Tools and Resources

Tools and Resources, Chapter 5: Working With the Media to Implement Your Plan

Sample News Release*

News releases are used to make announcements and provide print, broadcast, and online media with the relevant information about a story idea, issue, or event. Whether you are advising them of a news conference, issuing a statement, or releasing new data, your news release will be the single most important document in attracting media attention. When drafting a news release, follow the "inverted-pyramid" style of writing by presenting your news in descending order of importance. Using active voice, try to answer "who, what, where, when, why" in the release's lead, which is the first one to two paragraphs.

For more information contact:
Jan Easterling - (803) 898-3884
easterjr@columb20.dhec.state.sc.us

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 16, 2003

Women and heart disease focus of study

COLUMBIA, S.C. - A woman's risk of dying from heart disease depends in part on where she lives, and for women who call South Carolina home, that risk is high, according to federal data released Wednesday on heart disease rates among U.S. women 35 and older.

Women and Heart Disease: An Atlas of Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Mortality, released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and West Virginia University (WVU), ranks South Carolina in the top 10 for death rates, based on data from 1991 through 1995. The atlas also highlights persistent inequalities among women of the five major racial and ethnic groups.

"It must be a high priority to help women in South Carolina understand their risk for heart disease. Heart disease has primarily been regarded as a man's disease. But almost 5,000 South Carolina women died from coronary heart disease in 1997," said Anne Lockwood, Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Program manager at the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC).

DHEC's program "is focused on working with communities to bring about change so where we all live, work, rest, and play will be in heart-healthy environments," she added.

The atlas provides data on geographic, racial, and ethnic inequalities in women's heart disease rates for the five major racial and ethnic groups—African American women, American Indian and Alaska Native women, Asian and Pacific Islander women, Hispanic women, and white women, and for all women combined. The American Heart Association was a reviewer of the draft atlas and is collaborating with CDC and WVU to distribute the publication.

"For the first time in history, this atlas provides information to assist South Carolina health care providers in identifying communities of women at risk for heart disease for each of five racial and ethnic groups," said E. David Gibbons, chairman-elect of the American Heart Association's Mid-Atlantic Affiliate Board of Directors and resident of South Carolina. "The atlas will help South Carolina tailor heart-healthy programs and policies to those in need," Gibbons said.

According to the atlas, women who live in parts of the rural South have dramatically higher rates of heart disease death than women living in most parts of the western U.S. and upper Midwest. According to the American Heart Association, African Americans in the southeastern United States have a greater prevalence of high blood pressure and higher death rates from stroke than those from other regions of the country. South Carolina, where heart disease and stroke are leading causes of death among African American females, is no exception.

"We need to develop and implement more strategies targeting African Americans, particularly women, to address this problem," said Gardenia Ruff, director of DHEC's Office of Minority Health. "Strategies should include the identification of affordable and accessible quality care statewide. Dialogue involving health care providers and community members is essential to develop culturally appropriate, community-based prevention strategies to reduce the risk of heart disease."

The Office of Minority Health will be working with DHEC's Women's Health Program to address disparities related to women and heart disease, according to Julie Lumpkin, manager of the Women's Health Program.

In South Carolina, where racial and ethnic minorities make up 31% of the state's total population, heart disease is the chief cause of excess deaths among minorities when compared with the majority population. Black women have higher death rates, especially for stroke, than do white women. Black and other minority women are 1.6 times more likely to die from heart disease than white women and 1.9 times more likely to die from stroke.

Yet only recently have women been identified as an at-risk population for cardiovascular disease. Women are often diagnosed with cardiovascular disease in its advanced stages when treatment is less effective, according to the CDC.

Preventable risk factors for the disease include lack of physical activity, being overweight and obese, and smoking. Having diabetes also increases the risk of heart disease, particularly among African American women.

Additional information about the atlas, including a downloadable version of the report, can be found at the CDC Web site at: http://www.cdc.gov/hdsp/library/maps/cvdatlas/atlas_womens/
womens_download.htm.

###

*Provided by the South Carolina Cardiovascular Health Comprehensive Program, Department of Health and Environmental Control.

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Media List and Contact Worksheet

Use the table example below to organize and track information about the media organizations you approach for story placement, as well as those that contact you unsolicited.

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Sample Media Pitch Letter

Media pitch letters are written sales proposals designed to interest an editor or reporter in a potential story idea, interview, or event. They are presented in the form of a standard, one–page professional letter. A successful pitch letter typically contains an attention–getting opening statement; an explanation of why the reporter should be interested in the invitation; specific information about the event or story opportunity; and contact information for your media liaison.

