Media Relations for Fair Lending Lawsuit

During my time managing communications for the Connecticut Fair Housing Center, the organization filed a high-profile lawsuit against a local bank accusing it of racial discrimination and redlining in its mortgage lending.  My role was to handle the media relations surrounding the lawsuit. 

I edited the press release that was put together by the legal staff to ensure clarity, and held a media strategy preparation session with key legal staff to discuss talking points ahead of the press release. I was concerned that, because the lawsuit was dealing with a complicated issue that is not well-known by most reporters or the general public, some of the glaring evidence against the bank might get lost in the shuffle. 

I identified several local and regional reporters to target first and wrote custom pitches to them, making sure to highlight some of the most straightforward, key evidence the Center had uncovered in its investigation of the bank. 

The results: widespread, favorable coverage in multiple local and regional news outlets – and most importantly, the bank settled the lawsuit quickly and agreed to take multiple steps to invest in communities of color in the future.

Click here or on the image to read the press release and links to the resulting media coverage (later shared as a blog post on the Center’s website).