FluPortal.org

A Review of FluPortal and Recommendations for the Future

View the the full report or download a .pdf version.
1. Summary
2. Technology and Design
3. Blogging and Curation
4. Outreach and Communication
5. Appendix

FluPortal Outreach and Communication

by Ken Mills

Overview

I began my outreach work on behalf of FluPortal.org in mid-October 2009. At that time, H1N1 infections and deaths were continuing to rise. Vaccine was in short supply and deliveries were often late. H1N1 news was a priority for almost all news media.

Because the project was already in motion, my first priority was to assess current perceptions and usage. To me, outreach works best when it combines “push” and “pull” – listening is as important as talking.

At the beginning of a project, I often rely on feedback from a loose network of trusted public broadcasting veterans. Most of these observers wish to remain anonymous and they extend the same courtesy to me when they ask for my take on their projects.

My informal group for FluPortal.org included the head of a major public radio organization, a program director at one of the most listened-to NPR News stations in the nation, a news director who has led several system-wide initiatives and a researcher with over 30 years of public broadcasting experience. I asked each observer to visit FluPortal.org. Here are some of the things I learned:

• Though almost all of the observers had heard of FluPortal.org, many were confused about the mission of the project. Observers sometimes expected FluPortal.org to be a source for news about H1N1.
• The observers praised the design and comprehensive assembly of material found on the site. Some expressed concern that the layout of the site was “too dense.”
• A couple of observers said there was no groundswell of station need for the project. One person said it seemed like “CPB’s reaction to the crisis of the week.”

With this baseline feedback, I contacted people who had already been in contact with FluPortal.org and people who attended the October 7, 2009, webinar. From these contacts I learned a sizeable number of public radio and public TV stations made immediate use of FluPortal.org tools and resources to establish landing pages on their websites.

Next, I widened the circle of outgoing contacts to include representatives of other public radio and public TV stations, community information outlets, groups involved with health care advocacy and journalism, and infectious disease bloggers.

At public radio stations I most often was in contact with web managers, news directors and reporters. At public TV stations I most typically spoke with web managers and outreach coordinators.

At all points in the process, I reported what I was hearing to others on the FluPortal.org team. The team held weekly conference calls. We discussed site design, direction of the project, ideas for blog posts and the larger trends in the H1N1 pandemic.

Over the subsequent months, the incidence of new H1N1 infections and deaths declined. My outreach work evolved from advocating awareness and use of FluPortal.org to analysis of coverage trends and identification of station and public media needs.

Based on conversations over the course of the project, I’ve found that public media awareness of the FluPortal.org was quite high. I was in contact with roughly 100 public radio station folks by telephone and e-mail and at the Western States Public Radio Conference in November 2009. Based on these contacts, I estimate that approximately 90 percent of the radio station people I communicated with were aware of FluPortal.org. I estimate that 25 percent of those people who were aware of FluPortal.org had visited the site.

I was also in contact with roughly 60 public television station folks by telephone and e-mail and at the NETA PBS Conference in January 2010. Based on these contacts, I estimate that approximately 60 percent of the television station people were aware of FluPortal.org and about 20 percent had been to the site.

My outreach also included contact with health information community groups, professional journalism organizations including the Association of Health Care Journalists and influential infectious disease bloggers.

Over the course of the project I noticed these attributes of usage:

• Public radio and TV station officials praised the purpose, design and turnkey tools provided by FluPortal.org. Several stations’ representatives said they were able to quickly implement H1N1 information and implement local landing pages.
• Station representatives frequently said that the volume of information and the number of items on the site were overwhelming. Many stations stated they had limited resources and this prevented them from pursuing H1N1 coverage or landing pages.
• I observed less use of resources in the early months of the project by reporters from public radio and TV stations. These factors were observed:
  • A significant number of public radio stations and most public TV stations considered the H1N1 pandemic to be a national story, not a local story. Only a handful of public radio stations employ reporters who are dedicated to the coverage of health and medical news.
  • H1N1 coverage most often focused on two angles: rates of infections and deaths and the supply and shortage of vaccine. Beyond these two angles there was little enterprise or long-form reporting.
• Though radio reporters who had used FluPortal.org praised the comprehensive resources found on the site, several observers felt the physical presentation of items inhibited their quick facts when they were on deadline.
• There is no consensus among public radio and TV stations about the role of their websites and current news. Many stations don’t believe they are in the “news business.” There are a growing number of public radio station websites that have evolved from being “virtual program guides” to become destination news and information portals. These stations typically made ample use of FluPortal.org tools and resources. Some public TV stations have aggressive local outreach. These stations typically made use of FluPortal.org tools. Since very few public TV stations broadcast local news programming, there was little demand for reporter resources by TV stations.
• There appears to be only moderate station interest in media engagement (e.g., community engagement) activities, particularly by public radio stations. The most common reason cited was the lack of resources. Also, some station managers are resistant to the role of convening their local communities around current events and issues. They consider their broadcasting and online services to be their core services.

Use of Feedback

Considerable portions of my outreach efforts involved getting feedback and putting it to use to make FluPortal.org more effective for users. I am impressed by the willingness of public radio and public TV professionals to provide useful perspective and helpful advice.

