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Health and Medical Public Relations Downloaded by [University of Defence] at 21:28 09 May 2016 Health and Medical Public Relations Health and Medical Public Relations takes a fresh look at media relations and news values. It examines how information about medical research from the academic, pharmaceutical and charitable sectors is disseminated to target audiences through a variety of PR techniques. Scrutinising a wide range of health-related public relations activities, the book combines a critical, analytical and cultural overview of these methods with helpful guidance on their practical application. Key features include: Advice on how to write and place effective press releases, plan and budget for campaigns, and anticipate responses from different sectors and the wider public Coverage of different types of communication and consultancy, including the controversial areas of lobbying and access to influential policy makers Case studies on the way in which experienced journalists and public relations practitioners gain coverage for their work, with plentiful examples drawn from both recent media scares and long-running issues A survey of the way challenging public relations issues have been perceived in the past, analysing the attitudes of both legislators and the public A user-friendly format designed to reinforce learning, including handy tips, definition boxes explaining key words and concepts, and exercises and reflec- tion points to stimulate group discussion and reflection on specific examples of science and medical PR practice Downloaded by [University of Defence] at 21:28 09 May 2016 Wide-ranging and highly accessible, this book will be an essential resource for undergraduates, postgraduates and professionals learning to specialise in health public relations. Myc Riggulsford is a science journalist and broadcaster with extensive experience in PR, media training and issue management. He is also a visiting lecturer at the Universities of Manchester, Sheffield and St Andrews. This page intentionally left blank Downloaded by [University of Defence] at 21:28 09 May 2016 Health and Medical Public Relations Myc Riggulsford Downloaded by [University of Defence] at 21:28 09 May 2016 First published 2013 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2013 Myc Riggulsford The right of Myc Riggulsford to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Riggulsford, Myc, 1956- Health and medical public relations / Myc Riggulsford. p.; cm. Summary: “Health and Medical Public Relations takes a fresh look at media relations and news values. It examines how information about medical research from the academic, pharmaceutical and charitable sectors is disseminated to target audiences through a variety of PR techniques. Scrutinising a wide range of health-related public relations activities, the book combines a critical, analytical and cultural overview of these methods with helpful guidance on their practical application”–Provided by publisher. I. Title. [DNLM: 1. Health Communication. 2. Public Relations. 3. Communications Media. WA 590] 362.1–dc23 2012044006 ISBN: 978-0-415-61330-9 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-415-61331-6 (pbk) Downloaded by [University of Defence] at 21:28 09 May 2016 ISBN: 978-0-203-14369-8 (ebk) Typeset in Galliard by Taylor and Francis Books Contents List of figures ix Author’s note and acknowledgements x PART I Health PR in context 1 1 What is PR? 3 An introduction to public relations 3 Modern definition of public relations 5 Communications skills 6 Profession or trade? 7 Stockholm Accords 8 What is health and medical PR? 10 2 Health and medical PR sectors 13 Downloaded by [University of Defence] at 21:28 09 May 2016 The five overlapping sectors within society 17 A working map for different sectors 20 3 Roles within health and medical PR 21 Spokesman, advocate, public speaker 21 Expert, tactician 21 Ethicist, conscience 22 Press officer, press relations manager 22 Publicist, promotions, photo opportunities 23 Online and social media manager, blogger 23 vi Contents Events, exhibition and conference organiser 23 Community liaison, social events, sponsorship and fundraising 23 Crisis and issues management 24 Internal relations and communications 24 Lobbyist, parliamentary liaison, public affairs 25 Financial public relations, business-to-business communications 25 Speechwriter 26 Brand champion, viral marketing 26 Dark arts and dirty tricks 27 Critical friend, fool, court jester 28 PART II Media relations 31 4 Getting your voice heard: basic health public relations activities 33 Press and information releases 33 Press release format 35 News 36 Headlines 38 Notes to news editors 40 Contents of press releases 41 Timing your press release, embargoes and exclusives 42 Distributing your press release 44 Press conferences 45 Press conferences: what is the reason for your event? 