blog tag: health equity

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Join BMSG at APHA 2024

by: Heather Gehlert
posted on Tuesday, October 22, 2024

Our sessions for APHA 2024 will equip advocates to communicate about difficult topics like the intersection of domestic violence and firearms, and the problematic narratives that have mischaracterized parks and green space as nice bonuses rather than as essential parts of a healthy community.

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How advocates can create pitches that lead to media coverage: 5 tips from journalists

by: Chinyere Amobi
posted on Tuesday, February 22, 2022

For every news story about soaring case counts and other struggles facing public health workers amid COVID, there are countless other untold tales about the long-standing work public health advocates and health departments have done in communities to earn trust, dispel misinformation, and meet essential needs. A recent conversation with reporters surfaced several important tips on how advocates can get their issues — and the stories behind their work — into the news.

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Six media advocacy lessons from a campaign for housing justice and health equity

by: Heather Gehlert and Katherine Schaff
posted on Wednesday, December 08, 2021

In this blog, we go behind the scenes to explore strategic communication insights from a housing justice coalition’s recent policy wins and challenges, as well as implications for future campaigns. Advocates share lessons on rapid-response data collection, tailoring frames to different audiences, building a diverse group of spokespeople, and more.

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Are tweetchats an effective way to supplement your media strategy?

by: Heather Gehlert
posted on Tuesday, April 27, 2021

Sharing messages and conducting outreach on social media may be an important way to advance equity, as doing so allows advocates to bypass traditional gatekeepers and elevate voices of color in a historically white, male-dominated industry. But how effective is this approach? A new study about tweetchats, published last month in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, offers insights into how effective these social events have been in making health inequities among Latinx populations more visible and moving people to act.

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Communicating about housing and COVID-19: Tips for responding to reporters

by: Katherine Schaff and Shaddai Martinez Cuestas
posted on Monday, July 06, 2020

Housing policy is complex, and communicating about it can be tricky, especially when you are talking with a reporter. Still, just because you aren’t in full control of the message doesn’t mean you can’t shape the narrative. A recent event with local journalists shed light on how advocates can do just that.

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How can we connect racial and health equity with housing in news coverage?

by: Katherine Schaff
posted on Wednesday, May 29, 2019

BMSG’s latest news analysis offers insights into how Bay Area housing justice and public health organizations are leveraging the media to support their policy agendas and elevate the connection to health. Based on those insights, here are seven recommendations for practitioners and advocates working to make safe, affordable homes a reality in their communities.

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