Chapter 12 Using the Power of Media to Influence Health Policy and Politics in CEOD Seismic Shift in Media: One-to-Many and Many-to-ManyBroadcast Model: one-to-many One Broadcaster sends message out to manyNew Model: many-to-many Many people create media and distribute it to their networksMass Media: Radio, television, film, and newspaperInternet: Websites, Facebook, LinkedInAdvantage: Could broadcast a consistent health message to a wide audience Disadvantages: Controlled by large corporations, expensive to buy time, not targeted audiences, no allowance for personal creativityAdvantage: All opinions are available Disadvantage: Credibility can be an issue Prosumption / Everyone (prosumers) is producing and consuming media. The Power of Media mHealth / the practice of healthcare delivery and public health supported by mobile devices. Revolutionizing the way healthcare is delivered in developing countries. Medic Mobile / A nonprofit company and early innovator in open-source mobile health technology / http://medicmobile.org/ Mobile health / Strengthens the capacity and capabilities of health workers to improve the health of people globally. It is increasingly being harnessed to shape the political and policy landscape globally. Who Controls the Media? Traditional Media / 90% owned by major corporations prior to the growth of social media. Today social media often drives traditional media to cover issues that major newsrooms may not deem worthy of their limited space and time Social Medial / The public Distributed Campaigns A bottom-up approach rather than a top-down approach to campaigns that depends upon viral spreading from the grassroots rather than message broadcasting and controlled by staff Getting on the Public’s Agenda One of the most important roles that the media plays is getting issues on the agendas of the public and policymakers. The Internet may be where people go to find out about a health issue, but they often first become aware of the issue through television ER Grey’s Anatomy Documentary Films Super Size Me SICKO Food, Inc. Media as a Health-Promotion Tool Public Education / Acquiring important information Social Marketing / Visual or verbal messaging that can shift the individual’s thinking, attitudes and values Media Advocacy / The strategic use of media to apply pressure to advance a social or public initiative. Media Advocacy Media Advocacy The strategic use of media to apply pressure to advance a social or public initiative. A tool for policy change A way of mobilizing constituencies and stakeholders to support or oppose specific policy changes Differs from social marketing. "Social marketing is the use of marketing principles to influence human behavior in order to improve health or benefit society.“ Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/healthcommunication/HealthBasics/WhatIsHC.html A means of political action Framing Framing / Defines the boundaries of publ.

1. Chapter 12
Using the Power of Media to Influence Health Policy and
Politics in CEOD
Seismic Shift in Media: One-to-Many and Many-to-
ManyBroadcast Model: one-to-many
One Broadcaster sends message out to manyNew Model: many-
to-many
Many people create media and distribute it to their
networksMass Media:
Radio, television, film, and newspaperInternet:
Websites, Facebook, LinkedInAdvantage: Could broadcast a
consistent health message to a wide audience
Disadvantages: Controlled by large corporations, expensive to
buy time, not targeted audiences, no allowance for personal
creativityAdvantage: All opinions are available
Disadvantage: Credibility can be an issue
Prosumption / Everyone (prosumers) is producing and
consuming media.

2. The Power of Media
mHealth / the practice of healthcare delivery and public health
supported by mobile devices. Revolutionizing the way
healthcare is delivered in developing countries.
Medic Mobile / A nonprofit company and early innovator in
open-source mobile health technology / http://medicmobile.org/
Mobile health / Strengthens the capacity and capabilities of
health workers to improve the health of people globally. It is
increasingly being harnessed to shape the political and policy
landscape globally.
Who Controls the Media?
Traditional Media / 90% owned by major corporations prior to
the growth of social media. Today social media often drives
traditional media to cover issues that major newsrooms may not
deem worthy of their limited space and time
Social Medial / The public
Distributed Campaigns

