This talk was developed for graduate students in a vaccines policy course at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. The talk centered on how the students - from disciplines including public health, immunology and epidemiology - could effectively communicate to the public about vaccines and vaccination policy. Audiences for this communication might include parents, school nurses, legislators, other policy makers or just the general public.

1. Vaccine
Advocacy,
Journalism &
Social Media
Engagement
Tara Haelle

2. Overview
 Familiarize
yourself with the landscape
 Recognize the different media and
opportunities for engagement
 Op-Eds and Blogging
 Become a false balance detective
 Know your audience
 General communication tips

3. Learn the Landscape
 Mainstream


USA Today, WSJ, NYT, major network TV news
Local newspaper, local news
 Online

media
media
Slate, Salon, Jezebel
 Specialty/science/health

WebMD, SciAm, LiveScience
 “Alternative

media
health” news sites
Natural News, GreenMedInfo, Mercola

4. Learn the Landscape


Professional organizations (AAP, FAAP)
Vaccine advocacy groups (avoid “pro-vaccine”)


Anti-vaccine advocacy groups


Voices for Vaccines, PKIDs, Immunization Partnership
NVIC, AVN, Age of Autism, SafeMinds, Generation
Rescue
Facebook pages


Informed Parents of Vaccinated Children, COVRAC,
Refutations to Anti-Vaccine Memes, Nurses Who
Vaccinate, Every Child By Two
Vaccination Information Network (VINE), Sherri
Tenpenny

5. Learn the Landscape
 “Paul
Offit”
 “Barbara Loe Fisher”
 “Geiers”
 “Russell Blaylock”
 “Robert F. Kennedy”
 “Sherri Tenpenny”
 “Louise Habakus”

6. Ways to Engage
 Op-eds
 Letters,
commentaries
 Blogging (including guest posts)
 Twitter
 Facebook
 Pinterest
 Comments sections of articles (ewww…)
 Be available to journalists
 Connecting others – be a hub

7. Why Social Media?
 Pediatrics:
“The Impact of Social Networks
on Parents’ Vaccination Decisions”
 What are this study findings’ implications?
 Studies on Twitter
 Sharing articles, op-eds, blogs, etc.
 “Memes”

8. Op-eds
 Traditional
vs. Blog posts
media
(newspapers)
 ≤1000 words
 Expert authors,
advocates, etc.
 Specific audience
 Online
only
 Variable length
 Can be written by
anyone
 Variable audience
 May be responding
to other media

9. Op-ed characteristics
 Addresses
a timely issue of public interest
 Clearly defined audience
 Author’s credentials or perspective or
personal experience
 Clear structure
 Structure easily applied/adapted to blogs

10. Op-ed Structure
 What’s
the issue?
 What’s the problem?
 Who’s affected?
 What’s been done?
 What remains to be done?
 How can it be done?
 Call to action
 Optional: author’s stakes/involvement

11. Example: Op-Ed
 LA
Times: "Public Health: Not vaccinated?
Not acceptable”
 Who is the intended audience?
 What is the problem?
 How does the author build his case?
 What’s the call to action?

12. Example: Personal Column
 New
Republic: “I’ve Got Whooping
Cough. Thanks a Lot, Jenny McCarthy”
 How does this differ from an op-ed?
 How is it similar?
 How effectively does this article
communicate its message?
 How does this message stumble in
communicating its message?

13. Example: Blog post
 RWAS:
“Oversimplification and hubris can
backfire: For once, it wasn’t actually Jenny
McCarthy’s fault”
 What is the goal of this response?
 How does the writer attempt to accomplish
this goal?
 How is this post similar/different from op-eds?

14. False Balance/Equivalence
 What
is it?
 Why does it occur?
 When you’re a source…
 When you see it in the media…
 When you see it in social media…

15. Example: General Commentary
 Politico:
“Why is Katie Couric Promoting
Vaccine Skeptics?”
 Who is the audience?
 How does this differ from an op-ed?
 What is the call to action?
 What valuable key points or impressions might
a lay reader take away from this piece?

16. General communication tips
 Have
a “time peg” (be current)
 Be concise and direct
 Keep it simple
 Use clear language, short sentences
 AVOID JARGON
 Choose (only a few) numbers strategically
 Use active voice
 Start strong (hook), finish strong
 KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

17. Know Your Audience
 Understand
their values, beliefs, trust, fears
 Validate potential reader concerns/fears
 Don’t assume they share your trust/beliefs,
especially in traditional institutions
 Be careful not to make assumptions about their
knowledge/experience OR to patronize
 Educate but don’t overwhelm or condescend
– What do they NEED to know?
 Always speak to the middle, not the extremes

18. Audience on Social Media
 Becomes
polarizing quickly (duh)
 Comments are very influential (Science study)
 Understand “lurkers” and 90-9-1 rule
 The way you engage with those on the
extremes influences the way the silently
observing fencesitters view the issue (and the
evidence)

19. What Makes for Viral Pieces?
 Personal
stories
 Ultra timely issues (the faster, the better)
 Celebrities
 Quickly digestible
 Edgy or surprising (the hook)
 Good image can help
 Big numbers

20. Your Voice Matters
 Communication

Parents, legislators, advocacy groups,
academics, the media, manufacturers
 Decision-makers



is essential
consider multiple voices
Vaccine programs
Recommendations for vaccines
Research priorities