Scholarship and Fellowship Program: Media Pointers

This document offers general media pointers to keep in mind as you participate in this scholar award program. You are encouraged to advance your work and achievements. Preparation helps you deliver a clear message at every opportunity.

Even though the Leadership Conference provides communication skill building sessions, we thought the following tips may help you in the mean time. Remember, you can always contact us at the Coordinating Center if you have any questions.

Letters to the Editor

Helpful Hints

• Letters to the editor should be no longer than 250 words
• Use the proper salutation line; "To the Editor:"
• Provide your phone and e-mail (if available) contact information.
• The most effective letters include an action step the reader can take.
• Use this as an opportunity to mention your AAN/ANA/professional membership.
• Address the envelope (and address block of the letter also), "Letters Editor, NAME OF PAPER, STREET ADDRESS, CITY/STATE/ZIP."
• The address to which a letter to the editor should be sent normally appears on the newspaper's letters page.
• Want to send your letter to the editor by e-mail? Many newspapers are now online.
• To find your local paper, try the directories at these sites: | MediaInfo | Newspapers Online | NewsCentral | Newspaper Association of America's NewspaperLinks

Prepare for an interview

• Are there resources you should consult?
• Anticipate likely questions (including difficult or challenging questions).
• How would you "bridge back" to your message point if asked one of these difficult or off-topic questions?
• Are there "visuals" you could bring to a TV interview to reinforce your learning points?
• Are there additional resources or background information you can offer the reporter and/or is/her reading/viewing/listening audience?
• Build message points (sound bites) that allow you to express these objectives in brief, memorable form.
• Avoid jargon and "academese."
• Include some action step for the audience to take.
• Resources for the reporter's audience might include: Hartford Foundation's Scholars web site: www.geriatricnursing.org, The American Academy of Nursing's web site: www.aannet.org, and the John A. Hartford Foundation web site: www.jhartfound.org, contact information to obtain other patient/consumer resources (phone numbers, addresses to which audience members can write, phone numbers to call, websites to visit, "what you should know" or "what you can do" tips.

• Have your message points and bridging tactics in mind.
• Bring visuals for TV, if possible.
• Dress appropriately for TV.
• Arrive early.
• Offer TV journalist (in writing) your name, credentials, your contact information, and contact information for Building Academic Geriatric Nursing Capacity.
• Offer the reporter any additional resources/background for his/her use, and resources/info/tips for the audience.
• Lean forward somewhat to show your interest and engagement, make eye contact with the interviewer.
• For print interviews, it's okay to ask for a moment to think, for time to gather additional information, even to call back.
• A smile comes across the radio airwaves.
• Standing up, walking around, and gesturing during a phone radio interview can add to the liveliness of your connection with the interviewer and audience.
• Avoid repeating "negatives" (off-message phrases contained in an interviewer's [or fellow panelist's] question or remark). For example, if asked, "Isn't it true that nurses are just concerned about their jobs," avoid saying, "It's not true that nurses are just concerned about their jobs." This is repeating a negative. Instead respond, "Nurses are, first-and-foremost, patient advocates, and often the patient's only line of defense against inadequate - or even dangerous - care."

• Was the Scholars program identity reinforced directly by your naming the Program?
• Were your message points conveyed?
• Were you successful in bridging back to message when necessary?
• Did you offer the reporter and his/her audience additional resources (including referral to program center)?
• Have you informed the program center of the story and of the resulting media placement (print story, info on the broadcast)?
• Did you provide the program center a copy of the story after it appeared?
• Did you thank the reporter and offer yourself as a resource for the future)?
• Was this interview a positive step in building an ongoing relationship with the reporter

• Deadlines.
• Interview length and format.
• Normally, no opportunity to review your quotes following the interview.
• Don't use "no comment."
• There's such thing as "off the record."

• Consider the media outlet's audience. Is it a target group for your association to reach?
• Consider the reporter's angle and interview format.
• Consider the value of building a longer-term working relationship with the reporter.
• For most interviews, it's okay to ask the reporter for at least a few minutes to gather your info and thoughts and to call him/her back.