“Asean Risk Communication Training for Trainers” Workshop ROLE OF MEDIA IN ASSISTING HEALTH PROFESSIONALS by Yong Soo Heong, Editor- in-Chief, BERNAMA (National News Agency of Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Dec 18, 2012
WHY BOTHER ABOUT THE MEDIA?
STRONG DEPENDENCE ON MEDIA IN DAILY LIFE
GETTING STARTED, KNOWING YOUR ALLIES
PRINT MEDIA: NEWSPAPERS
BROADCAST MEDIA: TV STATIONS & RADIO STATIONS
SOCIAL MEDIA: FACEBOOK, TWITTER, NEWS PORTALS, BLOGS
STRUCTURE OF TYPICAL MEDIA ORGANISATION
Head or Editor-in-Chief Deputies
Section Heads of News Desks (Politics, Business, Health, Women’s Affairs, Courts, Crime, Entertainment, Agriculture, Uniformed Services, Lifestyle, etc)
Journalists or Reporters He or she gathers the news or content by being on the scene or by phone,
Sub-Editor or Copy Editor He/She is the checker, quality controller, shaper, polisher…
The Editor He/She is the boss of the Journalist and Sub-Editor
OTHER TITLES Editor-At-Large Correspondent Bureau Chief Associate Editor Stringer
MEDIA CAN’T DO WITHOUT OUTSIDE HELP
HOW TO GET STARTED
START CONTACTING, BUILD UP CONTACTS
GET TO KNOW THE MEDIA: WHO’S WHO? BUILD UP A MEDIA LIST
STATEMENTS, PRESS KITS, BRIEFINGS, PRESS CONFERENCES
Planning the press statement
Inverted pyramid approach…
Intro…it’s the opening sentence at the start of statement or news story (it should preferably aim to tell the story all at once)
Body of story (include all useful details…facts, figures, quotes, background of subject matter)
Conclusion…sentence to round off the issue
CONTACT DETAILS Name of organisation or unit Person(s) to contact & office telephone numbers, mobile phone numbers and addresses Website address
BE IN CONTROL AT THE PRESS CONFERENCE Don’t be intimidated by journalists…you control the facts & news flow
IF UNSURE…DON’T GIVE PHONE INTERVIEWS Better to have face-to-face interviews
Depend on a written statement so that you have something to fall back on if things do not go well as planned
ASKING FOR RIGHT TO CHECK OR VERIFY FACTS
Absolutely important when relationship with journalist is new or you do not know of his or her capabilities at all
YOU CAN ALL DO IT! THANK YOU!