A Closer Look At Media: Television

Television offers a variety of options for outreach to non-readers. Let's look at some of the requirements for this medium.

Film coverage of an outreach event could be very useful. Some ex-amples would be the opening of a new adult literacy program, a former adult student's success story, or a look at illiteracy through the eyes of a client. Remember, in order to get visual coverage of your event, it must not only be visually interesting to you, but also to that "person next door." If possible, include promotional materials for the background such as posters, banners, or signs — something that conveys your message or slogan.

Attracting visual coverage of your outreach events or activities also requires attention to time constraints; that is, within any given newscast, one minute is a long story and should you receive two minutes, consider yourself lucky. That's why it's a good idea if you, or your speaker, can summarize the points you want to make in one paragraph so that the cameras can roll and you can make your point clearly and quickly.