ENGAGING THE MASS MEDIA IN ADVANCING THE HEALTH AND POPULATION

RESEARCH AGENDA

By Thulani Cele, PRO

PREAMBLEThis presentation will focus on the challenges and successes of dealing with media engagement strategies in advancing health and population agenda. It will address issues such as media strategy implementation, monitoring, and evaluation, as well as language use and appropriating scientific terminology. (i.e. HIV or HIV/AIDS), and will also look at the challenges presented by media diversity. Participants will get an overview of how the Africa Centre, as a research site that specializes in health and population issues, especially HIV research, use the media effectively and continually updates its media strategy to meet the public interest.

Defining Mass MediaMass Media is a broad spectrum of radio and television broadcast stations and networks, newspapers, magazines, and outdoor displays designed to appeal to the general public (Business Dictionary: www.answers.com).

Why Mass Media• Media has the ability to greatly impact an audience’s attention and

receptivity to health and population-related messages

• It is from this premise that mass media is perceived as a powerful tool to information dissemination, public influence, and public education.

• The role of mass media is crucial to update public about the activities that Africa Centre is conducting in the area, influence policy making from the law makers, and assess the reception of the services.

Mass Media Engagement Strategy

Through the past eleven years, Africa Centre for Health and Population Studies has been continually engaging mass media into its activities. This has been done through:

media conferences; media partnerships; live TV broadcasting; Issuing media releases; podcast, videography, and blog site; dissemination of findings to media, and continually updating media of AC activities.

Mass Media Strategy:Media Conference

•Africa Centre, just like any institution, is engaging media by the form of conferences.•This model has shown growth both inside media knowledge of research agenda and the correct interpretation of scientific terminologies.

Mass Media Strategy: Media Partnership

•Africa Centre’s Media Partnership strategy has so far been successful . •The partnership between Africa Centre and Zululand Observer (Local Commercial Print Media) and ICORA FM (Local Community Radio Station) is the result of this successful model.

Mass Media Strategy:Live TV Broadcasting

•Africa Centre had a successful live broadcasts of two Asikhulume TV Talk Shows at the site whereby the AC Director, was part of the panelists with the national Health Minister.

Mass Media Strategy:Issuing Media Releases

•Out of 10 media releases from Africa Centre, almost 8 of them are getting published.• This is through the strategic method that is followed in order to create a sustainable relationship with media.

Mass Media Strategy:Videography

• Videography: This media is very important to show the visual effect of the institution and its activities. Africa Centre has a video that is also available in the internet site to show who we are and how we conduct our activities.

• Podcast media• live streaming• Blog site

Planned Mass Media Strategy:Podcast, Live Streaming and Blog

site

Mass Media Strategy:Dissemination of Findings to

Media

•Africa Centre has its newsletter that is published in English and then translated into Zulu for the benefit of our clients who are made up of Zulu speaking people. •The translation is also done for Zulu media in order to ensure that scientific language is accurate and used correctly.

Mass Media Strategy:Continual Update of Media

•Africa Centre updates public about its activities every year end.•This is done through Umbiko Newsletter, feature articles and World AIDS Day message that is distributed around different media.

Challenges in engaging Mass Media

• Translation of scientific language is still a challenge.• Getting interest of mass media, especially commercial media, to write about

health and population-related issues is also a challenge.• Most importantly, lack of budgeting for mass media activities from the

research institutions is driving the situation worse.• Understanding the role of mass media in research institutions as a tool to

link the scientific activities with public is an issue that still need to be addressed.

Conclusion• Understanding of how to engage media and communication at a science research institution.• How to effectively strategize media and communication engagement, implementation,

monitoring and continually updating the plan to meet the public interest needs to be redressed.

• Almost 90% of more that 300 media organizations in South Africa is publishing less than 3% of science-related articles in their publication content. One can view this as an act of deviating from what media should be – public eye in social, economic, political, and scientific issues. This motive behind less coverage of science-related articles is perhaps perpetuated by the drive of commercial media to generate revenues on sellable articles (i.e. politics, war or sport) or lack of human capacity to write interestingly about science and research.

• Nevertheless, there is still a challenge for media and communication practitioners in research agenda to convince public and private media of a critical role that they can play to bring changes into the public by disseminating scientific research information and start writing proactively on issues of health and population.

• If people are continually dying from issues that health and population research are scrutinizing or have further knowledge to prevent or eliminate the death rate, who is to be accused…..media or scientific research institutions?

Q&A

Podcast

Videography

Blog site

Live Streaming