How to improve the response

You can do this at home, for free, in just a few minutes.

The idea is to urge reporters to ask tough questions about specific goals (like getting more of a specific type of supply). If a government official commits to a specific goal (like delivering 100,000 of that supply this week), they'll be under tremendous pressure to follow through.

Here's a sample email you can send to a national reporter:

"At tomorrow's press conference, please press federal officials to commit to specific goals. For instance, ask a governor how many of a specific type of supply they need. Then, ask a federal official this question: 'Governor Smith says they need 100,000 [of that item]. When will they have them?' Really press for an answer and if they don't have a delivery date, ask them when they'll have a delivery date. Then, follow up later. Thank you."

Or, if you watch press conferences and a reporter asks a weak question, look up their email address and send them an email like this:

"At today's press conference you asked a weak question that only generated a vague, predictable response. Could you please instead concentrate on tough questions about specific goals? Next time, please ask something like 'Governor Smith says they need 100,000 of a particular item. When will they have them?' All the hundreds of millions who are impacted by the current events are counting on you to hold leaders accountable. You'll only do that when you ask tough questions about specific goals. Thank you."

Of course, if you have your own questions and they'd make officials commit to a specific goal, use those in the emails instead.

You can do this right now! Just look up a reporter or two and send them an email along the same lines. Or, do this whenever it's convenient for you.

Search for "white house correspondents" or look at the reports from major media outlets like the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, and Associated Press. Their emails might be on their biography page. You can also search for their name + "@nytimes.com" or similar. If the reporter's name is John Smith, search for "johnsmith", "jsmith", "john.smith", etc. plus the URL of their site.

Even easier than emails, sign up for Twitter and reply to reporters there. For instance, if a reporter asks a weak question and tweets about it, reply with a variant of the second email above. Replies are better than just sending a tweet to a reporter: replies are on the reporter's tweet and others can retweet them. And, if you see others also urging reporters to ask tough questions, retweet them. Most reporters are on Twitter and finding them is very easy. You can also leave comments on their posts on Facebook and other sites.

If enough people send even one email or tweet, reporters will finally feel compelled to ask the types of questions that will result in more desperately-needed supplies.

A better response will make things better for millions of people. You can help improve the response in just a few minutes.