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COMMUNICATION CHANNELS AND ACTIVITIES: PROS AND CONS
Type of Channel
Interpersonal
Channels
Activities Pros Cons
• Hotline counseling • Can be credible • Can be expensive
• Patient counseling • Permit two-way • Can be time-consuming
• Instruction discussion • Can have limited
• Informal discussion • Can be motivational, intended audience
influential, supportive reach
• Most effective for teaching
and helping/caring
• Can be difficult to link
into interpersonal
channels; sources need
to be convinced and
taught about the
message themselves
Organizational
and Community
Channels
Mass Media
Channels
Newspapers
Radio
• Town hall meetings and • May be familiar, trusted, • Can be costly, timeother
events and influential consuming to establish
• Organizational meetings • May provide more • May not provide
and conferences motivation/support than personalized attention
• Workplace campaigns media alone • Organizational
• Can sometimes be
constraints may require
inexpensive
message approval
• Can offer shared
• May lose control of
experiences
message if adapted to
• Can reach larger intended fit organizational needs
audience in one place
• Ads • Can reach broad intended • Coverage demands a
• Inserted sections on a audiences rapidly newsworthy item
health topic (paid) • Can convey health • Larger circulation
• News news/breakthroughs more papers may take only
• Feature stories thoroughly than TV or paid ads and inserts
• Letters to the editor radio and faster than • Exposure usually limited
• Op/ed pieces magazines to one day
• Intended audience has • Article placement
chance to clip, reread, requires contacts and
contemplate, and pass may be time-consuming
along material
• Small circulation papers
may take PSAs
• Ads (paid or public • Range of formats • Reaches smaller
service placement) available to intended intended audiences
• News audiences with known than TV
• Public affairs/talk shows listening preferences • Public service ads run
• Dramatic programming • Opportunity for direct infrequently and at low
(entertainment intended audience listening times
education) involvement (through call­ • Many stations have
in shows)
limited formats that may
• Can distribute ad scripts not be conducive to
(termed “live-copy ads”), health messages
which are flexible
and inexpensive
• Difficult for intended
audiences to retain or
pass on material
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32 Planning and Strategy Development