March 15, 2006 Volume 1, Number 2

Welcome to the second edition of the
Silent Treatment: Addiction in America e-newsletter

(If you missed the first, see it at www.pajournalism.com/downloads.htm.)

1. www.silenttreatment.info debuts
2. Help is on the way
3. Before you pick up the phone
4. Silent Treatment en español
5. A call for your stories on the web
6. Success stories
7. On the calendar: Print and plan

1. www.silenttreatment.info debuts
The Silent Treatment Web site goes live April 1! Bookmark it now and check it out in a few weeks to find resources to help organizations capitalize on this nationwide awareness campaign. This online companion to the newspaper series will link to rich treatment and recovery resources for the public and organizations and offer original podcasts, “recovery radio” broadcasts and blogs, web journals relating personal journeys. Series articles will be posted August 2, simultaneous with the series distribution to newspapers nationwide.

What you can do: Post a link to www.silenttreatment.info on your organization's Web site, mention it in your e-newsletter, and forward the URL to colleagues and friends who are concerned about addiction treatment and recovery issues. Web buttons, logos and banners for the ST Web site can be downloaded at www.pajournalism.com/downloads.htm.

2. Help is on the way ...
Starting April 1, you will receive a series of promotional materials. Look for:

• Outreach brochure: A four-page pamphlet that describes the project and offers a detailed outline of the stories featured in the series, as well as tips for engaging the media.

• Newspaper brochure: Similar to the outreach brochure, only directed at newspaper editors. This will alert them to the series and outline coverage tie-ins in their communities.

• Action guide: Breaking the Silence, a 24-page guide to getting the most out of traditional and new media, outlines the basic steps for creating media coverage, including easy-to-understand instructions for creating blogs, podcasts and vodcasts for your website.

What you can do: The brochures can be used to prepare for meetings with editors. Breaking the Silence provides tools for getting the most the media that is available in your area.

If you received this e-newsletter directly, you are on our mailing list and will automatically receive the materials. If you were forwarded this from a colleague or friend, send an email to sroff@pajournalism.com to join the list. In case you run out, substantial quantities of the Outreach Brochure will be available. After April 1, all materials will also be posted to www.silenttreatment.info for download as Adobe Acrobat Reader PDF files. The Outreach Brochure and Action Guide are designed to prepare you for the next step, which is …

3. Before you pick up the phone: Tips for contacting your local newspapers
There are many opportunities for community involvement around the Silent Treatment project; in fact, the media is counting on it. The first step is to look around your community for logical partners to join you in promoting the newspaper series. Keep in mind that newspaper editors are more inclined to run a series when their local communities ask for it. A small, diverse delegation of two or three articulate people tends to be more persuasive than an individual, so, whenever possible, include representatives from partner organizations. April and May are perfect months for creating local partnerships, with the goal of meeting with editors in June. Arrange a meeting with the managing editor, news editor or feature/health editor of your local newspaper and make certain that they are aware of the series.

Some tips for talking to editors or reporters about Silent Treatment:

• Keep your message simple and concise.

• Try to keep your introduction to three or four sentences that will tell editors why they should be interested in publishing the series. Give more details as the conversation continues, but think of your opening as a way to heighten interest.

• After you’ve made your initial introduction, be prepared to answer more specific questions. Know why the series would be of particular interest to the newspaper’s readers, and identify the local angle. Come prepared with ideas and suggestions that focus on local issues. Have a list of community groups that can provide background and interviews for reporters to use to localize the series. The more resources you can offer, the better your chances of success.

Our next e-newsletter will feature action steps for pitching local stories about your group and important issues related to the series topics to newspapers, radio and television stations.

4. Silent Treatment en español
Both the newspaper series and the Web site for Silent Treatment: Addiction in America will be available in Spanish for online viewers and Spanish-language newspaper readers. Please notify Spanish-language papers in your area and encourage editors to run the series. The translations also will be available for downloading and viewing August 2.

5. A call for your stories

www.silenttreatment.info will feature a "We're Listening" section for visitors to share their thoughts on their treatment and recovery experiences, many of which will be chosen to appear on the website. To help break the ice and encourage participation, we're looking for a few brief stories to appear during the first days of launch. If you'd like to contribute, please email up to 500 words to sroffs@pajournalism.com.  Please include your name and organization.

6. Success stories
Faces and Voices of Recovery has debuted a new video, “The Power of Our Stories: Speaking Out for Addiction Recovery.” The 44-minute video is designed to empower people in recovery, their family members, friends and allies to speak out for addiction recovery. It demonstrates how people are using their stories to change attitudes and policies that stigmatize and discriminate against people in recovery. The video includes a brochure and worksheet with group and individual exercises. To view and purchase the video, visit www.facesandvoicesofrecovery.org/support/merch_video_bk.php

Join Together, a program of the Boston University School of Public Health, offers an Indicators Handbook, How Do We Know We Are Making a Difference? Indicator reporting programs are a valuable tool to illustrate local substance use problems and track the impact of efforts to address them. Community leaders use indicator reporting programs to identify their most important local substance use problems, focus community prevention and treatment strategies, and measure the results of new policies and programs. Visit their website to learn more and order your free handbook.

7. On the calendar
April is a busy month! April 7th is National Alcohol Screening Day, April 1-3 is Alcohol Free Weekend and it’s Alcohol Awareness Month, co-sponsored by SAMHSA and the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Leadership to Keep Children Alcohol Free. This year's theme, "Together, We Can Stop Underage Drinking!," emphasizes the need for comprehensive efforts involving citizens, organizations, law enforcement, media and others. SAMHSA's National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information has developed Alcohol Awareness Month: A Guide to Community Action.

April's Road to Recovery Webcast is “Youth and College Drinking: Breaking the Patterns.”  To view, visit: www.recoverymonth.gov/2006/default.aspx.

Print and plan
It doesn’t stop there.  We have created a comprehensive calendar at http://calendar.silenttreatment.info of treatment- and recovery-related events across the country. Click any of the events to get more information and confirm dates and times.  To have events included in our calendar for the coming months, please send us an email.

Please forward this newsletter to friends and colleagues who may be interested in addiction treatment and recovery issues. Send details on coming events, successful projects, new findings or useful ideas to share to sroff@pajournalism.com.

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