[Date]
[Name of Journalist]
[Title, Name of Publication]
[Street Address]
[City, State Zip]

Dear [Mr./Ms./Mrs.] [Last name]:

When we are rushed to the emergency room with a life–threatening condition, we want and hope to receive the best medical attention there is. The sad reality for many of us, though, is that our hospitals and emergency services are not set up to provide optimal care for acute stroke. This is an alarming issue when you consider that stroke is one of the leading causes of death statewide and a leading cause of long–term disability.

[Organization or workgroup name] has conducted a community assessment, which found that [Appropriate percentage] of the state's population lack access to acute neurological services. Patients who receive treatment within the first few hours of stroke onset have a significantly lower rate of death or disability. But few benefit from potentially life–saving, time–sensitive treatments because hospitals lack the specialized equipment and stroke staff necessary to rapidly diagnose and treat stroke patients. Health care systems simply don't have adequate resources to develop stroke center networks to provide this care.

We will appreciate any coverage you can offer to alert [Name of state] residents to this important health care issue. Consider these facts about stroke and its impact on our community:

• Stroke killed more than [Insert number] people in [State] in 2003 alone.
• Nationally, stroke is the third leading cause of death.
• One in every 14.3 deaths in the U.S. is attributable to stroke.
• The chance of having a stroke more than doubles for each decade of life after age 55, raising concerns about our health care system's ability to care for the aging baby boom population.

[Organization or workgroup name] can make many people available to you for interviews, including stroke patients, physicians, health care administrators, and researchers. We would welcome the opportunity to assist you in covering this issue. I will follow up with you shortly, but in the interim, please contact me at [Work and home telephone numbers] if you have any questions.

Thank you for considering this story idea. I look forward to speaking with you soon.

Sincerely,
[Name]
[Title]

Sources:
American Stroke Association. What Are the Risk Factors of Stroke? (cited 2003 April 9). Available at http://www.strokeassociation.org/*.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Atlas of Stroke Mortality: Racial, Ethnic, and Geographic Disparities in the United States—2003. (cited 2003 July 3). Available at http://www.cdc.gov/cvh/maps/strokeatlas/atlas_download.htm.

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Sample Fact Sheet

Fact sheets are concise reference documents containing the essential information about an industry, organization, event, outcome, or discovery. Their short outline style allows the media to identify the key elements of a story at a quick glance. The document should include the name, address, and work and home telephone and fax numbers of your media liaison.

Stroke

Stroke Is the No. 3 Killer in the United States and a Leading Cause of Severe, Long-Term Disability.

• Each year about 700,000 people experience a new or recurrent stroke. About 500,000 are first attacks and 200,000 are recurrent.
• In 1999, more than 1.1 million American adults reported difficulty with activities of daily living and other functional limitations resulting from stroke.
• In 2000, females accounted for 61.4% of stroke fatalities.
• From 1990 to 2000, the death rate from stroke declined 12.3%, but the actual number of stroke deaths rose 9.9%.
• The 2000 death rates per 100,000 population for stroke were 58.6 for white males and 87.1 for black males; and 57.8 for white females and 78.1 for black females.
• From the early 1970s to the early 1990s, the estimated number of noninstitutionalized stroke survivors increased from 1.5 to 2.4 million.
• Stroke costs the United States $30 billion to $40 billion per year.

Stroke Center Networks

What Is a Stroke Center Network? Stroke center networks are made up of area hospitals and medical centers that are either primary stroke centers, comprehensive stroke centers, or are providing basic emergency services. When a stroke patient comes to an emergency room in the network, his or her case can be locally and regionally triaged. An acute stroke patient can be transferred to centers offering more specialized levels of stroke care. Stroke center networks help ensure that patients receive time–sensitive, multidisciplinary treatment 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Types of Stroke Centers

• Basic Emergency Services: Should have an organized approach for the initial evaluation, stabilization, and treatment of stroke patients, including consideration of whether to transfer patients to another center.
• Primary Stroke Centers: Meet the guidelines for primary stroke centers developed by the National Institutes of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Brain Attack Coalition.
• Comprehensive Stroke Centers: Guidelines are currently under development.

Primary Stroke Center Guidelines

Guidelines specify that primary stroke centers should address the following 11 aspects of acute stroke care:

• Acute Stroke Teams of physicians, available around the clock, seven days a week, who can evaluate any patient who may have suffered a stroke within 15 minutes.
• Written Care Protocols to streamline and speed up diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients.
• Emergency Medical Services with improved hospital coordination to rapidly transport stroke patients to appropriate centers.
• Emergency Department Staff with strong lines of communication with EMS and the acute stroke team as well as training in diagnosing and treating stroke.
• Stroke Unit where patients can receive specialized monitoring and care beyond the initial life–threatening period.
• Neurosurgical Services that can be provided to stroke patients within two hours.
• Support of the Medical Center for efficiently providing high–quality acute stroke care, including support among all levels of staff and administration.
• Neuroimaging that can be performed within 25 minutes of a physician order and evaluated within 20 minutes of the procedure's completion.
• Laboratory Services available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
• Patient Outcomes/Quality Improvement tracked using a database or registry of patients and their treatments and outcomes.
• Education Programs providing at least eight hours of continuing medical education credit per year to physicians and at least two annual programs for the public.

