Another news person here, I can answer your questions as I know how I would with regards to television news.

First and foremost, the news desk needs to "confirm" things. That means they need to talk to someone who knows what they're talking about. You need phone numbers of someone who wants to talk about what they can cover and is willing to meet a reporter face to face to talk about it--whether it's coming into the station, meeting in a parking lot somewhere or at the very least doing a phone interview. Someone who not only knows what they're talking about, but can also clearly communicate their reasons will do you lots of wonders here.

Additional material can be tricky depending on the newsroom. I'd say the best thing to do is to make your argument as clearly and concise a possible. Supplemental info, such as the bill number, excerpts from the bill, phone numbers of those who are for and against it, would go a long ways and may tip the scales to your favor. ESPECIALLY if you're talking about your LOCAL congresspeople. Local news is just that--local first and foremost. Many times for national stuff they will lean on their network or other news service (CNN services practically every station in the country, for example). Give them the angle to attack it. Also, make sure you have proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation and be respectful.

To get a hold of your local stations, there should be a contact number on their website. Usually it says "News Desk" or "Breaking News Line." If push comes to shove, call the stations main line and ask to talk to the news desk. They SHOULD transfer you. At that same contact page, there should be an e-mail and a fax number as well. They'll see it all, but I can promise you that the matter of importance will go like this, from most to least: Calls, Faxes, E-mail. There is usually one or two people manning the phones (you might actually get a producer on the weekend). They get overwhelmed with all three, so calling will guarantee you'll speak to someone who has a hand in coverage. Assignment editors have to deal with crazy people all day arguing about the most random, inane things. Stand out from that by speaking clearly, professional and be very polite and respectful. It'll go a long ways in helping you cover your story.

It's been said before in these comments. Local news has very limited resources... especially on the weekends. This evening, some news rooms might have a producer, a writer, a couple of editors, an assignment editor, two anchors, one reporter and a weather person. Everyone is trying to cover not only the big stories (which are usually 2 minute edited pieces called packages), but also every little twenty second story that fills up the rest of the news cast.

Another thought I just had for when talking to the assignment editor or producer, you can ask them "Does the network or CNN have a package on SOPA ready to go?" That means, they can FTP or beam down a premade story to use. They can air is as it, have an anchor re-record the track (repackage it), or even just do a shorter version with maybe just a sound byte. That wouldn't hurt and would appeal to their time saving sensibilities.