47 Press conferences: timetable 48 Press conferences: information packs 51 Press conferences: checklist and preparation 52 5 Why health is big news 56 What makes health news 56 News values 57 Downloaded by [University of Defence] at 21:28 09 May 2016 Bad press releases 61 6 Other types of health stories 62 Features 62 Narrative styles 65 7 New media 67 How it all started 67 Problems 68 Types of social media 71 Analysis tools 75 Contents vii 8 Journals 76 Peer-reviewed journals 76 High impact factor 78 Public access to research 78 PART III Communicating health in theory and practice 83 9 Health and medical public relations planning 85 Planning a health or medical public relations campaign 86 Elements of a health or medical public relations campaign 88 10 Communication, consultation and access 98 Communication theory 98 Consultation, public dialogue and independent scrutiny 100 Surveys 104 Medical, health and science communicators 106 Deficit, dialogue and upstream engagement 106 Petitions, protests and marches 110 Lobbying, thinktanks 111 Access: interns, secondments, spads, moles and revolving doors 115 Sponsorship 117 PART IV Health and medical PR in society 121 11 Politics, ethics and the media 123 Slow-burn issues 123 Polarised debates 128 Emotions and icons 129 NHS issues 133 Pharmaceutical company issues 142 Political, ethical and philosophical problems: neuroethics 145 Academic research issues 147 Downloaded by [University of Defence] at 21:28 09 May 2016 Charities, Churches and NGOs 151 Complementary and alternative medicine, placebos 153 PART V A bit of history 161 12 Health and medical PR: an alternative and potted modern history 163 Florence and the PR machine 163 Broad Street pump 165 viii Contents Tobacco smoking 166 Brands and branding 167 Soap and hygiene 168 Patent medicines 168 Drugs and medicines 170 Fresh air, exercise and electricity 171 More electricity, mesmerism, spiritualism and pseudoscience 172 Bodysnatching 174 Dead and undead 174 UK National Health Service 177 Index 180 Downloaded by [University of Defence] at 21:28 09 May 2016 Figures 2.1 The five overlapping sectors within society: industry and business; government and public bodies; campaigners; academic and research institutes; media 18 2.2 A working map for different sectors 19 10.1 Communication 99 11.1 Intersection of rational, emotional, ethical and legal issues 125 Downloaded by [University of Defence] at 21:28 09 May 2016 Author’s note and acknowledgements For those expecting a conventional academic tome with all the usual references, I did indeed debate writing a book for you that would be stuffed full of source notes, ideas taken from standard texts, and a classic bibliography, until I realised that the references would take up half the allotted word space, and take so long to track down the arcane sources that the thing would never get finished. And as a haphazard collector of unconsidered trifles, many of my original sources are simply lost in the mists. The advice and thoughts contained in this volume are shamelessly crowd- sourced from the thousands of postgraduate students, postdocs, senior executives, scientists, doctors, engineers, midwives, press officers, and academic lecturers among others, whom I have had the enormous pleasure of meeting, debating with and teaching on media training workshops over the last 30 years. So this tries to be a book of content, not historical reference, and in many cases I simply have no idea where I first heard the idea, meme or telling phrase. Many other tips will have come as invaluable nuggets from Tim Radford, for- merly Science Editor of the Guardian, Nigel Hawkes, formerly of The Times, Steve Connor of the Independent, and David Derbyshire, formerly of the Daily Mail, and the other dozen or so medical and science journalist friends and col- leagues I have worked with over the years, and who do a tremendously difficult job every day under enormous pressure. They still manage, on the whole, to get a reasonable first draft of history out into the public domain in a way that their publics and audiences actually wish to hear about this stuff. If I have inadvertently plagiarised someone or failed to credit an idea, meme, or method to some long-forgotten source, then I am truly sorry, but 30 years of Downloaded by [University of Defence] at 21:28 09 May 2016 practice at speaking without notes is a long time.
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