• Demonstrating
the need for legislation and/or funding. Those
who talk about elder or vulnerable adult
abuse to federal, state, and local legislators
report they frequently hear such official
claim that such cases do not happen in their
jurisdiction. Offering such legislators the
number of cases reported among their constituents
is helpful, but giving them the details of
one or more such cases that people in their
district are discussing over breakfast really
helps break down denial. In many areas, so
many articles are listed that the database
entries, by themselves, may be helpful in
convincing an official that the problem needs
more attention.
• Identifying public education
opportunities. Letters to the editor
are one of the most-read features of newspapers;
writing a letter of praise or clarification
after an article on abuse appears in a local
paper is therefore an effective, low-cost
public education strategy. Article publication
cal also provide a good entree to having
a meeting with the publication's editorial
board to give them more information on elder
and/or vulnerable adult abuse, community
resources, issues in the field, and story
ideas. If a meeting isn't feasible, perhaps
a mailed packet of information is.
• Developing reporter relationships. Once
a reporter has written one article on a topic,
he or she is often very open to writing other
articles on that topic. As the database documents,
in some cases it is clear that reporters have
already made elder/vulnerable adult abuse cases
a regular part of their "beat." Even if a reporter
has only covered elder/vulnerable adult abuse
once, it may be very worthwhile to contact
her or him to introduce yourself, offer to
serve as a "source" for future articles and,
perhaps ask if he or she would like to be added
to your mailing list for annual reports and
the like. Don't be afraid to also send them
story ideas; unless you make a pest of yourself,
the worst that will happen is that they won't
pursue your idea.
• Keeping tabs on local
developments. As we all know, elder/vulnerable
adult abuse cases get reported to -- or show
up in -- a wide variety of agencies. It's
entirely possible that a case making the
news is news to you. If so, you may want
to contact someone to offer services, to
invite them to attend your multidisciplinary
team or coalition, or to offer them training.
• Monitoring public perception
of your agency. People develop expectations
of an agency based on their previous contacts
with that agency or -- if they have had no
contacts -- from what they have heard about
the agency. One of the places they may "hear" things
is the media. That's why it's important to
know what the media is saying about you;
if it isn't good, you may want to take action. |
• Identifying
prosecution trends and successful prosecutors. The
database can help you track prosecution trends
and identify prosecutors who might be wiling
to consult on a similar case in your jurisdiction.
(Members of ASAAPS can access ASAAPS' list
of completed prosecutions by clicking here.)
• Identifying new service
ideas. Yes, we're in a tight economy
where budgets are still shrinking nearly
everywhere. That is precisely the time to
be open to new ideas, which may help service
dollars stretch further. Innovative elder/vulnerable
adult abuse service ideas are showing up
in mainstream media to a surprising extent;
the database can help identify these.
• Locating training aids. Many
elder/vulnerable adult abuse training and public
education programs rely on case studies or
other methods to help trainees grasp the concepts
being presented. Media reports -- particularly
those which are accompanied by reproducible
photographs of victims -- are an excellent
way to make elder/vulnerable adult abuse "real." It
should also be noted that while some may dismiss
case studies as constructed and therefore possibly "exaggerated," media
reports are often viewed as more reflective
of the "real world."
• Research national trends. Is
one region of the country more adult abuse-savvy
than another? What kind of information is the
public getting about elder/vulnerable adult
abuse from the media? What aren't they getting?
How does media coverage of elder/vulnerable
adult abuse issues change over time?
• Identifying story ideas
for your media to pursue. As mentioned
earlier, it might be a good public education
strategy to pitch elder/vulnerable adult
abuse story ideas to local reporters. For
one thing, giving them an idea to pursue
is a whole lot cheaper than designing, creating,
and delivering a from-the-ground-up media
campaign yourself! The database can help
you identify ideas that have worked in other
places that might import well to your jurisdiction.
If the media in your area already regularly
cover elder/vulnerable adult abuse issues,
you may be able to spot trends in what the
editors and reporters think is newsworthy,
and slant your tips (or advocacy efforts)
accordingly.
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