Sk B1 Rollout Fdr- 3-11-04 Email Re Report Release And Pr Strategy 495

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Stephanie Kaplan From:

Jonathan Stull

Sent:

Thursday, March 11, 2004 7:18 PM

To:

Chris Kojm; Emily Walker; Stephanie Kaplan; Dan Leopold

Cc:

Al Felzenberg

Subject: Rollout Timelines; Long Thoughts I've attached two revised draft timelines for a 7/19 rollout, one starting in D.C. and one in NYC. I have two other draft timelines for a 7/16 and a 7/22 rollout that I can pass on if you'd like. I apologize for the length, but considering the different ideas being thrown around, we thought it would help to summarize in one place before we meet again. We still feel that 7/19 is the ideal. It gives us more uninterrupted time to rollout the report and, by starting on a Monday, we can still coordinate it with the release of magazines. Note one major change to both timelines: We feel that we shouldn't do any major media appearances prior to the 7/19 rollout (the week or two before). The edit board and columnist briefings would likely become grill sessions where reporters and columnists work for an exclusive leak. The likelihood that findings will be spilled at these briefings is very high, higher than an embargoed interview a day prior to the release. Any on-the-record appearances on the Sunday before are also unadvised, because we'll have no news to give them. Best not to spoil the big bang. Thus, we've left out: • Sunday talk shows before the rollout, on 7/18. We checked with Meet the Press and, as we thought, they'll still have us on 7/26 or later. • Sunday op-ed. We'll shift it to another date - either the day of the release or shortly after. • Any media briefings before the rollout. We should either plan on doing them this spring or in the weeks after the rollout, when we can focus on framing their coverage of our recommendations and their future implementation. Ultimately a decision for the Chairs. Though we should have a recommendation for the Chairs regarding DC or NYC, I don't think it's problematic to present them with both options. The timelines show that both would work well. The case for DC: • We are a national commission investigating a national tragedy. • We are a part of the U.S. govt., Congress and the President should be the first or among the first to receive the report. • We are in a better position to control our own event, as we have staff, office support, infrastructure right here. • All national press and outlying bureaus are already here. • Our policy recommendations speak with stronger authority in the nation's capital. • It would be easier on Commissioners and staff without having the added burden of travel on the first day. The case for New York: • It is forever associated in the public mind with the site of the tragedy. • More family members are there. • Greater interest on the part of local media affiliates, outlets, radio, etc. Regarding other potential starting dates: Though it would get the report out earlier, 7/16 is unattractive for many reasons, the largest being that it would cut into our prep time another few days. While a Friday release is perfect for the Sunday shows, it makes the schedule very choppy. We'd have to start in D.C. and probably couldn't get to NYC until 5 or 6 days after the

3/16/2004

Page 2 of2 report drops. Saturday is a difficult day to do any type of official activities and the news cycle is slowest on Friday and Saturday. The Friday news shows and Saturday papers are viewed by fewer people. While 7/22 gives us the maximum time to prep the report, it's also unattractive. It's late in the week and, thus, has similar problems to 7/16. But it's also very close to the Convention, which increases politicization and decreases coverage. It also gives us little to no time for a Congressional hearing. Even if we have a hearing, it would have to be on the first day of rollout. That would make a great big day of news, but allow for little follow-up, most of which will be linked to the campaign. Again, I have draft timelines for all the different starting dates. If you'd like to look over the 7/16 and 7/22 timelines, let me know. -Jonathan Jonathan Stull Communications Assistant 9-11 Commission 202-401-1627 (office) 650-269-3640 (cell) 202-358-3124 (fax) [email protected] www.9-11commission.gov

3/16/2004