FluPortal.org

ECHO Minnesota, a Twin Cities based nonprofit organization that ensures people with limited English proficiency receive life-saving health and safety information, has created video, audio, print and other resources on H1N1 in multiple languages. The material is available free of charge to all public media outlets.

The PSAs and other resources are available in Amharic, Arabic, English, Hmong, Karen, Khmer (Cambodian), Laotian, Oromo, Russian, Somali, Spanish and Vietnamese.

In addition to the PSAs, ECHO Minnesota has made available a comprehensive 20-minute video program in seven languages. The video provides information about symptoms, vaccines, risk factors, care suggestions and common misperceptions.

The audio, video and written material, produced in partnership with Twin Cities Public Television and the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), is available in website and broadcast versions. The ECHO Minnesota H1N1 page is here, and it includes tips on how to “localize” the resources for your particular audience.

Additional information is available from Executive Director Lillian McDonald at 651.789.4342 and McDonald@echominnesota.org.

Colleagues: just a quick note to let you know that I am handling station relations for FluPortal.org. FluPortal is a service of PRX in conjunction with NPR and supported by CPB. The goal is to provide stations and other public media outlets access to tools and resources for coverage of H1N1.

My job is to make certain that public media broadcasters, journalists, producers and content managers are aware of the resources and tools available to them. Please let me know about your station’s H1N1 coverage and links, ideas and tools that we can share with other stations.

Please take a look at FluPortal.org — the site is continuously evolving and we need your feedback on which sections are most useful and anything we can do to make online tools easier to implement.

Also, check out our private Google Group, where you can discuss H1N1 coverage with us and with stations, journalists and public health professionals.

I can be reached at 763-513-9988 and via the FluPortal contact form.

Ken operates the Ken Mills Agency (KMA) based in Minneapolis. He consults program producers and stations. Before starting KMA in September 1997, Ken was Director of News at Public Radio International (PRI) and managed NPR member stations in Los Angeles, California, and Fort Collins, Colorado.