State Policy Network
Share:

State Solutions Media Program

In partnership with RealClearFoundation, SPN’s State Solutions Media Program expands the reach and influence of the Network’s best state and local policy ideas. This initiative empowers citizens, policymakers, and communities to discover and develop practical, hopeful solutions to today’s problems by connecting them to the best research, analysis, and stories from all 50 states.

Program Features

State Solutions Public Affairs Page: Hosted by RealClear, SPN’s State Solutions page curates and promotes state-based policy research, analysis, and stories on K-12 education, the economy, and healthcare. This resource connects hundreds of thousands of new, bipartisan readers and policy influencers to the best ideas across all 50 states.

Media Opportunities for Affiliate Members: In partnership with RealClear, the State Solutions Media Program offers members opportunities to increase their media presence through publication and syndication of original content at RealClear.

Additional Information

Who can participate?

This program is currently open to affiliate members of SPN’s 50-state Network that are interested in expanding the reach and influence of their policy ideas.

What do organizations gain by participating?

  • Expanded reach to new national and state-level audiences. In 2020, 110 million users from across all 50 states and Washington, DC, visited RealClearPolitics (RCP).
  • Access to a large, bipartisan readership, including readers on the left and in the center who are open to market-oriented solutions. RealClear’s readership is 34% Democract, 28% Independent, and 38% Republican.
  • Visibility among reporters, legislators, and other political and policy influencers who regularly turn to RealClear as a trusted news resource.
  • Increased media presence and placement opportunities. When releasing new research, members are invited to pitch original op-eds for publication at RealClear and on SPN’s State Solutions page. If accepted, these original pieces may lead to additional placements on TV or radio, as well as syndication opportunities  through RealClearWire, a distribution network including many major local news conglomerates, as well as noteworthy national outlets, such as Chicago Tribune, New York Post, and MSN News.

Content Guidelines

We are currently accepting content focused on state and local policy solutions for the following topics:

  • K-12 Education Reform
  • State Economies & Job Growth
  • Healthcare Reform

Content types accepted are:

  • Research, studies, and reports: Original research produced by your organization on the topics above. Includes reports, studies, or other analysis.
  • Commentary and media hits: Op-eds or other commentary your organization has placed in notable national and state media outlets. Print, TV, and radio placements are accepted.
  • Multimedia: Videos, podcasts, or other multimedia produced by your organization on the topics above.
  • Op-Ed Pitches: Original op-eds you are interested in placing at RealClear. Full drafts are preferred for consideration.

How to Submit

All content submissions and op-ed pitches should be sent directly to SPN’s Communications Manager, Camille Walsh, at walsh@spn.org.

State Solutions Page Submissions
To submit research, commentary, or multimedia content for inclusion on the State Solutions page, please include:

  • Required: Title of content piece and hyperlink(s).
  • Optional but encouraged: 250-word summary, related visual (chart or graph).

Original Op-Eds
To pitch an original op-ed for potential publication and syndication at RealClear, please include:

  • Required: Brief explanation of topic and its timeliness, plus links to related research.
  • Optional but encouraged: Full draft of op-ed to be considered for placement. Word count is 600–1,000 words.

Recommended Submission Frequency
Affiliate members are welcome to send submissions as often as they like. At a minimum, we recommend the following:

  • Include SPN and the State Solutions Media Program in your marketing and media plans for launches of new research, multimedia projects, or other content initiatives. Send us a brief summary of your work and relevant links on launch day—or better yet—a few days before.
  • Contact us when you have a breaking content or a success story. We can work with you to amplify it through the State Solutions Media Program and other SPN channels.


Why partner with RealClear?

SPN’s partnership with RealClear presents a unique opportunity to reach and educate new, bipartisan audiences nationally and at the state level.

The value of a media property’s audience consists not only in how many people visit it, but also who visits. RealClear draws an impressive audience on both fronts. 

Audience Size and Reach: In 2020, 110 million users from across all 50 states and Washington, DC, visited RealClearPolitics (RCP). As the go-to site for information around elections, RCP last November was the was thirteenth most-visited news outlet—ahead of ABC, CBS, and Wall Street Journal, and right behind NBC. These numbers are amplified through the RealClearWire syndication service, which offers articles for republication to major local news conglomerates such as TownNews and Advance Local, as well as major metro-area publications, such as The Chicago Tribune and Philadelphia Inquirer

Audience Composition: Arguably even more impressive than RealClear’s audience size is the audience make-up. In these most polarized of times, media organizations increasingly cater to communities of partisan thinking. Not so with RealClear—which represents one of the few remaining shared news experiences, with a readership that is 34% Democrat, 28% Independent, and 38% Republican (2018 survey). RCP’s readership also skews influential, as measured by education (67 percent have postgraduate degrees) and household income (71 percent have household incomes of more than $100,000). 

RealClear presents an opportunity to engage both grass-tops and grassroots audiences, at scale, nationally and locally, and among citizens and influencers from across the spectrum. 

What others say about working with RealClear:

“The partnership between RealClear and the Commonwealth Foundation is paying dividends. We’re now getting our RealClear articles published in Pennsylvania’s major papers and in newspapers of repute across the country, including the Chicago Tribune…This partnership is one that works, and it’s only just the beginning.” — Jen Stefano, Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer, Commonwealth Foundation

“RealClearPolitics and its sister RealClear verticals have been a game changer in the digital media marketplace. With just one link, RealClear can transform a piece which might have otherwise gone unnoticed into the main topic of conversation… RealClear elevates and expands the audience for conservatives in a way few publishers can match.”– Roger Kimball, Editor and Publisher, The New Criterion

City Journal’s rapidly expanding online presence…owes a considerable debt to RealClearPolitics, which rivals Google as our most frequent (and influential) referrer.” — Brian Anderson, Editor, The Manhattan Institute’s City Journal


SPN Contact

Camille Walsh, State Solutions Media Program Contact

State Solutions Media Program Contact

Send all submissions and questions to:

Camille Walsh
Media Relations Manager
walsh@spn.org