3. A bottom-up approach rather than a top-down approach to
campaigns that depends upon viral spreading from the
grassroots rather than message broadcasting and controlled by
staff
Getting on the Public’s Agenda
One of the most important roles that the media plays is getting
issues on the agendas of the public and policymakers.
The Internet may be where people go to find out about a health
issue, but they often first become aware of the issue through
television
ER
Grey’s Anatomy
Documentary Films
Super Size Me
SICKO
Food, Inc.
Media as a Health-Promotion Tool
Public Education / Acquiring important information
Social Marketing / Visual or verbal messaging that can shift the
individual’s thinking, attitudes and values
Media Advocacy / The strategic use of media to apply pressure

4. to advance a social or public initiative.
Media Advocacy
Media Advocacy
The strategic use of media to apply pressure to advance a social
or public initiative.
A tool for policy change
A way of mobilizing constituencies and stakeholders to support
or oppose specific policy changes
Differs from social marketing. "Social marketing is the use of
marketing principles to influence human behavior in order to
improve health or benefit society.“
Retrieved from
http://www.cdc.gov/healthcommunication/HealthBasics/WhatIs
HC.html
A means of political action
Framing
Framing / Defines the boundaries of public discussion about an
issue and applies to all messages and policy work. Can be
verbal or visual
Framing for access / shaping an issue in a way that will attract
media attention

5. Framing for content / Compelling story, yet may not command
attention on the public policy changes needed
Reframing / breaking out of the dominant perspective on an
issue to define a new way of thinking about it that can lead to
very different ideas about potentially effective policy responses
Focus on Reporting
Know your source of news (journalists or cyberactivist’s):
Do they frequently misrepresent issues?
Are their stories sensationalized, overplayed, or exaggerated?
Do they present all sides of an issue with accuracy, fairness and
depth?
Can you substantiate wild claims?
Health professionals and community health leaders can assist
journalists by reframing health policy issues and providing the
depth of detail that may be lacking
Effective Use of Media
Positioning Yourself as an Expert
Getting Your Message Across
Blogging and Micro-blogging
Facebook and MySpace: Using Social Networking Sites

6. Building Community and Working With Partners
Analyzing Media
Health professionals and community leaders must:
Be knowledgeable consumers of media
Seek out factual unbiased information from many sources before
taking positions on policy issues
Be able to critically evaluate media messages
Assess who controls the media
Identify whose vested interest are being protected or promoted
Review this website:
www.mediachannel.org
Is the Medium Credible?
What TV and radio news programming do you regularly tune
into?
Do you read a daily newspaper or go online to a trusted news
website?
Does it cover international and national as well as state and
local issues?
Is it a credible source of information about health issues and
policies?

7. What is the station’s, program’s, paper’s or website’s
reputation?
Is it known for balanced coverage of health-related issues?
Is it partisan?
Who Is Sending the Message?
Ask these questions of the sender of the message:
Who owns the medium?
Who sponsors the website?
What are the owner’s biases?
Is their story original or borrowed from another source? Is the
journalism investigative?
Nonprofit investigative are becoming popular:
www.khn.org
www.propublica.org
What IS the Message?
Is there rhetoric used to mask the real message?
Language used to frame an issue can sway perceptions
Sometimes it what you don’t say that conveys a message
Every issue has a “spin doctor” who develops believable

8. messages based on focus groups and polling
As messages are repeated in the media, they become normalized
and believable
It is essential to be attentive to the language used in media
messages and evaluate the credibility, bias and intentions of the
source
Responding to the Media
Corrections of misinformation or additional information:
Letters to the editor
Call-ins to talk radio
Opinion editorials
These should all be done immediately after the original story
goes out
Should be concise and make a specific point relevant to the
story
Identify yourself as a health professional
Follow guidelines of media for responses

9. Media Advocacy to Influence Policy
Chapter 14
A Tool to
Reshape the Social and Physical Environment
*
The Power Of The Media Determinants of HealthSocial
ConditionsPhysical Environment
Primary tool to influence these determinantsPolicyPrimary
influence on policyMediaLargely determines what issues we
collectively think about
*
The primary tool available to public health for influencing
social conditions and the physical environment is policy.
Policy : the primary tool available to the public for influencing
social conditions and environments.
Policies defines the structure and set the rules by which we live.
Being successful in policy development means paying attention
to the news.
News Media largely determines what issues we collectively
think about, how we think about them and what alternatives are
viable options, which in turn influences key health policy
decisions.
Media AdvocacyProvide understanding for the publicMotivate

