors. He also said he wanted to increase community engagement with the arts.
In response, Arts Access Aotearoa wrote a letter to the editor talking about the role of creative spaces, “where participants gain new skills, a sense of belonging and enhanced wellbeing”. The letter concludes: “These creative spaces need long-term, sustainable funding to increase community engagement in the arts and meet the demand for their services.”
The letter was published in The Post (27 June), in print and online: Post letters to the editor June 27
In 2023, The Post had 379,000 readers. The letters to the editor page is very popular and a lot of people will have read the letter. We hope that Minister Goldsmith will have also read it.
Creative spaces are rich in stories celebrating people in the community. Local newspapers are a great vehicle to share these stories with your wider community, which includes local and central government politicians, funders and influencers.
What do you need? First up, a good angle to pitch to the reporter. If you have the resources, you could write the story and provide an interesting, good-quality photo.
In a recent article in The Post, Minister Paul Goldsmith talked about his plan to develop a national strategy to grow New Zealand’s arts and creative sectors. He also said he wanted to increase community engagement with the arts.
If you have a good angle or story and want to check it with Arts Access Aotearoa, you are welcome to send your pitch, story or photo to Iona, our Communications Manager (iona.mcnaughton@artsaccess.org.nz).
Over the next month, let’s see how many stories we can get in local newspapers. Let us know if you’re featured and we can promote it on social media.