For more information about stroke centers in [State], please call [Media liaison name] at [Work number] or [Home number].

Sources:
Alberts MJ, Hademenos, Latchaw RE, et al. Recommendations for the Establishment of Primary Stroke Centers. Brain Attack Coalition. JAMA, 2000: 283(23):3102-9.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Atlas of Stroke Mortality: Racial, Ethnic, and Geographic Disparities in the United States—2003. (cited 2003 July 3). Available at http://www.cdc.gov/cvh/maps/strokeatlas/atlas_download.htm.

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Sample Media Lead Sheet

Media lead sheets are designed to generate media interest in a selection of news angles, key issues, and/or feature ideas. Usually including three to five encapsulated news stories, lead sheets should provide a wide variety of topics related to your key audience segments.

Stroke Center Story Ideas

Aging Baby Boom Generation Heightens Need for Stroke Centers
As baby boomers age, medical advances are keeping pace, enabling the generation to live longer, healthier lives. This aging of America, however, has massive implications for the structure of our country's emergency health care services as baby boomers are at increased risk of acute stroke.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Administration on Aging (AoA) estimates that 80 million Americans, or one in four people, will be aged 65 or older by the year 2050. With rising age comes increasing risk of stroke. The chance of having a stroke more than doubles for each decade of life after age 55. While stroke is common among the elderly, many people under 65 also have strokes. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Atlas of Stroke Mortality, stroke already is the third leading cause of death in the United States and a leading cause of long–term disability.

Scientists have developed new treatments for stroke that greatly reduce deaths and disabilities, but many are time–sensitive and need to be administered at the onset of stroke symptoms to be effective. An alarming percentage of Americans—nearly 20%—lack access to specially designated stroke centers that have the resources necessary to rapidly diagnose and treat acute stroke. This lack of access to acute neurological services over time will have a catastrophic effect on the health of our nation's burgeoning senior population, if it continues to go unaddressed.

Access to Stroke Care in Chadwick County Less Than National Average
Nearly 26% of Chadwick County residents lack access to hospitals providing acute neurological services, six percent higher than the national average, according to a recent community assessment conducted by the Coalition for a Stroke-Free Arizona.

Patients who receive approved treatments at stroke centers within the first three to five hours after onset of stroke symptoms have a significantly lower rate of death or disability. Few benefit from these time–sensitive treatments, however, because most hospitals lack the equipment and staff resources necessary to rapidly diagnose and treat stroke patients.

"It's been six years since national guidelines for the rapid identification and treatment of stroke were released, but a lot of people still don't have access to designated stroke centers that can provide this level of care," said Dr. Carolyn Stewart, of Herman Hospital Systems. "This is an alarming problem in a state where stroke is a leading cause of death."

Stroke Death Highest Among African Americans

Stroke Centers Offer Promise
Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the country, and African Americans' rate of death from stroke is the highest among all racial and ethnic groups, according to a report issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Arizona's stroke mortality rate is 108 deaths per 100,000 people ages 35 years and older. But among African Americans, the rate is much higher: 127 deaths per 100,000. Arizona's racial and ethnic disparities in stroke death mirror a pattern that is reflected in states across the country—alarmingly high rates across all population groups, with African Americans experiencing the highest rate of stroke–related deaths.

"The reasons for this disparity are not well understood, but we do know that one factor influencing any stroke patient's likelihood of survival or long–term disability is prompt diagnosis and treatment at a specialized stroke center," said Barbara Godfry, Director of the Arizona Department of Health and Human Services. The state is currently conducting a community assessment of acute neurological services to determine what level of care area hospitals currently have the resources and capacity to provide. "If the state does make resources available to develop stroke center networks, a key factor will be ensuring that resources are allocated in such a way as to address racial and ethnic disparities in stroke death in our state."

Physician Association Supports Move to Offer Hospital Incentives for Specialized Stroke Care

The Clarke County Hospital Association of Neurologists (CCHAN) is the latest in a growing number of organizations to throw its support behind an effort to provide financial incentives to hospitals that meet national guidelines for "offering basic capacity in stroke care." Currently, 24% of the state's population lack access to stroke centers or other acute neurological services for stroke, the third leading cause of death.