10. for participationProvide the method Shared
accountabilityHarness the power of the news
*
Helps people understand the importance and broad reach of
news coverage
The need to participate actively in shaping such coverage
The method to make it happen effectively
Shared accountability not simply individual accountability
Media advocacy emphasizes social accountability, which
typically receives less attention from the news than individually
oriented solutions.
Harness the power of the news to mobilize advocates and apply
pressure for policy change
Differs from traditional public health campaigns
Steps for Developing Effective Media Advocacy Campaign
Overall strategy
Media strategy
Message strategy
Access strategy
*
Overall strategy / The ultimate goal of the campaign
Media strategy / Chosen based of the appropriateness for the
overall strategy
Message strategy / What they want to say and to whom
Access strategy / How to attract news attention
1. Developing an Overall Strategy

11. “The Ultimate Goal”Most Important part of a Media
Campaign“Clarification, articulation and justification of the
desired change”. Media advocacy prime directive: You cannot
have a media strategy without an overall strategy
Four Main questions:
What is the problem or issue? Define the problem.
What is a solution or policy-desired outcome? Develop a
realistic and achievable objective.
Who has the power to make the necessary change?
Who must be mobilized to apply the necessary pressure?
*
1. Articulation of the problem / Articulation is important to
journalists because the reality of news today demands that
health professionals identify the most critical aspect of the
problem and be able to describe it well in just a sentence or
two.
2. Decide on a concrete solution that will at least make a
significant difference. Must be clear about what needs to
happen. Is a new law needed? Is more enforcement required?
Does the budget need to be changed? Does someone need to
take responsibility to do something to protect the community’s
health?
3. What person, group, organization or body has the power to
make the desired change. The target audience would be a
legislator, other elected officials, regulatory agency, small
business owner, or corporate officer. It can change over time,
depending on the stage of development of the issue.
4. Constituency groups must put pressure on policy makers
when dealing with a controversial issue, such as: phone calls,
letters, demonstrations, media coverage and office visits.
Mobilizing supportive groups is important because media
coverage last for a short time, but the issue is often longer term,
so constituency groups can apply pressure on a continuous

12. basis.
2. Media StrategyMedia Advocacy / What?Move from
information gap (traditional health communications) to power
gap (media advocacy)
*
Media advocacy / the strategic use of mass media to advance
public policy by applying pressure to policymakers
Information gap focuses on information to increase knowledge
to individuals, while power gap focuses on change in social and
physical environments.
Traditional Health Communication vs Media Advocacy
Individual Problem vs Policy Problem
Change: Personal health behavior vs Policy
Mass Media used to: Change behavior vs Influence public
policy
Short term focus vs Long term focus
*Linking public health and social problems to inequities in
social arrangements rather than to flaws in individualsChanging
public policy rather than personal health behaviorsFocusing
primarily on reaching opinion leaders and policymakers rather
than on those who have the problem (the traditional audience of

13. public health communication campaigns)Working with groups
to increase participation and amplify their voices rather than
providing health behavior change messageHaving a primary
goal of reducing the power gap rather than just filling in the
informational gap
MOTIVATE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL INVOLVEMENT
RATHER THAN PERSONAL BEHAVIOR CHANGE
3. Message StrategyFramingPortrait vs. landscapeMessage
componentsAccess strategy
Framing covered in next slides
*
FramingFraming / The process of identifying how the issue will
be depicted by the public. Shapes how the public will feel and
discuss the issue. Who’s the hero or the villainOvercoming
adversityTwist of protectors causing harm
*
The message is what is said to the target
The overall strategy determines the target audience (could be a
single person, small group, CEO of a company or a legislative
committee)
The message is delivered to the target through the news media
(It is a mechanism for thrusting the discussion with the target
audience into the public conversation
Framing is the process of identifying how the issue will be
depicted; it is “the package in which the main point of the story

