Extended How-To Guide for the Giving Women Power Over aids exhibit
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- Navigate this page:
- Guide to Getting Media Coverage
- The Press Release
- The Follow-up
- Speaking With Reporters
- At the Event
- After the Event
- Conclusion
Letter to Professors on CampusDate
Dear Professor, This spring, the XXXX department will be hosting a phenomenal traveling exhibit about the global AIDS epidemic and a new product that can offer hope to women around the world – microbicides. As you may know, microbicides are a range of different products that can prevent the sexual transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) when applied topically. Microbicides are NOT yet available, but with depending on the research pipeline, a microbicide could be available in the next five years. I am writing to invite you to bring your class to the Giving Women Power Over AIDS exhibit. This exhibit will give your students a lasting impression of what AIDS looks like right now all over the world. We all read statistics about the devastating epidemic. This exhibit not only expands on these statistics to bring them home right here to the U.S., but it also puts a face to these numbers and gives students a way to be a part of the solution. On the following pages, you can read a little bit more about the exhibit. The Global Campaign for Microbicides’ website can offer you a great deal of information that you or your students can download about microbicides – www.global-campaign.org/download.htm In addition, if you want to learn more about products in the pipeline, you may be interested in looking at the Alliance for Microbicides Development’s on-line database, available at www.microbicide.org Guide to Getting Media CoverageBefore the EventThe Media AdvisoryThe purpose of the media advisory is to make local reporters and news outlets aware of the Giving Women Power Over AIDS exhibit. It also serves as a “save the date” to reporters who might cover the event. The media advisory should generally be no longer than one page, should contain all relevant details (e.g. What is the Exhibit? Where? When?), and it should answer other initial questions that a reporter might have (e.g. What are microbicides? What is the Global Campaign for Microbicides?). The advisory also needs to contain a media contact from within your organization that reporters can contact with questions. The media advisory should initially be sent out no later than two weeks before the opening of the exhibit. This gives reporters and news outlets enough notice for planning purposes, and it also gives you the requisite time for follow-up calls to reporters, to determine who the appropriate reporters are, and to re-send the advisory if the appropriate contacts have not yet received it. The advisory should be re-sent to your entire media list the day preceding the event to serve as a reminder. The Press ReleaseThe press release is a written announcement distributed to members of the press that seeks to draw media attention to the Giving Women Power Over AIDS exhibit. The press release should be a brief news article describing the who, what, where, when, why, and how of the exhibit. It should highlight the main themes of the exhibit so that even if a journalist does not attend the event they will still have all of the necessary information to write an article. It should be released on the morning of the event. The Follow-upReporters and news outlets receive myriad advisories about events and news in the area every day. What determines which events are covered and which are not? The relevance, timeliness and “newsworthiness” of the event will ultimately determine if the event gets covered or not. Persistent and effective media outreach on the part of your organization will also help determine how much media coverage Giving Women Power Over AIDS receives. It is your job to educate the reporters and news outlets on the importance of the exhibit and the underlying global health issues. The adage “persistence pays off” is particularly valuable in trying to draw media coverage to an event. Begin with the sample media lists provided by the Global Campaign. These lists contain health/science reporters and assignment editors at major local news outlets in your area, but are by no means exhaustive. After you have sent the media advisory, begin by calling the specific reporters and contacts contained in the list directly. Even if the event is not something they would normally cover, these contacts know their outlet well and can serve as a great resource for pointing you in the right direction, identifying reporters who might be interested at their publication/station, and even passing along the information to the appropriate people. Speaking With Reporters
“I just wanted to make sure you received the advisory.” “I also wanted to see if ‘Giving Women Power Over AIDS’ is something you would be interested in covering and to answer any questions you might have about the event.”
“The event is a traveling exhibit designed to raise awareness about the global war on AIDS and about microbicides, a promising new technology for preventing the spread of HIV.” “The exhibit is based on The Seattle Times piece and tells the story of Ruth, a woman dying of AIDS in Africa, and her courageous struggle with the disease. It also tells the story of Ruth’s daughter, and Ruth’s desire for her daughter to not follow Giving Women Power Over AIDS.” “AIDS is now disproportionately ravaging women across the globe – over half of those newly infected worldwide are women, and in Africa, that number jumps to sixty percent.” “In many societies in the developing world, women often lack the societal or economic power to control their sexual encounters. Microbicides, and other preventative technologies like them, will empower women like never before to protect themselves against the spread of AIDS.” If you don’t reach a reporter on your first call, it is okay to leave a message identifying yourself and why you are calling. But don’t be content to simply leave a message – make a note of the message and attempt to reach the reporter again in the subsequent days leading up to the event. The media lists also contain the main numbers for all of the outlets where your media contacts work. After you have called the specific contacts on the list, begin calling through to each outlet. The name of the game is making sure that the appropriate person at each outlet has the advisory and that the event is on his/her radar screen. You may have already contacted a health reporter at a given publication but if that reporter only covers personal health or physical fitness, then the reporter whose beat Giving Women Power Over AIDS actually is may never see the advisory. When you reach the station/publication, ask to speak to someone in the newsroom or an assignment editor. These are often the people who make decisions about which events/stories to cover. When you reach these contacts, ask where notice of an upcoming event in the area should be sent and explain the event. The newsroom or an assignment editor will then be able to direct you to the appropriate person. After speaking with this contact, immediately email or fax the advisory to the address that he/she gives you. At the EventHave a list prepared with the names of reporters you expect to attend the event and a media sign-in sheet for the reporters who show up. This enables you to track attendees, to follow up with the press release after the event, and to keep track of the reporters who might cover microbicide news in the future. You should identify one or two spokespersons (e.g. the head of your microbicide group, a member of the Campaign, an attendee) and make them available to reporters during or after the event. Let the reporter know that your spokespersons are available if the reporter would like to further discuss the issue and the exhibit or to answer any questions they might have. After the EventImmediately follow up with those reporters and contacts your media list, including all reporters/outlets that covered the event, by sending the Giving Women Power Over AIDS press release. The release should contain quotes from members of your organization or other attendees about the exhibit, the global war on AIDS and its effect on women, and, in particular, the promise of microbicides. Just as you did after sending out the media advisory, follow up with the contacts on the media list to ensure that they get the release, and let everyone on the list know that there are spokespersons available if they would like commentary on the issue. ConclusionGetting good press for an event is hard work, particularly with so many worthy causes, issues and events in a given area. Effective media outreach is the key. Don’t be discouraged if a reporter tells you he/she can’t or won’t cover the event – they may already be working on other projects, the station may choose to allocate its resources in a different manner, or it simply may not be a given reporter’s beat. But persistence, getting the media advisory into the right person’s hands and the ability to frame the global importance of the exhibit and its underlying issues will all help ensure that Giving Women Power Over AIDS will receive the kind of media coverage it so richly deserves. Directory: clientfiles clientfiles -> Association for Women in Computing Houston Chapter 2009 Leadership in Technology Award clientfiles -> Call to Discontinue Nonoxynol-9 for Rectal Use clientfiles -> Canolfan croeso y bala tourist information centre Download 164.43 Kb. Share with your friends:
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