Here are some links we like (without necessarily endorsing all the arguments) – and of course there’s lots more good stuff that we won’t have seen.

• Show us some respect: thoughts on the media and March 26 Stuart White at Next Left
• A snapshot of the 26 March demo Newsnight’s Paul Mason (though he’s unfair about Unison)
• Why we need to march for the alternative Brendan Barber writes on Left Foot Forward
• The Big Society Bites Back Brilliant coverage from the Sunday Mirror
• The despair doesn’t come from the marchers Nick Cohen’s thoughts in the Observer
• Ignore the sneers. This march is a real alarm-clock moment Polly Toynbee’s preview from yesterday

In yesterday’s Guardian, George Monbiot suggested that we were not clear enough about the alternative and could not boil it down to a flyer (though we quite like being called “brilliant and brave”).

We’ve done our best to set out both the arguments against the cuts and the alternative – and boiled down to bullet points the alternative reads:

• a crackdown on tax avoidance
• a Robin Hood tax on banks and finance
• policies and time to let economic growth and full employment raise the tax that will close the deficit

But perhaps the detail of the alternative is not as important right now as countering the government claim that there is no alternative to deep cuts on a four year timescale. The truth is that there are many alternative policies to the cuts. The TUC would agree with some of George’s but not all – and the feeling is probably mutual. But no-one has to sign up to any particular alternative to join us on March 26th.

And as Cath Elliot’s response to George published today says:

I do know what it is I’m fighting for. And that’s nothing more or less than this country’s future: the future of the welfare state, of our public services, of the education system, of pensions and of the NHS. I’m fighting for my future and my children’s, and the future of anyone else who wasn’t born with a silver spoon in their mouth: all of those who are set to lose so much if the government continues on its destructive course.”

Regional and local media – newspapers, broadcast and online – are always on the lookout for a good local angle on what will be the important national story of the TUC March for the Alternative. If you’re coming on the march and you feel you have a good story to tell, why not approach your local media to see if they are interested in featuring you?

You can put the basic facts about your story into a press release:

• Keep it short, no more than one side of A4.
• Get the five Ws (who, what, when, why, and where) into the first few sentences.
• Keep it simple: use short words, short sentences and short paragraphs.
• Use a headline that tells the story in a clear and newsworthy way. Think about a headline you might see in your local paper. Local media will be particularly interested if you say you are going to London as part of a campaign to save a valued local service.
• Include a quotation in your name about why you are coming on the march. This adds a human interest angle to the release. Use facts and figures in the main body of the release but include personal views in the quote.
• If you are going on a coach and you have space to take other people from your town or city include this in the press release.
• Can you think of a good picture opportunity to go with the story? Will you be making a banner or posters featuring something local? If they can send their local photographer along it may get better coverage.
• Make sure you put the date at the top of the press release, and ensure you include a contact name and telephone number, day and evening in case the journalist has any more questions about your story.

Call your local papers and ask who you should email the press release to and when. You can also ring your local radio stations and find out who to send your press release to there.

Media UK have a directory of newspaper contacts and a directory of radio station contacts that you might find useful.

It’s not that long to the march now, so you should start to think about this now. Don’t forget that local papers for example may want to feature in the issue coming out just before the march and will therefore need to know about it a good ten days before March 26^th. If they are interested this will give you time to call you back and check any details.

The TUC national press office would love to hear your stories too, so please your press releases to: marchforthealternative@tuc.org.uk

Good luck!

An important way to raise its profile is to generate lots of media exposure with stories and features across newspapers, magazines, TV and radio.

The stories that most interest readers and listeners are ones that explain the impact of cuts through the lives of everyday people.

Recent examples of people-led stories in newspapers include the Taylor family explaining how they’ve been affected by job losses in the Guardian and single mum Katie Potter explaining how she’ll be affected by the abolition of the health in maternity grant in the Daily Mirror.

The TUC is collecting stories of people whose life has been affected by losing their job, experiencing a sharp cut in their income or having a public service that is vital to them and their family reduced or abolished altogether.

If you’ve got a story to tell, and you’re happy to tell it to a journalist, please get in touch with the TUC press office via email at media@tuc.org.uk. We can talk through what being a media case study would involve and what forms of media you’d be comfortable doing.