Public Relations Handbook - Narcotics Anonymous

the media is providing the public with a service through these announcements.Public service announcements do not compromise or jeopardize our principle of selfsupport.These are opportunities that the public creates for community serviceorganizations. What we offer the still-suffering addict in NA has a benefit to society.Accepting charitable rates and discounts that are offered to other similar communityservice organizations is in keeping with the principle of self-support.In fact, this example of public service announcements can be an opportunity forus to build a cooperative relationship with members of the public in our community.This offering of services to charitable organizations is a way that publicorganizations and businesses enter into cooperative relationships within thecommunity. By combining our efforts with these organizations and taking a teamapproach, we demonstrate our ability to cooperate. We are not attaching ourselvesor affiliating ourselves with these organizations. Rather, we can enter theserelationships based on the spirit of cooperation. How do we practice the spirit of self-support in our media efforts? When accepting rates offered to community service organizations like ours,how can we ensure that we don’t become reliant on or unduly influencedby an outside organization?Public relations and the mediaAs discussed in Chapter Three, planning public relations projects will help trustedservants become more effective—and these steps naturally help with any mediaprojects. Often, we initiate service projects because it is the tradition of the area.Instead, we can ask important questions such as: Does the area have enough humanand financial resources for the project? Is the media project likely to reach theintended audience? Can the area effectively communicate the project to groups,members, and other service bodies? The questions below can help an areadetermine if it can sustain a media project and if such a project is the most effectiveway to reach suffering addicts in that NA area.The primary purpose of our public relations efforts is to tell the story ofNarcotics Anonymous and what our program offers to the stillsufferingaddict. Our practice of public anonymity is built on thespiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to placeprinciples before personalities.It Works: How and WhyP l a n n i n g a n d p r e p a r a t i o n f o r a r e a sa n d c o m m i t t e e sDoes the project match the area’s needs and abilities?The first concern is how the area’s needs and abilities match up with the proposedproject. The following questions can help an area clarify whether or not a proposedmedia project forwards the area’s goals and if it can realistically be supported by thearea’s current human and financial resources: Is the proposed media project a result of inventorying the current needs of thecommunity and the resources of the area? Does the area have the human resources for the media project? Has the areaconsidered the current experience of committee members and members of the localNA community?October 2006 | PR Handbook | 41