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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 ThoughtsI'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.Noteonemajor changetoboth timelines:Wefeel thatweshouldn'tdo anymajor media appearances priorto the
7/19
rollout (the weekor twobefore).Theedit boardandcolumnist briefings would likely become
grill
sessionswhere reporters and columnists
work
for an exclusive leak. The likelihood that findings will be
spilled
at thesebriefingsis very high, higher than an embargoed interview a day prior to the release. Any on-the-recordappearances 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
weeksafter therollout, whenwe canfocusonframing their coverageof ourrecommendationsandtheir futureimplementation. 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
presentthem 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
receivethe report.
• We are in a
better position
to
control
our own
event,
as we
have
staff,
office support, infrastructure righthere.
• 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.Thecasefor NewYork:
• 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 cutinto 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
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