Evidence-Based Intervention Fact Sheets
Using the Media to Generate Program Support
Carol Lee, Project Director
Russellville, Arkansas
SS/HS grantee
In Russellville, Arkansas, parents, policymakers, and the community know quite a bit about the SS/HS program because of articles in Russelville’s newspaper – the Courier. In 2003-2004 alone, the Courier’s readers learned why and when the SS/HS program held Parent Institutes; about how a mini-grant provided by the program allowed local judges to bring an important lesson to youth about drunk driving; about how the programs taught teachers to prevent bullying; and how program staff informed the school board about the program’s progress. And, in August 2004, the Courier’s River Valley Life section featured a lengthy and beautifully illustrated article on the program’s Dare To Be You workshops.
Why and how did this happen? Carol Lee, project director for Russellville’s SS/HS grant, knew that the No Child Left Behind Act allows parents to transfer their children to a neighboring district or charter school if the local school district does not meet performance objectives. And these performance objectives are hard to meet without the involvement and support of parents. So she made a conscious effort to enlist the local press to cover her program and its successes and to illustrate the role parents play both in the SS/HS program and in the effectiveness of local schools to educate their children.
An important first step in this process was to help journalists understand the program. The Russellville SS/HS team invited reporters to advisory board meetings, coalition committee meetings, and parenting program outreach events. The smaller the community, the more likely it is that a journalist will attend – and report on – such events.
Carol and her colleagues also distributed a press kit with background information on the program – including the goals of the grant and the benefits its success would have for the community. And Carol regularly provides local reporters with story ideas to keep them interested. She sees her job as making it easy for the media to give the program the publicity it needs – and deserves.
Carol offers the following advice to other grantees who want to use the local media to generate support for their program and activities:
- Read the local papers to gain an understanding of what interests them – and their readers.
- Learn a bit about the local reporters Are they, parents?
- Focus on mental health promotion rather than mental illness. And talk to reporters about the relationship between mental health and academic success.
- Bring reporters good news. People like local success stories.
