Media advocacy is the strategic use of the press to promote psychiatric-mental health nurses, their positive impact, and needed policy changes by influencing public opinion and drawing policymaker attention to the achievements of the field. This is accomplished by PMH nurses proactively showcasing their achievements, innovative work, and expertise through press and social media promotion.
PMH nurses continuously innovate and address community needs. Here are some examples of the type of achievements that can be developed into stories that can be promoted in your local press:
- Effective new programs that address a community need
- New outreach efforts to reach vulnerable populations or solve a local problem
- New treatment options that can help reach more people in need of care
- Local events you’re hosting
- Awards received
- New research or a book to be published
How To Promote Your Story
- Draft a short summary of your story with key facts in one place. A good format to keep it succinct is three paragraphs. You should describe the problem, the developed solution, and your positive results. For stories like events and awards, focus on who, what, where, when, and how. For research, focus on the aim of the work and the context or implications around your key findings.
- Determine your goal. In some cases, you may want to use your story to educate the community or make them aware of available resources. In other cases you may want to use your story to advocate for positive changes needed to address a community problem. Or, your story may be told to help convey a need for volunteer or additional help to expand services for the community. Think through what could be the ultimate goal of your press outreach effort.
- Alert the communications department of your institution to let them know your press outreach plans and/or enlist their help to contact local press with your story. Ensure you have their approval to conduct press outreach. There may also be opportunities for your communications department to share your story on their social channels or in a newsletter.
- Reach out to APNA to share your story summary. APNA often further amplifies member initiatives and press coverage through social media and newsletter articles. Contact inform@apna.org.
- Prepare to serve as your own spokesperson. Review your story summary and ensure you can comfortably communicate the context, implications, and results of your work to the average lay person. Reporters may want to speak with you about the story and quote what you say about it. Prepare to be articulate, succinct and only use language you’d be comfortable seeing quoted in news stories.
- Prepare others that may need to be interviewed. In some cases you may want to be prepared to offer others to speak about your story. For example, a reporter may like to speak with someone impacted by your initiative or a public official that can further demonstrate the impact you made. If necessary, reach out to 1 to 2 people who can speak in support of your story and secure their permission to offer for them to be interviewed, if a reporter is interested in your story.
- Collect relevant visuals. If your story is about something that can be shown, collect a few quality photos to share upon reporter request. For example, if your story is about a mobile treatment unit, have quality photos of the unit available. If you’ve received an award in person, secure a photo of yourself receiving the award. Note: do not send photos to reporters unless they are requested – press outlets do not like to receive email attachments due to potential viruses.
- Research local press outlets. Create a list of print and broadcast outlets that service your community or state. Review their websites to identify the best way to submit a story pitch or call and ask who would be best to talk with about a story like yours.
- Draft a story pitch email. Your pitch should contain just enough information for a reporter to determine if your story is worth covering – no more than 2-3 paragraphs. Structure your pitch with the most newsworthy information in the first paragraph and details in following paragraphs. Don’t forget your subject line – keep it short but eye catching. (See sample pitch emails below.)
- Reach out to reporters or news desks by email or phone. With shrinking staff and budgets reporters are more overwhelmed with story ideas than ever. Ensure your story stands out by being clear, succinct, providing key facts, and highlighting results achieved. Avoid reaching out on days when breaking or national news stories have landed.
- Follow-up on your story. News outlets are swamped with story submissions and have few staff resources. If you don’t receive a response, try again. Be tenacious and reach out a few days later with a friendly follow-up. You can always put the story aside and try again at a time in the future, or if it can wait, tie your story to Mental Health Month in May or other relevant observances.
- Be gracious if a press contact turns your story down. Your goal is to develop a positive relationship with the press that can serve you well for future stories. Offer to serve as a resource if a reporter plans to do future stories on mental health topics. Ask if there are particular types of stories that the news outlet likes to cover – this may help you tailor your outreach in the future.
- Secure a Story? Let APNA know. If your efforts result in local press coverage, email inform@apna.org so that APNA might amplify your success through its communications channels.
Interview Tips
- Memorize 3-4 key messages from your story, with relevant facts and statistics. If doing an interview by phone, plan to have your key points in front of you for reference.
- Rehearse and plan the delivery of your key messages in comfortable, conversational form. Plan to answer questions like: Tell me about X? Why is this important? How did you come up with the idea? What do you most want readers/listeners to know or understand? Where can people go for more information?
- Avoid acronyms or industry jargon. Reporters are unlikely to be educated about your topic, therefore you need to be able to communicate key points clearly so a broad audience can easily understand.
- Dress professionally if your interview is on camera or video conference. Plan to wear solid colors instead of busy patterns.
- Strive for a friendly, but knowledgeable tone. Bring your bedside manner skills and warmth to the interview!
- Prepare lighting and camera angles for remote video interviews. For best results, face a window for natural light or place a lamp in front of you to shine on your face. Elevate your computer so you are looking straight at the camera and reduce distractions in the background.
- Be trustworthy and accurate. Share citable facts. If you don’t know the answer to a question, don’t guess. Let the reporter know you will look into it and follow-up with an answer via email following the interview.
Friendly Reminders
- Always ensure ethical guidelines. Maintain patient confidentiality, adhere to professional standards, and avoid conflicts of interest.
- Reporters are human beings. They can make mistakes, have prejudices, or have bad days. Your remarks can sometimes be misquoted or misinterpreted from time to time. You can calmly and professionally reach out to the reporter to request a correction, but be prepared they may not always accommodate this request.
- There’s no such thing as “off the record.” Assume that everything you say could turn up in a resulting news story. Don’t say anything you wouldn’t want to see shared to the public.
SAMPLE Pitch Emails
When developing a story pitch email, keep it as short and direct as possible. Include:
- A compelling subject line
- An introduction that grabs attention (look online for relevant statistics to cite)
- A concise summary of the newsworthy story with supporting facts
- A call to action with your contact information
Example 1
Subject Line: Innovative [EFFORT NAME] Delivers Quality Mental Health Care in [TOWN]
Good morning [REPORTER’S FIRST NAME],
In Illinois, more than 950,000 people are experiencing mental health challenges but are not receiving the treatment they need. This treatment gap can occur for a number of reasons, including cost, a lack of transportation, or a lack of knowledge of available mental health resources.
To reach more patients in need of quality mental health care in [TOWN], psychiatric-mental health (PMH) nurses from [INSTITUTION] have stepped forward to develop [INNOVATIVE TREATMENT MODALITY, OUTREACH EFFORT, COMMUNITY EVENT, ETC.] that is bringing care to more vulnerable populations in our community. [PROVIDE A FEW KEY DETAILS ABOUT THE STORY AND HIGH LEVEL RESULTS]
I would love an opportunity to share more details about the positive impact of this effort. Is there an upcoming time that might work for you to speak by phone?
Thanks in advance for your time.
Best regards,
[YOUR NAME]
Example 2
Subject line: Local Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Awarded [AWARD NAME]
Dear [NAME],
The [ORGANIZATION NAME] has announced that [NAME] has been awarded the coveted [AWARD NAME] for [SPECIFIC ACHIEVEMENT]. This prestigious award highlights the vital [WORK DONE BY PMH NURSE PROFESSIONAL] in [TOWN].
[BRIEFLY EXPLAIN THE SPECIFIC ACCOMPLISHMENT THAT LED TO THE AWARD]
Would you be interested in covering this story? Here is a link to the award announcement (INCLUDE WEBSITE LINK) I would be happy to speak by phone to provide any additional information needed or arrange to share relevant high-resolution visuals you may use.
Best regards,
[YOUR NAME]