Working with the Media to Promote Teen Pregnancy Prevention

Here are examples of messagestargeted to teens used by theNational Campaign to PreventTeen Pregnancy. Although theysound simple and straightforward,they are the result of considerablediscussion, testing,and reworking.• For girls: You don’t have tohave sex to keep a boyfriend.You don’t have to have sex tobe popular. You don’t have tohave sex unless and until youdecide to.• For boys: Boys can say no,too. You don’t have to havesex to prove anything to yourfriends or girlfriend. Havingsex doesn’t make you a man;waiting until you’re ready andacting responsibly does.Table 2 at the end of this chapterprovides more details onthese National Campaign toPrevent Teen Pregnancy messages.The worksheet on thenext page can also help youbrainstorm core messages.THE STARTING POINT FOR ACORE MESSAGE DIRECTEDAT TEENSDelay sexual activity.THE FINISHED PRODUCT“Not everyone is ‘doing it.’It’s okay to say no.”Select the most appropriatemedia channelsOnce you have determined yourdesired result, clearly definedyour target audience, and developedyour core messages, youwill be ready to choose the bestvehicle for reaching your audience.Each of the three majormedia channels described herediffers according to the credibilityit adds to a program’s message,the breadth of audience itreaches, and the amount of controla program has in using it.The news mediaNews coverage has high credibility(it is written by independentreporters) and a broadreach (TV, newspapers, andradio reach large audiences atthe same time). The tradeoff isthat you have little control overhow your message gets throughto the audience. News mediawork is not expensive, but itsometimes takes long-term,consistent work to pay off.Public service advertising(PSA)This strategy involves developingprint, radio, or TV ads, billboards,or bus boards to carry a preventionmessage—a productionprocess that may be costly evenif an advertising firm has offeredto provide its creative work forfree. Messages conveyed throughsuch advertising are typicallyshort (a headline, a 10- or 30-second radio spot, a slogan). Ifyou buy air time or ad space, youcan use an advertising campaignto target a precise audience.With donated space, the audiencereach is questionable (your TV107MEDIA