Date: Sat, 12 Mar 2005
Subject: #303 How To Increase Reform Media Coverage
HOW TO INCREASE REFORM MEDIA COVERAGE
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DrugSense FOCUS Alert #303 – Saturday, 12 March 2005
Over the past five weeks, dozens of drug policy reform leaders and
activists have spent time in the new DrugSense/MAP Virtual Conference
Room.
The easy to download and install FREE Paltalk Messenger software
program brings like-minded people together Talking and Listening over
the internet.
As part of our Media Activism Project, DrugSense is renting a place on
the web which allows up to 25 people to gather and discuss drug policy
reform — our DrugSense/MAP Virtual Conference Room. This premium,
web-based room allows visitors to not only type messages but also talk
to each other using microphones! The premium rooms are of the type
used by businesses for teleconferencing.
Yes, your computer, if made in the last two decades, should support
teleconferencing.
The Virtual Conference Room is private and monitored. If you don’t
have the password for a session you don’t get in.
During our initial kickoff of meetings activists from 17 different
states and five different countries have joined for roundtable
discussions on how to better harmonize our many mutual efforts at
reforming failed and flawed public drug policies.
Additionally, MAP’s Media Activism project has conducted 13
personalized training sessions teaching activists how to increase
their drug policy reform related media coverage.
The curriculum has included the following:
How to Write Letters to the Editor That Get Printed
How to Newshawk Drug News Clippings for the MAP Archive
How to Write and Send Press Releases That Work
Upcoming sessions will continue to deliver these topics as well as new
topics:
How to Increase Drug Policy Reform Related News Stories and Opinion
Items in Your Local Media
How to Hold Press Conferences
How to Obtain Guest Spots on Talk Radio
How to Prepare for Radio and TV Appearances
Tools for Contacting the Media
We are open to suggestions for new MAP Virtual Conference Room session
topics.
The room has been and will be used by organizations and state groups
of activists who want an easy way for their members to all meet at the
same time in one place with both voice and text communication.
Already there are some organizations are considering obtaining their
own Paltalk Messenger premium teleconferencing rooms.
IF YOU or your organization would like to join us in this cutting edge
method of communication, please see the links below.
We look forward to meeting you and working together to bring activists
from different states, countries and organizations together —
working to improve our presence in the media in order to influence
public opinion.
Finally, we know there is a wide range of teleconferencing software
and options available from many other sources. The webmastering team
and other key leaders at DrugSense — spread out over two countries —
have been testing and using various teleconferencing options for years
— including having teleconferencing options demonstrated for us that
cost more per hour than our conference room costs in a month. We are
not endorsing this commercial product — rather we are using what has
worked best for us.
Thanks for your effort and support.
It’s not what others do it’s what YOU do
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The DrugSense/MAP Virtual Conference Room – How To Participate:
http://mapinc.org/resource/paltalk.htm
Schedule of Online Conferences and Activist Training Sessions:
http://www.mapinc.org/onair
Requests for Personal or Organizational Training or Private Meetings:
heath@mapinc.org
The MAP Media Activism Page:
http://www.mapinc.org/resource
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Prepared by: Stephen Heath, MAP’s Media Activism Facilitator
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