Center for Health Communication - UT Austin

We closed with a keynote conversation featuring Emily Ramshaw, Co-founder and CEO of The 19th News. Journalism and public health face similar challenges, and we found many parallels given the nonprofit newsroom’s relentless dedication to audience needs assessment and mission of delivering the information people need to make decisions on a daily basis.

Her top tips for attendees:
✅ Words matter. Empathy, grace, and accessible language are key to inviting people in.
✅ Building personal relationships with journalists and giving them feedback are the best ways to ensure the full picture is being reported.
✅ Narrative change and media literacy take time. A steadfast commitment to accuracy and values is key when there aren’t a lot of quick wins along the way.

Check out our free “Dealing with Conflicting Health Information” course to learn more about having gentle and effective conversations on complex health topics: https://hcts.uthealthcommtraining.org/courses/hctsdealing-with-conflicting-health-information