Global Warming

In this week’s reading I learned what goes into the making of a press release.  A press release, in simplist terms, is an announcment.  This announcment can be to promote a product, inform the public, educate a group, or to just keep the media updated.  Several questions should be anwsered in the press release such as who, what, where, why, and when.  However, the most important question one should ask themselves before creating a press release is what is the purpose of writing this?  Key things to keep in mind are good grammer and the usage of active verbs.  If I were to write a press release I would choose the following situations to address:

1. Inform the public- Before we can fix the problem we need to identify it first.  In this press release I would explain to the public what global warming is, what is contributing to the greenhouse effect, and drive home that global warming is a clear and imminent threat.

2. Promote an idea- In this press release I would attempt to gather support for funding towards stopping global warming.

3. To educate a specific group- In this press release I would focus on raising awareness in a specific group that would be interested in aiding in the stopping of global warming.

Greenhouse gases could be reduced, lessening the affects of global warming, BUT most people are not aware of the damage they are doing to the atmosphere.

Introduction: Examining the Blog- Media Relationship

I was really shocked after reading this article.  I had no idea that a blog, especially on MySpace, was capable of reaching such a large audience.  I also did not know that blogs could have such an impressive impact on mainstream media.  The Dan Rather story was a good example of how fast word can spread from one blog to another, and then reach the mainstream media like CBS.I never realized exactly how powerful blogging can be in general.  The fact that a blog like tsunamihelp.blogspot.com can raise a significant amount of money and recruit volunteers for the Asian tsunami is incredible. I think overall this article just drove home the fact that blogging is becoming a thing of the future and is becoming more and more powerful each day.  For the most part, this article served as a warning for me to be careful in what I say while blogging.  Since blogs can reach numerous people in days, the blog-media relationship is definitely a double-edged sword.  

Blogging for Better Health: Putting the “Public” Back in Public Health: I never realized that blogging could be good for one’s health.  I suppose it’s because I never thought of blogs as a journal.  It makes sense though, as one is more likely to express true feelings online rather than in person.  I thought it was interesting to read that blogs served as a coping device.  For instance, this article mentions health blogs as one such device.  People can express their problems or fears on such blogs as well as share information and hope through personal stories. 

New York City’s West Nile Virus Response:

The initial problem was the outbreak of the West Nile Virus in New York City in the Summer of 1999.  However, the New York City Department of Health created a plan to “improve the public’s awareness of risk for disease, improve the public’s participation in eliminating potential breeding sites, and to provide timely and accurate information related to insecticide spraying.”  Yet, once this plan was put into action, several new problems developed.  Spokespersons for the Department of Health were “not informed about stakeholder perceptions or about various stakeholder groups’ expected levels of concern, fear, hostility, or outrage.” Furthermore, there was an unbalanced number of positive and negative information distributed, which created a trust issue.  In addition to, “disagreements and lack of coordination among risk management organizations” also caused a trust problem. 

The New York City Department of Health did attempt to communicate risk through radio announcements, television commericals, press releases, posters, brochures and fact sheets, and phone lines.  However, these attempts were not successful because of the lack of trust issue.

A Bioterrorist Event:

The problem created in this case study was the audience’s perceived risk.  If a bioterrorist attack were to occur, because the audience’s perceived risk would be so great, people would have severe mental noise.  To prevent this from happening the public needs to become aware of a possible attack.  The educators also need to establish trust with the public in order for them to listen and participate.  If public health agencies are able to do this and decrease the level of perceived risk, then they will be successful in communicating risk.

Hi everyone!

 My name is Angie Byrnes and I am a freshman at the University of Pittsburgh.  At the moment, I’m technically undecided, but I plan on double majoring in political science and english writing.  I’m taking this Writing For the Public class because last semester I had a really great writing course and it prompted me to continue taking writing classes.

I’m really interested in politics and for the past two summers have interned at State Representative Brian Ellis’ office.  Way back in 2000 I was a supporter of Al Gore, and since then I have followed his career.  When his documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, was released I became curious about global warming.  I hope to become more educated about this issue and motivate people to fight global warming!