Blue Star Families
When Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s blockade froze hundreds of military promotions and a looming government shutdown threatened service member paychecks, military families bore the human cost of Washington’s dysfunction. Blue Star Families (BSF) needed to cut through a fast-moving, politically charged news cycle and position itself as the authoritative voice on how these federal crises affected military households.
Momentum built a rapid-response strategy rooted in making the policy fight personal — pairing BSF’s proprietary research and quick-turn survey reports with real human stories to give journalists both data and emotion. Momentum connected producers to military spouses for on-camera interviews alongside CEO Kathy Roth-Douquet and Vice President of Government Affairs Tom Porter, delivering both credibility and emotional resonance to frame these crises as a breach of the social contract with military families. The message traveled from national op-eds down to regional chapter voices in local markets.
- Reached over 600 million people across 20+ distinct placements in national and regional outlets
- CEO commentary ran in tier-1 national outlets, including The New York Times, CNN News Central, ABC News and NewsNation. An op-ed in The Hill prompted interview requests from reporters
- Kept BSF’s voice in the story for more than 6 months — from the initial blockade in August 2023 through Tuberville lifting the holds in December 2023
- Regional outlets in St. Louis, Richmond, Dayton and San Diego carried shutdown coverage, connecting the national crisis to community-level impact
- BSF’s consistent, research-grounded commentary positioned the organization as the go-to source for journalists covering military family policy — earning repeat placements in Stars and Stripes, Federal News Network and The 19th
