Media advocacy is the strategic use of mass media to advance a social or public policy goal. Policy change occurs when the public demands change from decision makers and elected leaders. Media advocacy addresses the “power gap” rather than the “information gap,” and uses the mass media to create momentum for change. For those wishing to effect policy change, media advocacy is a crucial tool.
In contrast to the tobacco industry, tobacco control organizations/coalitions will rarely have the financial resources to buy “air-time” or newspaper space to convey their messages to the public. However, media advocacy can be practiced with little or no financial resources.
Media advocacy is now used widely by tobacco control coalitions and individual organizations; media advocacy and health communication are now taught in many schools of public health. A variety of resources are available to help physicians and other advocates learn the techniques of media advocacy.
Wallack L, Dorfman L, Jernigan D, et al. Media Advocacy and Public Health. Sage Publications, 1993.
Pertschuk M, Wilbur P. Media Advocacy. Benton Foundation, Washington, DC. 1991. (Strategic Communication for Nonprofits series).
Chapman S, Lupton D. The Fight for Public Health. Principles and Practice of Media Advocacy. British Medical Journal Publishing Group, 1994. |
