DELIVERING THE MESSAGE

This article, by a leading consumer journalist, discusses how newspapers and radio and television programmes in the UK can most effectively deliver road safety messages. The media can help in three ways: (1) attracting people's attention, and making them think about the risks that they are taking; (2) offering practical advice on safety, like how to maximise the safety of children riding in cars; (3) at a national level, helping to improve laws. In the author's experience, road safety stories are of great interest to newspaper readers, and road safety is one of the biggest issues. But proper attention needs to be paid to the best ways of presenting stories to the media. Due account should be taken of press deadlines; the less important the story, the earlier the deadline tends to be. Women's magazines can be important, because many of them have over a million readers. Because journalists only have time to scan most press releases, their messages should be conspicuous to be noticed. Telephone calls and suitable personal contacts can also be useful. A good story, that a journalist can convert into a worthwhile article or news item, is usually a new story, or a new aspect of an old story; it should be something that an ordinary person is likely to find interesting. For the covering abstract of the conference see IRRD 859522.

• Corporate Authors:

  PARLIAMENTARY ADVISORY COUNCIL FOR TRANSPORT SAFETY

  DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, IMPERIAL COLLEGE
  LONDON,   United Kingdom  SW7 2BU

  PARLIAMENTARY ADVISORY COUNCIL FOR TRANSPORT SAFETY

  DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, IMPERIAL COLLEGE
  LONDON,   United Kingdom  SW7 2BU
• Authors:
  • Walsh, J
• Publication Date: 1987

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: p. 99-105
• Serial:
  • ROAD ACCIDENTS IN CHILDHOOD. A CONFERENCE ORGANISED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY ADVISORY COUNCIL FOR TRANSPORT SAFETY AND THE CHILD ACCIDENT PREVENTION TRUST. HELD 3RD NOVEMBER 1987, LONDON
  • Publisher: PARLIAMENTARY ADVISORY COUNCIL FOR TRANSPORT SAFETY

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Conferences; Education; Prevention; Publicity; Safety; Travelers
• ITRD Terms: 1661: Accident prevention; 8525: Conference; 2284: Education; 8573: Publicity; 1755: Road user
• Subject Areas: Safety and Human Factors; Security and Emergencies; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00642227
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport Research Laboratory
• Files: ITRD
• Created Date: Feb 15 1994 12:00AM