Courting the Media Produces Results

To the Editor:

Jason Salzman should be complimented for his forthright challenge to not-for-profits (“Charities: Harness the News Media All Year Round,” My View, December 17). Not-for-profits have the same responsibility as do the media: public accountability. Fairness and accuracy, the very core of reporting, depend on the sharing of good information. Such is true in times of crisis and non-crisis.

Take the issue of medical research and public health. In times of crisis, the news media pay close attention to the work of non-profit groups in that area. According to the Pew Research Center Database for Public Attentiveness to Major News Stories (1986-1998), the San Francisco earthquake, Hurricane Andrew, Midwestern floods, and the Northridge, Cal., earthquake ranked among the top 10 stories in terms of close media coverage during that period. Voluntary health agencies, not-for-profit hospitals, and schools of public health and medicine should constantly inform the news media about their role in responding to such disasters, whether it be by providing emergency medicine, shelter, or safe drinking water.

As for working with the media in a time of non-crisis, the problem is lack of coverage.

According to recent polls by Research America, citizens say that too much attention is placed on political scandals and entertainment, while not enough is placed on medical research.

In response, Research America created an editorial task force. We met with the editorial boards of newspapers in many states. We held joint press conferences with other not-for-profit groups featuring celebrities who were willing to share their stories, such as Mary Tyler Moore and Christopher Reeve. We sent sample “letters to the editor” to non-profit voluntary health groups and professional societies, who in turn sent them to local papers. Media-scientist roundtables were held around the country to discuss working within the media’s needs and in ways they find revelant and useful.

The result? The National Institutes of Health received a historic 15-per-cent increase in its budget for the coming year. Did the news media play a role? Absolutely. Did they do it on their own? Absolutely not.

In the words of John Seigenthaler, founder of the Freedom Forum’s First Amendment Center, at Vanderbilt University: “What is involved here is what citizens need to know about the health, technology, environment, and economy of the total society. Given what is at risk, communication with the media must improve.”

Ray Merenstein
Vice-President, Programs

Mitchell Teich
Director of Communications
Research America
Alexandria, Va.