Grow your market share with a Web media hit list
Every PR professional should be able to name the 10 most influential journalists from the leading consumer and business print news outlets in the industry. But can you name the most influential healthcare "journalists" on the Internet? With more than 15,000 sites on the Internet devoted to healthcare and the number climbing continually, there are a handful of "new" journalists that are quickly becoming part of the inner circle.
These individuals are driving content on prevalent medical conditions for which your clients want to grab and grow market share. Do you know who they are and what information they look for when compiling their stories?
Take Medscape's George Lundberg (former Journal of the American Medical Association editor), whose arrival as the site's executive editor was loudly trumpeted. His appointment needs to be on your radar screen. Lundberg didn't just bring instant credibility and market attention to the site (CBS just purchased 35% of the company).
He also brought a new level of journalistic professionalism to Internet healthcare reporting. One of Lundberg's major contributions to Medscape was the creation of the first Internet-only peer review journal (Medscape General Medicine). By taking advantage of the tremendous speed and reach of the Internet, Lundberg's e-journal has the potential to drastically shift how medical information is disseminated.
Online Media Relations
Industry research shows that almost 50% of consumers using the Net are looking for healthcare information. As that number continues to grow, sophisticated new online media such as Medscape will become the norm. And more "traditional" medical writers and reporters like Lundberg are expected to join the healthcare-Internet media corps ranks as the success of these sites grow.
What will ultimately define these online health information outlets is how medical content is packaged, and which medical/journalistic experts assemble that content. In essence, the new journalists' approach to the medical information/data will become a market differentiator for the sites - and an opportunity (or challenge) for healthcare PR practitioners.
The opportunities are clear. The challenges are twofold:
- Firstly, PR pros must reach the journalist in order to present a client's story in the most complete and positive way possible.
- Secondly, the more difficult challenge is to ascertain which of these new journalists will carry a balanced and informative message to their readers.
Just as healthcare PR professionals have come to learn that Marilyn Chase of The Wall Street Journal and Gina Kolata of the New York Times are serious medical journalists who investigate and fairly present their material, PR professionals need to understand with whom they are establishing relationships when working the Web.
No Industry Guidelines
Most sites have an editorial structure like that of a print or broadcast publication, which results in responsible, comprehensive reporting. For example, Medcast has a team of reporters set up like an "Internet CNN" to investigate and broadcast health and medical news to physician subscribers.
Sites like Healthatoz.com, Mayo Health Oasis and Intellihealth have teams of physicians and medical writers that provide content for their sites.
However, since Internet medical sites are a relatively new information source, there are no industry guidelines or books like Bacon's Radio, TV/Cable, Publicity and Media Directories to provide summary data. Nor are there protocols or precedent for convincing these journalists that your information is newsworthy.
Just like the dailies and TV news, these journalists rely on the wires and Internet "wires" dedicated to health for the latest information. And similar to dealing with the dailies and TV news, it is the responsibility of the PR professional to build relationships and earn the trust that will result in fair reporting and strong media coverage of a client's product or position.
The Internet is providing consumers around the world with a whole new source of healthcare information. It is critical that the information is accurate and the sources legitimate.
The more we know about the power and reach of these "new journalists," the more effective our online com-munications strategies will be.
In the end, the goal is to build partnerships and sponsorships between clients and important health sites that result in better information and health outcomes for the consumer.
Ilyssa Levins is chairwoman and chief creative officer of GCI Healthcare, a global full-service healthcare firm in New York. She is responsible for global news development, new ventures and worldwide marketing. She can be reached at 212/886-3500.
Her co-author for this month's column's is Bob Purcell, healthcare interactive leader for GCI Healthcare.