Engaging the Media for Effective Communications: Media Access 101

APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Teri Barber, MA¹, Marie Legg, MS¹, Patricia Shifflett, RN, MBA², June Harland, MBA², and Phyllis Williams-Thompson, BA². (1) National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Highway NE, Atlanta, GA 30341, (2) Training and Technical Assistance Division, Constella Group, 3 Corporate Square Blvd, Ste 600, Atlanta, GA 30329, 404-325-2660, jharland@constellagroup.com

Being skilled in media relations means, knowing who to contact in the media, how to reach media personnel, and how to maintain open lines of communication to successfully deliver health messages to intended audiences. This presentation will discuss the role, benefits and key components of a strong media relations program and provide essential “how to” guidance. The case examples for this session will be highlights from Choose Respect, a national initiative sponsored by the Violence Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Choose Respect encourages adolescents to adopt healthy behaviors to prevent dating abuse. The initiative targets 11- to 14-year olds with positive messages to help them develop skills to maintain respectful relationships throughout their lives.

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of this session, the participants will

• Identify at least 3 strategies on how to launch your media relations program to promote your health messages and prevention programs
• Identify at least 3 tactics to create a reliable publicity stream to promote challenging health issues, such as youth violence prevention

Keywords: Violence Prevention, Adolescents

Related Web page: www.chooserespect.org

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered

Affecting Populations Through Communication Research and Policy

The 134th Annual Meeting & Exposition (November 4-8, 2006) of APHA