SETI League Policy Manual

The SETI League, Inc. is an international group of well over 1000 amateur radio astronomers in five dozen countries on six continents. As such, we receive several requests per week from journalists wishing to interview one or more of our members. While we understand the desire to find a local angle for your SETI stories, The SETI League has a firm policy of respecting the privacy of our individual members. Although generally enthusiastic, and often generous donors, they are neither public figures nor trained spokesmen. Consequently, we regret that we are unable to release individual members' names, addresses, or phone numbers to the press. There are, however, other ways we can assist you in developing the human interest aspect of your story.

The SETI League's executive director, Dr. H. Paul Shuch (also known as Dr. SETI ®), is our official spokesman and press contact. He is modestly photogenic and arguably articulate, has done hundreds of print and broadcast media interviews, and can probably answer any questions you have about the amateur Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence. And because he travels to wherever there are SETI League members, he has probably been to your community, and will gladly relate his experiences there. But, because of this extensive travel schedule, Dr. Shuch may be difficult to reach by telephone. We recommend that you coordinate with him via email, drseti @ setileague.org.

The SETI League has appointed a worldwide network of Regional Coordinators, all of whom have expressed a willingness to grant press interviews. Regional Coordinators are also encouraged to maintain a list of SETI League members in their region who have expressed an interest in making themselves available to the media. Regional Coordinators may be reached by email; they are linked from this list. As these SETI League members serve in a volunteer capacity, please don't expect an immediate response from them.

Many of our members maintain their own Web sites, which may contain useful SETI information, as well as email addresses in the case those members don't mind being contacted. We maintain links to several members' pages. As all linked Web sites are maintained by the respective members, The SETI League assumes no responsibility for their content.

Prior to any interview, we encourage members of the press to avail themselves of the copious background information available on this Web site, both in the Press Kit and in our General Information section. This site contains many thousands of files totaling tens of GigaBytes (!) of information, and probably anticipates many of your questions.

Finally, The SETI League respectfully requests that members of the press supply us with tearsheets, audio cassettes, or videotapes of any print or broadcast piece which you might do about us. Such material may be mailed to The SETI League, Inc., 433 Liberty Street, Little Ferry NJ 07643 USA. Your cooperation is appreciated.

These Policies shall have the force and effect of Bylaws of The SETI League, Inc. They may be amended as necessary from time to time by the Board of Trustees. Amendments or revisions shall become effective as of the date of their posting to the World Wide Web site of The SETI League, Inc.