Communicating about global health

At the Global Health Council conference last week, professional communicators discussed messaging, media, and blogs. In an increasingly competitive environment, communicators need to be on target with their messages and know their audience. That point was highlighted at a workshop on communications for global health professionals and at the media awards luncheon. By focusing on messaging, communicators help get the word out about the importance of what their respective organizations do, which will lead to interest in the data from the technical experts and, ultimately, improving people’s lives.

In a break-out session, I talked with Lawrence MacDonald of the Center for Global Development. He agrees that blogs can serve an organization by driving opinion and helping to attract reporters. The blogs of the Center for Global Development add value by commenting on news sources that many of its stakeholders would like to read, such as the FT, but don’t have the time.