A few of the many people who have been particularly helpful are Tanya Ott (WBHM-FM), Dale Berenc (KETC-TV), Andrew Phelps (WBUR-FM), Tina Hauser (Wisconsin Public Television), Mark Nelson (Vegas Public TV) and Tripp Summer (KLCC-FM).

These specific actions resulted from the feedback:

• Because reporters had expressed the need for easy-to-access facts and stats, reporter resources were reorganized to highlight items that were most useful to meet immediate news deadlines.
• Because public radio and TV representatives cited their limited resources for online initiatives, FluPortal.org provided examples of how stations of all sizes were providing portals for flu information with a minimum of time and cost. FluPortal.org provided turnkey solutions with “Quick,” “Easy” and “Go Big” resource templates.
• As the number of H1N1 infections and deaths declined in the later months of the project, FluPortal.org provided useful “arc of the story” perspective and coverage ideas.

Webinars

FluPortal.org conducted two webinars. The first was held on October 7, 2009, and the second was held on January 28, 2010. Chart One shows the number of attendees and types of organizations they represented:

Interest in the webinars was driven, in part, by the urgency of the H1N1 story. In October 2009 the flu was daily breaking news. By late January 2010 many observers felt H1N1 threat was over. Attendance at webinar #1 by PBS officials and public TV station representatives was a result, in part, of aggressive promotion by the National Center for Media Engagement (NCME).

Conferences

I attended two public broadcasting conferences on behalf of FluPortal.org: Western State Public Radio (WSPR) in November 2009 in Portland, Oregon, and the National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA) in January 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

• At WSPR, I observed a growing trend among public radio stations: making station websites high-value, must-read news and information sources to increase traffic and value. The rationale for this strategy is to enhance online brand identity and leverage the “NPR News position” in a media environment where other providers are cutting back. Since few public radio stations have the resources to build news sites on their own, aggregate news portals such as FluPortal.org can fill a growing need for content, turnkey tools and resources.
• At NETA, FluPortal.org was publicly praised in an early session. Mark Nelson, Outreach Coordinator for Vegas Public TV said: “I am so glad that FluPortal is here because it is such a tremendous resource. I visited the site a couple of months ago and we have made extensive use of it. I recommend it to your station. It is ‘one stop shopping’ for H1N1 information – you need look no further.”

I also observed that public TV stations are very concerned about low traffic to their websites. Several stations said the number of discreet visitors to their sites was below 5,000 per month. Some public TV stations reported they were limiting outreach and media engagement activities because off layoffs.

Lessons Learned

• Elements of the FluPortal.org site that seemed to work best:
  • The “Quick,” “Easy” and “Go Big” resource templates because they offered avenues for H1N1 coverage to public media shops of all sizes and budgets.
  • The FluPortal.org blog because it provided context for the other material found on the site.
  • Reporter Resources, after changes were made to prioritize most-needed resources because most reporters using the site were on deadline.
• If time had permitted, it would have been helpful to beta test certain aspects of the site. Because FluPortal.org was launched so quickly, changes in design and content were needed. Feedback from users and other observers was vital to improving the value of the site. But, in a perfect world, beta testing would likely have identified aspects of the site that needed to be revised.
• Because stations voluntarily choose to use resources and tools provided by FluPortal.org, it is impossible to compile a complete list of all users.
• The FluPortal.org blog was important because it kept the site fresh and in touch with the evolving H1N1 story.
• Experience demonstrated the best places and ways to publicize FluPortal.org. For instance, the PRNDI bulletin broad Newslink was enormously effective to reach reporters and news directors.

Best Practices and Future Thoughts

• Know the true needs and capabilities of stations to use resources and tools provided by a project. There may have been assumptions prior to the launch of FluPortal.org that most public radio and public TV stations had the staff, resources and desire to provide aggressive local H1N1 information. But, only some public radio stations, typically news stations, and even fewer public TV stations, were interested.
• Talk with station web masters, news directors and reporters from stations of all sizes when preparing a project for launch. Beta testing and earlier feedback would have eliminated some of the trial and error we experienced with FluPortal.org.
• Make certain that messages used to promote the project address the actual needs and capabilities of the stations. FluPortal.org could have crafted early campaign messages to address the misperception of the site as a news source.
• Develop a target list of stations that are most likely to have the capability and interest to create landing pages, provide local news coverage and/or mount meaningful outreach efforts.
• Use examples of stations making use of the project resources and tools as a way demonstrate best practices in action. FluPortal’s blog and Public Media Coverage pages provided helpful ideas for stations of all sizes.
• Be realistic about the interest and ability of stations to conduct major media engagement activities. From what I observed, many public radio stations consider public events to be outside of their core service. Public TV stations are reporting cutbacks in outreach staff and resources.
• Be open to big questions about the design and mission of a project. For instance, FluPortal.org was designed to provide an “editorially neutral” menu of tools and resources – a “curator” role. But, even curators make editorial decisions by the information they include and manner of presentation.
• FluPortal.org users, particularly reporters, frequently asked for story ideas and feedback on stories they had produced. Though we always tried to provide useful feedback, FluPortal.org might have been more effective had it suggested cross station and cross platform collaborations and provided an editorial “convening” function. Future projects might specify these approaches.