"CCHAN supports the adoption of national guidelines for secondary stroke care, including the establishment of stroke center networks. In light of the financial burden to create these networks, we support incentives to hospitals that provide specialized stroke care," said Dr. Lenore Mora, the chapter's president, in a written statement.

The additional funds hospitals would receive are designed to offset the extensive costs of establishing a network of stroke centers. Centers would have 24–hour access to adequate laboratory facilities, diagnostic equipment, and specialized stroke staff. Patients requiring advanced services to prevent death or severe disability could be transferred to centers offering appropriate levels of care.

Sources:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Atlas of Stroke Mortality: Racial, Ethnic, and Geographic Disparities in the United States-2003. (cited 2003 July 3). Available at http://www.cdc.gov/cvh/maps/strokeatlas/atlas_download.htm.

Kinsella K, Velkoff VA. An Aging World-2001. International Population Reports. National Institute on Aging, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, November 2001. (cited 2003 April 9). Available at http://www.census.gov/prod/2001pubs/
p95-01-1.pdf. (PDF 3.8MB)

Learn more about PDFs.

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Sample Media Advisory*

Media advisories generally are developed to provide advance notice or remind reporters of an upcoming event, such as a news conference or proclamation signing, and generate on–site media coverage. They are written as concise, 5 Ws (what, who, when, where, why) alerts, and have a short format, using bigger and bolder typefaces than the standard news release.

For More Information:
HELLEN FELLERS-DEKLE
Project ASSIST
(803) 898-0726

MEDIA ADVISORY
January 26, 2003

*Provided by the South Carolina Cardiovascular Health Comprehensive Program, Department of Health and Environmental Control.

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Sample On–site Media Checklist for News Conferences

An on–site media checklist will help make your media event a success. The sample below will ensure that last-minute details are complete and the event runs smoothly.

On–site Media Checklist

• Media registration desk is set up and clearly identified at the conference site's entrance with a sign–in sheet and sufficient supply of media kits.
• Head table with a podium is present.
• Room is brightly lit.
• Tape recorder and video camera(s) are set up.
• Seating is arranged in a way that reporters can see and hear clearly.
• Sufficient space has been left between the head table and audience for photographers.
• Areas are reserved for news cameras crews.
• Microphones have been tested.
• Electrical outlets have been checked.
• An individual is available to assist if a problem arises with equipment or site logistics.

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Sample Op–Ed

Op–Ed articles are brief opinion pieces, usually published opposite the editorial page in newspapers.  They allow the newspaper's readers to present a particular position or thought on timely or controversial topics in greater depth than is possible with a letter to the editor.  The sample below can serve as a model, but be sure to tailor your Op–Ed to the format and approach most likely to appeal to the editor of the newspaper that you have targeted to submit the Op–Ed.  Localizing the Op–Ed using state–specific information from the Stroke Atlas will strengthen your piece.

Once someone has a stroke, nothing is ever the same for them, their family members, or others close to them.  An alarming number of patients die each year—278,000 in 1999 alone—and many more survive but live with disabilities that keep them from leading independent lives. 

Over the past several years, scientists have developed new treatments that can reduce the number of stroke deaths and disabilities.  The reality, though, is that few benefit from these new treatments.  Most have to be administered within the first few hours of stroke onset, and the majority of hospitals in our community lack the specialized staff and equipment needed to rapidly diagnose stroke and administer approved treatments 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

This used to be the story with trauma deaths as well, but since the development of trauma centers within hospitals, deaths and disabilities have dropped dramatically.  The time has come for the state legislature to provide funding so we can do the same for stroke.  We need to create a network of stroke centers that can triage incoming emergency room patients and rapidly provide new life–saving treatments.

The promise of stroke centers already is being played out in other communities.  Cincinnati, for example, put together a "stroke team" and lowered short–term and long–term mortality rates.  Its patients also are less likely to need institutional long–term care following a stroke.

Actual stroke centers would have 24–hour access to teams of physicians and specialists, as well as laboratory facilities and neuroimaging equipment.  A protocol for transferring stroke patients to centers with appropriate levels of care would ensure each patient receives optimal care.

All of this requires money—a lot of it—and it is a burden that our health care system currently cannot shoulder.  Yet, it needs to be done.  Stroke is the third leading cause of death nationwide [Customize based on your state's Stroke Atlas data], and most projections show that rates are only going to rise as our population ages.  We cannot continue to sit by and do nothing.

The state legislature must provide funding to create a network of stroke centers.  Without additional resources, people in our community will continue to lack access to an optimal level of care for stroke treatment, and lives that could have been saved will be lost. 

[Name]
[Title]
[Organization]
 

Date last reviewed: 05/12/2006
Content source: Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion