Media Relations 101: Elevating the Reach & Impact of Nutrition Messages

Monday, July 23 | 4:15 pm - 5:15 pm | Nicollet D

Moderator: Carolyn O'Neil, O'Neil Food & Nutrition Communications

Speaker: Elsa Ramirez-Brisson, PhD, MPH, RD, Food FUNdamentals

Imagine a reporter calls you to ask about a trending new study or a program you’re piloting at work. Would you know how to talk about your work and what message you want to reach your audience?

Working with the media can seem daunting, but it’s an important part of raising awareness about what’s happening in the field of nutrition education to inform the public and policymakers. During this session, participants will learn best practices and participate in interactive exercises enabling them to refine their “elevator pitch” and increase comfort in working with the media to elevate their work.

Learning Objectives:

1. Nutrition educators will understand the new media landscape and how they can leverage this rapidly changing environment to elevate their work.
2. Nutrition educators will develop and refine a core message (i.e. boilerplate language or an elevator pitch) about their organization, research findings, or a specific project that they want to promote.
3. Nutrition educators will describe how to tailor their message to connect with the right type media (i.e. traditional and social media outlets) based on their intended audience (i.e. policy makers, academics, consumers, etc.).

Organized by the Communications Division.