Kaiser Family Foundation survey highlights importance of communicating aid successes

May 24 2012

In this post in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog, communications officer and blog editor Amie Newman reports on a Kaiser Family Foundation survey, released Monday, that examines Americans' views on U.S. global health issues. Newman details a number of the survey's findings, including that the poll found that "roughly half of Americans (52 percent) now say the news media spends too little time covering global health issues, up from 41 percent in 2010." She writes, "It's critical that our news media cover these issues in a way that touches people, and helps people to understand exactly what's happening in the countries, cities, villages, towns, health centers and homes of people around the world." She notes that both KFF President and CEO Drew Altman, in a column discussing the survey results, and Gates Foundation Director of Global Brand and Innovation Tom Scott, in a recent blog post, have stressed the importance of properly communicating successful aid stories and data (5/21).