Engaging Diverse Media to Drive Health Equity
April 21 – February 16, 2021
More than three-quarters (77%) of all newsroom employees identify as white, according to a Pew Research Center analysis. In addition, less than one in five newsroom managers are people of color, according to the American Society of News Editors Newsroom Employment Diversity Survey.
Without media focused more vigorously on communities of color, the stories of immigrants, faith communities, language communities, racial communities, and many others will remain harmfully underserved by mainstream media. This trend is particularly relevant as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to disproportionately impact communities of color. These communities need vital access to medical experts and government officials delivered via trusted news sources. Therefore, health care communicators must strongly embrace broader outreach to media outlets serving people of all colors, races, and ethnicities. Those serving a role in public policy communications have an even deeper obligation to actively promote mainstream and non-mainstream approaches to sharing this critical and much-needed health information.
Within this session, public relations professionals will see concrete examples of how various media outlets have covered the pandemic. It will also provide detailed information about how to tap into the incredible power of multicultural media, support the field, increase community strength, and share critical communications, including life-saving health information at a time when COVID-19 has impacted these communities disproportionately.
Amanda Kim, Communications Officer at Blue Shield of California Foundation, and Julian Do, Director of Media Relations at Ethnic Media Services, will discuss their partnership that effectively delivered 12 timely, science-based COVID-19 telebriefings to ethnic media resulting in 1,200 stories being published over three months in 145 outlets, representing 19 ethnic groups. These telebriefings featured high-quality speakers and experts including U.S. Congressman Ro Khanna (D-CA), cultural competency expert Dr. Stacie Walton, IRS Deputy Commissioner Sunita Lough, and California State Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, along with frontline physicians.
Breakout sessions will be included to further engage participants. During these discussions, public relations professionals will learn how to connect with multicultural media directly in multiple ways and will be encouraged to share their own experiences.
The goal is to have participants exit the session with multiple practical ideas to ensure all communities receive accurate health information during the pandemic and beyond.
Without media focused more vigorously on communities of color, the stories of immigrants, faith communities, language communities, racial communities, and many others will remain harmfully underserved by mainstream media. This trend is particularly relevant as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to disproportionately impact communities of color. These communities need vital access to medical experts and government officials delivered via trusted news sources. Therefore, health care communicators must strongly embrace broader outreach to media outlets serving people of all colors, races, and ethnicities. Those serving a role in public policy communications have an even deeper obligation to actively promote mainstream and non-mainstream approaches to sharing this critical and much-needed health information.
Within this session, public relations professionals will see concrete examples of how various media outlets have covered the pandemic. It will also provide detailed information about how to tap into the incredible power of multicultural media, support the field, increase community strength, and share critical communications, including life-saving health information at a time when COVID-19 has impacted these communities disproportionately.
Amanda Kim, Communications Officer at Blue Shield of California Foundation, and Julian Do, Director of Media Relations at Ethnic Media Services, will discuss their partnership that effectively delivered 12 timely, science-based COVID-19 telebriefings to ethnic media resulting in 1,200 stories being published over three months in 145 outlets, representing 19 ethnic groups. These telebriefings featured high-quality speakers and experts including U.S. Congressman Ro Khanna (D-CA), cultural competency expert Dr. Stacie Walton, IRS Deputy Commissioner Sunita Lough, and California State Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, along with frontline physicians.
Breakout sessions will be included to further engage participants. During these discussions, public relations professionals will learn how to connect with multicultural media directly in multiple ways and will be encouraged to share their own experiences.
The goal is to have participants exit the session with multiple practical ideas to ensure all communities receive accurate health information during the pandemic and beyond.