14. is developed, supported, and understood.” Some points are
magnified, while others aren’t. This will contribute to how the
issue is felt and talked about by the public.
Framing for ContentWhen framing the content of a news
story:Shifts the individual problem to a social issueIncludes all
aspects of the problem, not just one aspect (landscape instead of
portrait)
*
Challenges for Framing
“Put a face on the issue”More interest in a individual plight
than the policy (This could cause victim blaming)
When stories are more issue oriented audiences respond
differently-they include government and social institutions as
part of the solution
*
Landscape versus portrait
How to distinguish between the two??IndividualBroad

15. Portrait tells about the individual or event, but it is hard to see
the surroundings that brought him/her to this place in time.
Landscape pulls back the lens to take a broader view. It may
include people and events, but must connect them to the larger
social and economic forces.
So the challenge for the media advocates is: to make stories
about the public health landscape as compelling and interesting
as the portrait.
*
Components of a MessageClear, concise statementsKeep it
simpleNew and interesting angleUnderstand how typical news
stories might connect to a particular health issue, such as
asthma and secondhand smokeBe able to link social factors and
contextual variables
*
Keep updated data and statistics about health issues to explain
to reporters why they should include this information in their
news story of the day.
Components of a MessageJournalists will ask two questions:
What is the problem?
What is the solution?Public Health Professionals spend:80%
talking about problem20% talking about solutionA good
message uses direct language to convey at least three elements:
A clear statement of concern
The value dimension
The policy objectiveCompelling Visuals

16. *
Public health professionals should spend 20% on problem and
80% on solution. Identify the problem briefly, emphasize what
needs to be done.
Access Strategy
Determine what part of the issue will make a good story to
attract journalist’s attentionUnderstand how journalists define
and report newsWatch television news carefullyReading
newspapersListening to radio
*
Monitoring the local and national media outlets and paying
close attention to how often and what they say about the issue.
Ask yourself does this coverage ask everything it should about
the issue? Are there important aspects that are missed? Is there
a public health aspect to this story that should be included?
This will help advocates determine which journalists are most
interested in a topic and what aspect interest them the most.
Also, advocates will start to see different symbols and how
journalist tell their story.
Building Relationships with JournalistsKeep a lists of local
media contactsName of reporterPhone number and faxEmail
addressName of the mediaBest time to contactSection that the
journalist is responsible forNotes of any interactionsUpdate
addresses regularly

17. *
NewsworthinessIs the issue controversial?Is there a milestone
event?Is there an anniversary?Can irony be used?Can a local
issue be connected with a larger national event?
*
Strategies for Getting in the NewsCreating newsPiggybacking
on breaking newsPaying for advertisementUsing editorial
strategies
*
Creating news / You can’t just say something, you have to do
something. May be releasing new data, announcing a specific
demand or having a news conference
Piggybacking on breaking news / Can be achieved by a letter to
the editor, or with a news conference.
Paying for advertisement / May be the only way to get the
message out.
Using editorial strategies / Letters to the editor, editorials and
op-eds (opinion editorials) are usually in response to a specific
article or editorial the paper has published. Advocates can make
appointments with the editorial board and ask them to make a
statement about an issue or pending policy.

18. Tips and Techniques for Successful Media AdvocacyCalculate
social mathLocalize storiesEvaluate authentic voiceReuse the
news
Overcoming ChallengesAvoid murky strategiesAvoid
institutional constraintsDistraction by oppositionStay on
message
*
OutcomesIncrease skillsBetter relationshipsIncreased visibility
and influence
SummaryMedia advocacy brings public attention to specific
individuals & issues
After reading Chapter 12 and Chapter 14 and reviewing
the powerpoints, discuss the history of media and the current
status of the media. Also, discuss in your own opinion who
controls the media and why it is powerful. Finally, discuss the
potential of the media to advance public health.