UPDATED (June 6): Keep up the GAVI Media Blitz
It’s all hands on deck for our biggest media push of 2011 and your activism is needed. If fully funded, the GAVI Alliance estimates they will save 4.2 million lives by 2015 with the new game changing vaccines for the two leading causes of death for children under the age of five – pneumonia and rotavirus.
Our job as advocates is to get our local media to pay attention to this severely news-worthy news! Leveraging the media to call on the Obama administration to pledge $450 million over the next 3 is the kind of savvy activism that screams RESULTS. The GAVI Alliance has a donor replenishment meeting this June so now is crunch time. We have now gotten one Editorial, four Op-eds, and several more letters to the editors already in print, but much more is needed to reach the tipping point. Send this Editorial Packet to the editorial staff of your newspaper today or use it to write your own Op-ed or letter to the editor!
Below are a list of our media successes. Way to go, folks! Keep it up!
Editorials
“Fund Life-saving Vaccines” Detroit Free Press, June 1
http://www.freep.com/article/20110601/OPINION01/106010309/Editorial-Fund-life-saving-vaccines
Op-Eds
“How to Save 4 Million Lives” Tom Zulauf, Durham Herald-Sun, June 2
http://heraldsun.com/view/full_story/13460180/article-How-to-save-4-million-children
“Funding critical for global vaccines” Frances C. Moore, Omaha World-Herald, May 25
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joanne-carter/a-special-relationship-to_b_867061.html
“Invest in vaccines for children worldwide” Linda Horkitz, The Miami Herald, May 21
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/05/21/2227781/invest-in-vaccines-for-children.html
“Fulfilling the dreams of millions of mothers” Carole Fleming, Asheville Citizen-Times, May 6
http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/stories/2011/01/13/lte.870541.sto
Derek Jones, Tampa Tribune, January 26
“Help all through vaccines” Jeannette Essl, Dallas Morning News, February 3
http://letterstotheeditorblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/02/help-all-throug.html
“Vital health funding” Tom Zulauf, Raleigh News & Observer, March 15
http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/03/15/1054438/vital-health-funding.html
“A worthy way to celebrate Mother’s Day” Beth Wilson, Kitsap Sun, May 2
http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2011/may/02/letter-to-the-editor-a-worthy-way-to-celebrate/
“Vaccines the best way to save children” Nancy Gardiner, Connecticut Post, May 6
http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Vaccines-the-best-way-to-save-children-1369277.php
“U.S. should help fund vaccines to save children worldwide” Ken Patterson, Asheville Citizen-Times, May 8
“Mother’s gift to us” Martha Clemons – May 8 – Albany Democrat-Herald (OR)
http://www.democratherald.com/news/opinion/mailbag/article_2472f88b-a9f3-5a2a-aa92-cc460e7d1a8b.html
“Save children” Jim Driggers, Contra Costa Times, May 10
http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2011/may/13/letter-to-the-editor-support-federal-funding-for/
“Vital vaccines” Rob Poissant, The Times Record (ME), May 19
http://www.timesrecord.com/articles/2011/05/19/opinion/letters/doc4dd557149baaf753274833.txt
“Rewarding Big Oil at expense of children” Georgia Platts, San Jose Mercury News, May 19
http://letterstotheeditorblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/05/vaccines-play-v.html
“Vaccines could save millions of children” Linda Schatz, St. Petersburg Times, June 2
http://www.theolympian.com/2011/06/03/1674006/global-alliance-focuses-on-immunizations.html
“Value of a Dollar” Mark Coats, The Austin American Statesman, June 4
http://www.statesman.com/opinion/perry-pot-and-limericks-1519156.html
Video
“Children take up poverty issues with Congress” Cindy Changyit Levin (created by Philip Downie), The Morton Grove Patch, June 6