How do you pitch a six-year old healthcare story to a national morning program? In-depth research was the answer for Pam Rwankole, media relations manager at Public
Communications Inc. in Chicago.
The agency was pitching an asthma screening program run by the American College of Asthma, Allergy and Immunology (ACAAI). The program kicked off May 1 for the sixth year in a
row, and it definitely was not hard news. Rwankole and team began carefully examining healthcare coverage on a variety of morning shows to find out what type of medical stories
the outlets had covered and what specific angles had caught producers' attention. When they examined "The Early Show," "we discovered that many of the show's recent medical
stories focused on kids and prevention and provided consumer information," Rwankole says. In particular, a show covering vision screening for kids and signs of poor eye health for
parents to recognize became a model for Rwankole's pitch.
Her pitch focused on the 5 million cases of asthma diagnosed among kids every year and the importance of early diagnosis as a preventative measure against long-term lung
damage. The pitch also included ACAAI's brochures for both adults and children to help determine if they are at high risk for asthma, and a quiz ACAAI developed for parents to use
with young children. "Kids can't always tell you how they're feeling," Rwankole says, so the quiz was particularly appealing. Public Communications also provided the show with a
press kit and b-roll.
Rwankole followed up with producers with dogged determination as the May 1 kickoff for the campaign drew near. Each time they spoke, she reiterated that the May 1 date would be
a great news hook, and she reminded producers that the story would drive the many people who don't know they have asthma to be screened.
"Early Show" correspondent Emily Senay, M.D. was on camera on May 1 with four minutes of air time, including all of Public Communications' message points, information about
ACAAI and the organization's Web site.
(Rwankole, 312/558-1770, [email protected])