SPEAKING EFFECTIVELY WITH THE MEDIA ABOUT RECOVERY MONTH

As part of your activities during National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month (Recovery Month), you may generate opportunities to tell your story to local media representatives as part of an in-person or telephone interview. Newspaper reporters normally conduct interviews to gather background information when writing their stories, and this provides an excellent opportunity for you to share your point of view.

Below are five tips on making the most of a media interview, as well as some suggested key points to communicate to reporters about Recovery Month.

1. Keep it simple. Identify, in advance, no more than three key points you want to convey in your interview, and stick to them. Cluttering your interview with numerous messages can be confusing.
   
   
2. Get right to the point. Reporters generally do not have the time (and may lack the patience) to sit through lengthy speeches. State the most important points first, and then ask the reporter if you should elaborate on any of them.
   
   
3. Remember your audience. Your interviewer, like the general public, likely does not spend as much time thinking about alcohol and drug use disorders as you do. Avoid using terms unfamiliar to those outside the field, and be prepared to explain basic facts about alcohol and drug use disorders and treatment.
   
   
4. Make yourself useful. Offer to locate additional experts and arrange for the reporter to speak with them after your interview is completed. If you do not know an answer to a reporter's question, offer to research it and get back to the reporter right away with the answer.
   
   
5. Practice. If you rehearse ahead of time, you are more likely to state your key points clearly during your interview. You also can anticipate media questions you might receive and prepare appropriate responses.

Key Points to Convey to Media During Recovery Month

You may wish to customize the following three points to use as the basis of your media interviews:

1. [Your organization's name] is holding [event] on [date/time] at [location] to [raise funds to support a new treatment facility/educate employers about drug-free workplace programs/other reason] so that more area residents with alcohol and drug use disorders will have access to treatment programs.
   
   
2. Locally, more than [number] of [city]'s residents suffer from alcohol or drug use disorders, yet only an estimated [number] have received treatment. [To obtain this information, contact the Single-State Agency (SSA) in your state listed in the SSA Directory included in the resources section of this planning toolkit. Inquire about both public and private patient census information.]
   
   
3. [Your organization's name]'s activities coincide with the 15th annual observance this September of National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month, a nationwide celebration of those in recovery from alcohol and drug use disorders, sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

You are encouraged to share your plans and activities for Recovery Month 2004 with SAMHSA's Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, your colleagues, and the general public by posting them on the official Recovery Month Web site at www.recoverymonth.gov.

We would like to know about your outreach efforts and community success stories during Recovery Month.
Please complete the Customer Satisfaction Form enclosed in the kit. Directions are included on the form.

Please send any of your organization's Recovery Month promotional samples to: Office of the Director, Consumer Affairs, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, SAMHSA, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockwall Building II, Rockville, MD 20857.

For additional Recovery Month materials, visit our Web site at www.recoverymonth.gov or call 1-800-662-HELP.