“Life is […]” Documentary Media Plan

Overview
The approach to receiving media coverage and interest, in addition to the simulcast, would be a
traditional approach for the following semester classes to follow. Future semesters will use this
guide to pitch the documentary to all local and statewide media with the necessary content for
them to use. A second approach is to reach out to the Arizona Governor, Doug Ducey who has a
large following by news interviews with the media and has proven his ability to help those with
mental illnesses and preventing suicide.

Goals and Objectives

1. Goal: Encourage viewership of “Life is [...]”

Objectives: Increase viewership from the Hooked Rx docuseries. The target

audience is influencers of youth ages 10-24 including: parents, teachers, coaches,
counselors, pediatricians, nurses, peers, veterans. We will also encourage
viewership by creating engagement on social media by use of the “Life is […]” motif.

2. Goal: Create interest in watching “title of documentary” as an informative source for

information on suicide prevention measures/increased amounts of youth suicide in
Arizona.
Objectives: Partner with specific communities in Arizona that influence youth,
schools, healthcare, LGBTQ+ and sports to promote the documentary.

3. Goal: Establish and maintain a relevant digital presence for the target audience until the
doc airs.
Objectives: To cultivate a presence, create message matrix for tone of brand, social media
posts or editorials on the topic and provide social post templates for target
audiences and communities to use to promote the documentary.

Media Targets
East Valley Tribune –– As the documentary creators are searching for sources and information
on the spike in the east valley, the PR team should pitch Jordan Houston. She has previously written
about a teen who died by suicide in Mesa. (September 2019)

12News –– Bianca Buono and Katie Wilcox did a multimedia story published on the 12News
website in February of this year on the correlation between mental health and suicide.

Arizona Daily Sun –– Flagstaff newspaper, Kaitlin Olson, wrote on mental health and
associations in Flagstaff that are treating mental health and suicide prevention.

Arizona Daily Star –– Tucson newspaper, Tim Steller specifically wrote about mental health in
the age of coronavirus, an angle the documentary is now forced to tackle.

Content
Content would include a media kit containing a press release or fact sheet outlining who, what,
when, where, why and how to, regarding the airing of the documentary and a brief summary of the
documentary. A list of contacts to talk to about the documentary including, willing interviewees
from the documentary, students who actually made/produced the content, David (the review
board), contacts from the communities we’ve researched. It will also include sample social media
template posts for people to use on their personal socials. We will provide data from official sources
(AFSP, CDC, the training, Arizona department of health) in infographics.

The microsite will house:

• all suicide hotline phone numbers/texts/emails/websites

• documentary clips, behind the scenes information and content not in the documentary
from videographers, reporters, journalists,
• All data from LGBTQ+ resources (One-n-Ten), prevention methods (AFSP), and how to
talk about Suicide in an infographic (our own or from the AFSP).
• A page about why, The Walter Cronkite School chose to pursue this topic; could be a
statement on a page or a video of David Ariosto, a compilation of short statements from
the student reporters. A scrolling “Life is […]” graphic with a downloadable template for
social platforms.
• Photos of interviewees, interviewers, pictures to match words in “Life is […],” in their
short bios.
• Pages for each of the ten story angles with more information and an array of multimedia
on each.

For community outreach partners and organizations, they will be given the same media kit
without the list of contacts but with flyers for showing times and a social media kit.

Draft Pitch Angles

Each pitch drafted will be dependent on the story that has been written by the students behind
the project. There are ten different angles with unique stories, each deserving of their own
specialized pitch to general traditional media and those who have shown a vested interest in the
stories being told. The story covering Jake’s Law would be pitched to traditional media beats that
cover insurance issues.

Interview Request Mockup

The Walter Cronkite School wide documentary titled “Life is […]” will be offering interviews
closer to the release of the documentary. David Ariosto, a current ASU professor and former CNN
investigative journalist is the lead on this documentary and would be the first point of contact for
interviews concerning the documentary. The dean of Cronkite as well as any faculty that is directly
involved with the documentary can also serve as representatives of the documentary. Students who
were involved with the making of “Life is […]” will also be available for interviews.

o East Valley Tribune

Hi Jordan,

I’m a student at The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism working to promote a special
project on youth suicide in the form of a documentary created by students. The
documentary, “Life is […]”, will be simulcasted throughout Arizona on January 20, 2021
at 6:30 p.m.

I read your September 2019 story about a teen girl who died by suicide and hoped you
might be interested in covering the “Life is […]” documentary in January.
Additionally, we’d be grateful if you would work with us in spreading the word about
the documentary over social media, especially given that you have handled this
sensitive topic in the past. Attached is a press release with details about “Life is […]”.

Thank you,

TaMeia Murphy
Press Release Mockup

IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Jain Doe

Phone: 123-456- 7891
Email: infocronkite@asu.edu

Arizona State University Cronkite School Produces Suicide Prevention

Documentary to be Simulcasted Statewide January 20, 2021

PHOENIX –– The Public Broadcasting Company (PBS) and the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism
and Mass Communication at Arizona State University have done an investigation into youth suicide in
Arizona to be presented in the “Life is […]” documentary airing January 20th, 2021. This documentary is
about youth ages 10 to 24 suicide and suicide prevention in the state of Arizona. Students in multiple
reporting classes have told stories with focuses on mental health, insurance agencies, the loneliness index,
at risk gene variants, the LGBTQ+ community and more.

Students worked together to produce this 30-minute documentary with David Ariosto, a producer and
former CNN journalist.

“These students have done an excellent job at uncovering different and really interesting stories from
people in Arizona who have been effected by youth suicide,” Ariosto said. “What I and the students hope
is that this documentary creates awareness but also drives positive prevention efforts within Arizona
communities.”

The documentary will be simulcasted across Arizona TV stations on January 20, 2021. There will also be
a screening of the documentary in the First Amendment Form in the Arizona State University Cronkite
Building starting at 6:30 p.m.

The Cronkite School has produced and simulcasted two previous investigative journalism documentaries
within recent years. “Hooked Rx: From Prescription to Addiction”, which addressed the opioid abuse
crisis and “Hooked: Tackling Heroin's Hold on Arizona” which addressed the heroin abuse crisis in
Arizona. Both documentaries received awards.

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Arizona State University Walter Cronkite Building

555 N. Central Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85004