Media
Need to get yourself known
From Mr R. I. Dunkley, MRPharmS
I read the news feature (PJ, 19 October, pp561–2) about how pharmacists
can catch the attention of the media with great interest. As one of the
public relations officers (PRO) for the Leeds branch of the Royal Pharmaceutical
Society and a past PRO for Rotary in Yorkshire, I have had many contacts
with the media — both local and national. What pharmacists must realise
is that however good a story is, if you are not known to the media you
are trying to contact, then in most cases you are wasting your time.
I write letters to the newspapers and telephone Radio Four, etc, about
any issue that I believe affects pharmacy. Thus I get “known”
and now the media contact me when any story surfaces that impinges on
pharmacy. It is a matter of persistence — not everything I send to
the media gets published or heard on radio, but most do.
Your readers may recall that I wrote to The Journal about the new green
prescriptions and how they affected my hands — this story was picked
up by The Daily Telegraph, and eventually published in The Sunday Telegraph.
I still get telephone calls from pharmacists about this condition. Radio
Four also picked this up and they contacted me recently for their “Checkup”
programme about eczema.
Every pharmacist represents pharmacy and if you have a story that makes
you sit up — Hemant Patel’s story about osteoporosis is a case
in point — then contact the media, get yourself known to them. It
is the only way that pharmacy will raise its profile.
Bob Dunkley
Leeds
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