Recently WDET General Manager J. Mikel Ellcessor got in touch to tell us how the Detroit Public Radio station used FluPortal for their H1N1 community information site.
We’ve incorporated the different RSS feeds provided through fluportal.org into a central feed and are linking to the CDC and flu.gov sites. For a little local flavor, we also consulted with the public health professionals at Wayne State University (our licensee) on some free, downloadable flu prevention posters. We did one for adults (for workplace lunchrooms, etc…) and one for kids (daycare centers,etc….)
Why is WDET addressing the H1N1 outbreak in this way? I invited Mikel to tell us in his own words.
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Intention (public health awareness and community engagement, not journalism)
This microsite is part of a wider public information strategy. Said another way, it’s about community health awareness and civic engagement, not journalism. This microsite provides a clear pathway to information for people so they can absorb vital public health information in a self-directed manner.
The underlying question is: How do we percolate the best information down many layers? It’s estimated that as much as 25% of the people in Detroit may not have health insurance. We’re focusing on both this targeted subset of the community and the wider population through our broadcast and online activities.
We just launched the site so we don’t have any traffic data. The site will be promoted on-air and through the Wayne State University public information system. We will reach out to 350 neighborhood-, block-level-, and faith-based organizations through a community network called Arise Detroit!
We’re pursuing an approach that is in line with advice we’ve gotten from the public health community, who have stressed the importance of getting proactive information to people before the incident rates start to rise. Once the case number starts to climb, we know the media will go into overload. This is what we saw in the first wave of H1N1.
The public health authorities are encouraging us to move people through an awareness-raising process in a proactive way. The theory is that this can increase adoption of best prevention practices and it can keep the alarm down.
We’re in a unique position because our licensee, Wayne State University, is the largest single campus medical school in the country. It has a leading position in pandemic research and pandemic communications, so we’ve been able to tap their expertise as we developed this public information strategy.
The strategy has several different elements beyond the site. For example, we collaborated with our WSU colleagues to produce separate 8.5 x 11 H1N1 prevention posters for adults and children. The intention is for people to grab these and post them in work break rooms, day care centers, church fellowship halls and cry rooms, etc…
We’re partnering with WSU, the City of Detroit, and New Michigan Media, the ethnic media consortium, to present a targeted H1N1 briefing at the WSU School of Medicine. The target list is the same as the Arise Detroit! community, plus ethnic media and the volunteer door knockers the City has recruited for their grassroots campaign.
Radio is the original social medium. We’re using our power as a convener to bring people who have influence and authenticity in THEIR community together, give them the right information, and get them out.
Site design and functionality
The site is designed for people with low-capacity connections. The functionality is deliberately lean and the design factors in the likely user overload that comes from too much jargon and stepping into a fearful unknown. This gives the user a very low exposure entry point to flu information.
The main element is the blended RSS feed. We merged materials from fluportal.org and then added the downloadable posters that the user can download and share.
–J. Mikel Ellcessor
General Manager
WDET-FM