Clinic Consortia Media Advocacy Capacity: Partnering with the Media and Increasing Policymaker Awareness

Abstract

Media advocacy is a popular means of crafting and disseminating messages broadly and has been used by advocates to increase policymaker and public awareness of key health policy issues, such as the large number of uninsured. Some media advocacy activities are more effective than others, however, requiring increased sensitivity to the media environment and adequate resources and expertise. This article describes the results of media advocacy activities undertaken by 19 clinic consortia funded under The California Endowment's Clinic Consortia Policy and Advocacy Program from 2002 to 2006. The consortia used different media advocacy strategies and venues, including newspaper, television, radio, video, brochures, newsletters, and websites. The findings indicate that consortia may have influenced the media agenda and increased the likelihood of securing coverage of key issues, such as the role of clinics in supporting the health care safety net. There is evidence that suggests that clinic consortia media advocacy activities, such as front-page coverage in local and major daily newspapers, increased public and policymaker awareness of key clinic policy issues. Although grantees rated media advocacy overall as less effective than other advocacy activities and few reported that it had directly achieved a policy change or increased funding to clinics, nearly all thought it was effective in increasing policymaker awareness. We conclude that media advocacy is a useful tool for partnering with the media and increasing stakeholder awareness more broadly, but it should not be solely relied upon to achieve a policy change.

We acknowledge the assistance provided by Beth Newell, BA, and Joe Funk, BA. Additionally, we thank Lori Nascimento of The California Endowment for reviewing this article.

Notes

¹In 2003, approximately 6.5 million nonelderly Californians (20.6%) lacked insurance coverage (Employee Benefit Research Estimates of Current Population Survey, March 2004 Supplement).

∗1 = “Not at all effective,” 4 = “Very effective.”

²In 2004, confronted with a $14 billion shortfall in 2004/05, Governor Schwarzenegger proposed a 10% cut in Medi-Cal (California's Medicaid program) provider rates, on top of a 5% reduction in the 2003–04 budget. Community clinics were anticipated to experience a $72 million reduction. Many of these cuts were avoided, however, and the 5% reduction in Medi-Cal provider payments was rescinded in 2005.

∗1 = “not at all effective,” 4 = “very effective.”