[OSM-talk] Contacting governments & the press for help

[Richard Fairhurst]

Russ (Justec) wrote:

> I'm also going to see if I can find some way of contacting the locals to
> ask for GPS traces. One possibility might be to find the local newspaper
> and ask them if they'd run a story. Does anyone have any advice on how to
> do that?

I'll be putting together an OSM press kit in the near future, but for  
now, there's lots of good stuff you can borrow from on the wiki - just  
search it for "press release".

The one thing which most newspapers will have trouble understanding is  
the difference between us and Google Maps - "they're free too, aren't  
they?". So it's important to stress things like:

- poor GMaps coverage in many areas
- GMaps just does roads, it's rubbish on footpaths/cycleways/woodland etc.
- can't do much with GMaps except view and put pins on the data,  
whereas OSM enables you to make wonderful maps (e.g. UK cycle map)
- OSM is available for local businesses to use without payment

cheers
Richard