Draft a News Release

Your communications agency has been hired by the Law Courts Inn, an event space and restaurant inside Vancouver’s courthouse, because their landlord, the BC government, is threatening to close them. They want you to issue a news release to local media to gather attention to their issue and hopefully pressure the government to reverse its decision. They have given you a Q&A (attached) prepared for their media spokespeople. Using the information in this Q&A, draft a news release. You can quote the Inn’s managing director, Sergio Gonzalez. Be sure to follow news release style and conventions, including having a boilerplate and contact info at the end.

You may find additional info about the Law Courts Inn , but you can write the news release based only on the Q&A. Your news release should be 300-600 words.

Save the Law Courts Inn

Q&As for media spokespeople

Q1: What is the Law Courts Inn?

A1: The Law Courts Inn is operated by The Lawyers’ Inn Society, established in 1971. The Law Courts Inn Restaurant is situated on the fifth floor of the Supreme Court Building at 800 Smithe Street in downtown Vancouver. The public restaurant serves breakfast and lunch Monday through Friday. On evenings and weekend, the restaurant customizes the banquet and reception facility for events, weddings, meetings and other public and non-profit gatherings.

Q2: Why is the Law Courts Inn under threat?

A2: The Law Courts Inn Restaurant is being threatened with closure by our landlord, the BC Ministry of Citizens’ Services. We want to renew our lease, but they have said they won’t renew, and plan to turn the restaurant into offices.

Q3: What has your landlord said about why they won’t renew your lease?

A3: The Inn’s landlord, the BC Ministry of Citizen Services, has told the Society that it won’t renew their lease after September 30, 2020. The Ministry has not been very receptive to discussions or negotiations to change this situation. They told the Society that the reason for ending the lease was to turn the space into additional offices for the courthouse. Rumours have also circulated that perhaps the space would be used by the government for chambers, or office space, for judges, but there is currently a glut of downtown office space available as more people work from home.

Q4: Are you in negotiations with the Ministry about the lease?

A4: The Ministry has not responded to our repeated requests to negotiate or discuss the lease.

Q5: Why would the public care about saving a private lawyer and judges’ club?

A5: When the courthouse complex was designed by Arthur Erickson, it had in its centre, a large space devoted to a restaurant overlooking an infinity pond. This space was always intended to be public. If the Law Courts Inn is closed, the public will no longer have access to this space at all.

Q6: There are lots of wedding and event venues in Vancouver. With COVID restricting gatherings anyhow, why should we worry about saving this venue?

A6: The restaurant provides a valuable public service, not only in hosting numerous corporate, social and public events, but waiving room rental fees for many volunteer and pro bono organizations. The space both figuratively and literally allows members of the public to connect with the administration of justice in a way that would not be possible without its existence. This is a beautiful space that should not be restricted just to a select few public servants.

Q8: Given the closures of restaurants during the lockdown, and the restrictions now on reopening for restaurants, is the Inn even in a place financially to continue operations?

A8: The Inn is a viable going concern. The restaurant employs 12 people on a full-time basis, and another 25 casual employees. In the three years to March 2020, we have held 473 events for the bench, bar and public to enjoy the space. Throughout the shutdown, and despite the fact that this Government has encouraged commercial landlords to provide rent relief, none has been offered to us, and we have continued to pay the full amount of out rent ($9,450 per month), without complaint.

Q9: Were you or any of the courthouse stakeholders consulted by the Ministry before making this decision?

A9: The decision to repurpose the space was made by the Ministry without any consultation with interested stakeholders, including the Society.

Q10: Have you seen a public expression of support for keeping the Inn open?

A10: We have seen an outpouring of support from the public, with more than 70 letters sent to the Ministry, that we know of, asking them to reconsider. On social media, we’ve seen hundreds of people in recent days stepping up to share our messages to Save the Law Courts Inn.

 

Word Count: 300-400

No. of Pages: 3