17
Messaging Child Health Care Issues Phil Sparks Communications Consortium Media Center January 24, 2007 [email protected]

Messaging Child Health Care Issues Phil Sparks Communications Consortium Media Center January 24, 2007 [email protected]

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

Page 1: Messaging Child Health Care Issues Phil Sparks Communications Consortium Media Center January 24, 2007 philsparks@ccmc.org

Messaging Child Health Care Issues

Phil Sparks Communications Consortium Media CenterJanuary 24, [email protected]

Page 2: Messaging Child Health Care Issues Phil Sparks Communications Consortium Media Center January 24, 2007 philsparks@ccmc.org

2

Primary Values Groups (Developed by Belden Russonello & Stewart)

• Responsibility to care for one’s family Related values: Financial obligation to care for family; obligation to care for emotional well being of family; obligation to educate, guide and discipline children; and obligation to care for the physical health and safety of one’s children.

• Responsibility to care for oneselfRelated values: Self-reliance; financial security; taking responsibility for one’s actions; and self-discipline.

• Personal libertyRelated values: Freedom of expression; individuality; independence; freedom from obligations; reproductive freedom; and sexual freedom.

• WorkRelated values: Working hard is good and everyone should work.

• Belief in God

• Honesty/Integrity

• Fairness/EqualityRelated values: Justice; Golden Rule; equal opportunity; tolerance; and respect for others.

Page 3: Messaging Child Health Care Issues Phil Sparks Communications Consortium Media Center January 24, 2007 philsparks@ccmc.org

3

Secondary Values Groups (Developed by Belden Russonello & Stewart)

• Responsibility to care for others Related values: Care for less fortunate; leave the world a better

place for others; care for other species; and care for the earth.

• Personal fulfillment

Related values: Ego-centered: being creative; materialism; learning; and aesthetic enjoyment. Relationship-centered: friendship; having emotionally supportive relationships; being married; and having children.

• Respect for authority

Related values: Obedience to law; respect for institutions; and respect for order.

• Love of country or culture

Related values: National pride; loyalty to country; and cultural pride.

Page 4: Messaging Child Health Care Issues Phil Sparks Communications Consortium Media Center January 24, 2007 philsparks@ccmc.org
Page 5: Messaging Child Health Care Issues Phil Sparks Communications Consortium Media Center January 24, 2007 philsparks@ccmc.org

5

Levels of Thinking

• Level One: Big ideas: justice, family, democracy, rights, responsibilities, equality, opportunity, core values

• Level Two: Issue-types & movements: like women’s/civil rights, economic justice, the environment, voter mobilization, children’s advocates

• Level Three: Specific policy proposals: Estate/death tax, family and medical leave, tax reform, early education, minimum wage, paid sick leave

Source: George Lakoff for the Frameworks Institute

Page 6: Messaging Child Health Care Issues Phil Sparks Communications Consortium Media Center January 24, 2007 philsparks@ccmc.org

6

Open the Right Door

• Advocates too often operate at level three

• But the public is usually up at level one

Can we open the conversation at level one?What frame or door should we open to get the conversation started down a path that produces support for our policies—even in the face of opposition?

• Prime the conversation with the right level focusing on one or two ideas

Page 7: Messaging Child Health Care Issues Phil Sparks Communications Consortium Media Center January 24, 2007 philsparks@ccmc.org

7

Four Key Message Points

 Overview of Issue in Big Picture/Values Language

Summary of Specific Program

Why Action is Needed

Action Steps for Your Audience

Message Points

Page 8: Messaging Child Health Care Issues Phil Sparks Communications Consortium Media Center January 24, 2007 philsparks@ccmc.org

8

Example of a winning frame incorporating values

Minimum Wage:

• Part of the American Dream is that if you work hard and play by the rules you ought to be able to support yourself and your family. It’s just not fair that the federal minimum wage has not been raised by Congress from its present $5.15 an hour in ten years. Meanwhile, Congress has raised its own salary seven times in the last decade.

• You can’t even buy a quart of milk and a gallon of gasoline for $5.15 an hour. It’s not right!  

Page 9: Messaging Child Health Care Issues Phil Sparks Communications Consortium Media Center January 24, 2007 philsparks@ccmc.org

9

Competing Values

In regards to low-wage work issues like health care -- we are talking about children of low-wage workers receiving health care first.

Challenges because of certain values people

hold regarding these issues:

• each individual is responsible for his or her own success or failure

• with hard work comes reward• the goal is equal opportunity, not equal outcomes • anyone can achieve the American Dream

Page 10: Messaging Child Health Care Issues Phil Sparks Communications Consortium Media Center January 24, 2007 philsparks@ccmc.org

10

The Power of Stories

• Storytelling is both an art and a science.

• Stories reflect – and evoke – core values and widely held beliefs.

• Storytelling has become the norm for most mass media. Reporters say: “I need to put a face on my story.”

Page 11: Messaging Child Health Care Issues Phil Sparks Communications Consortium Media Center January 24, 2007 philsparks@ccmc.org

11

Storytelling, A Blessing and a Curse

• Many stories about low-wage work issues, including children’s health care, focus on the plight of an individual child or the family of a young child.

• The Challenge: Move the story from an article/TV or radio program about the individual to an article/TV or radio program about the systemic problem suggested by the individual story.

• Shift the frame of the story from the “child/family” to focus on systemic problems that cause children not to have health insurance.

Page 12: Messaging Child Health Care Issues Phil Sparks Communications Consortium Media Center January 24, 2007 philsparks@ccmc.org

12

So, how do I proceed?

• start the discussion with a focus on values, not specific policies

• focus on the “system”, not the individual

• stress that health care decisions are not a “force of nature” made by accident. On the contrary, health care “adjustments” are very intentional

• and, when you use stories, focus on compelling stories that illustrate systemic problems and their solutions

Page 13: Messaging Child Health Care Issues Phil Sparks Communications Consortium Media Center January 24, 2007 philsparks@ccmc.org

13

A Final Point

• involve key groups and individuals to achieve investment in the frame/message

• encourage feedback and comments

• make message dissemination a bottom up, rather than a top down process

• understand that there will be some pushback when you suggest that the message “lead” with a values statement

Page 14: Messaging Child Health Care Issues Phil Sparks Communications Consortium Media Center January 24, 2007 philsparks@ccmc.org

14

Starting The Message Process on Children’s

Health

• All children should have the tools to grow and flourish (value).

• The problem is that millions of children do not have access to adequate healthcare (the problem).

• We need to provide all children with adequate health care so they can grow and flourish( the solution).

• Therefore, we are urging the policymakers to…. (the action).

Page 15: Messaging Child Health Care Issues Phil Sparks Communications Consortium Media Center January 24, 2007 philsparks@ccmc.org

15

• Message development and framing • Strong written materials in one page, ten

pages, papers and books• Reporter-friendly Web sites• Local mainstream and new media• Editorial and op-ed strategies• Visuals and good television stories pitched to

producers on a regular basis• Radio strategy (AM and FM) • Cultivate a reporter corps (with connections)• Made-for-cable events and forums

Critical Elements for Media Outreach

Page 16: Messaging Child Health Care Issues Phil Sparks Communications Consortium Media Center January 24, 2007 philsparks@ccmc.org

16

Tools of the Trade

• One-on-one relationships

• Press briefings and informal sessions

• Press conferences

• Press kits and written materials

• Editorial board meetings

• Op-ed pieces

Page 17: Messaging Child Health Care Issues Phil Sparks Communications Consortium Media Center January 24, 2007 philsparks@ccmc.org