Picture This: Mental Health in the San Francisco Bay Area
Oakland, CA (PRWEB) July 18, 2013 -- Entertainment Industries Council, Inc. (EIC) and KTVU/TV36 Oakland – San Francisco – San Jose today presented Picture This: Mental Health in the San Francisco Bay Area, a new initiative that brings journalists together with community members to increase awareness through expanded reporting of mental health and diagnosed mental illness. The goal of Picture This: Mental Health in the San Francisco Bay Area is to decrease stigma and discrimination through the breadth and depth of the stories being reported.
“Media stories reporting about mental health can foster a change in attitudes that encourages help-seeking behaviors, acceptance and reduces discrimination against those with a mental or behavioral health concern. Bringing journalists together with the communities they serve has the double benefit of improving news reporting while enabling the news media to use its power and influence to impact audiences in positive ways,” said Brian Dyak, President and CEO, Entertainment Industries Council, Inc.
The Picture This forum creates a powerful collaboration among the expert mental health community, area leaders, elected officials and local media to identify the top priorities and best practices for informing the public to strengthen awareness of mental health in the San Francisco Bay Area. The forum helps community members gain an understanding of how they can be assets to journalists by sharing insights and stories; at the same time, journalists learn firsthand what the community identifies as priorities and opportunities to enhance news coverage that matters.
Today’s event, featuring John Fowler, Health and Science Reporter, KTVU Channel 2; Kristin Bender, Oakland Tribune/Bay Area News Group; Lisa Aliferis, Editor, State of Health KQED and Jesse Brooks, Oakland Post had a special focus on the keen ability of stakeholders and media to collaborate to decrease stigma and discrimination.
“KTVU/TV36 is dedicated to raising awareness of important health issues impacting our community. Our work with EIC has enhanced our newsroom understanding of mental health and further elevated our commitment to telling the authentic stories that inform our viewers,” said Tom Raponi, Vice President & General Manager, KTVU/TV36 Oakland- San Francisco – San Jose.
The top communication priorities determined by forum participants will be published and distributed to Northern California media. To learn more or to request a complementary copy of this resource publication, log on to http://www.eiconline.org/teamup.
Follow @MediaTEAMUp on Twitter for more guidance on and highlights of mental health news coverage.
The Picture This: Mental Health in the San Francisco Bay Area forum and additional reporting resources are made possible through TEAM Up, Tools for Entertainment and Media, an initiative of the Entertainment Industries Council, Inc., in partnership with National Association of Broadcasters, Radio Television Digital News Association and California Mental Health Services Authority. A portion of the Entertainment Industries Council, Inc.’s mental health program is funded by the voter-approved Mental Health Services Act (Prop. 63). It is one of several Prevention and Early Intervention Initiatives implemented by the California Mental Health Services Authority (CalMHSA).
About Cox Media Group (KTVU & KICU)
Cox Media Group is an integrated broadcasting, publishing, direct marketing and digital media company that includes the national advertising rep firms of CoxReps. Additionally, CMG owns Cox Target Media, which operates Valpak, one of North America’s leading direct marketing companies, and Savings.com, a leading online source for savings. The company’s operations currently include 14 broadcast television stations and one local cable channel, 57 radio stations, eight daily newspapers and more than a dozen non-daily publications, and more than 100 digital services. CMG currently operates in more than 20 media markets and reaches approximately 52 million Americans weekly, including more than 30 million TV viewers, more than 4 million print and online newspaper readers, and 14 million radio listeners. For more information about Cox Media Group, please check us out online at http://www.coxmediagroup.com.
About Entertainment Industries Council
EIC is a non-profit organization founded in 1983 by leaders within the entertainment industry to bring the power and influence of the industry to bear on communication about health and social issues. The organization is considered to be the chief pioneer of entertainment and journalism outreach and a premiere success story in the field of entertainment education. This mission relies on providing resource information to the creative community and culminates in recognition of the industry through the national television special PRISM Showcase which addresses accurate portrayals of substance use issues and mental health concerns. The organization also produces the S.E.T Awards, honoring positive and non-stereotypical portrayals of science, engineering and technology.
For a complete list of health and social issues addressed by EIC and local projects please visit First Draft and EIC’s website. EIC’s web site is http://www.eiconline.org. The PRISM Awards web site is http://www.prismawards.com.
About The California Mental Health Services Authority
(CalMHSA) is an organization of county governments working to improve mental health outcomes for individuals, families and communities. Prevention and Early Intervention programs implemented by CalMHSA are funded through the voter-approved Mental Health Services Act (Prop 63). Prop. 63 provides the funding and framework needed to expand mental health services to previously underserved populations and all of California’s diverse communities.
Skylar Jackson, The Entertainment Industries Council, http://www.eiconline.org, 703.481.1414, [email protected]
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