STUDENT NAME, Public Relation Coordinator
Beyond Blue
Address:
Telephone: FAKE NUMBER
Email Address: [email protected] (fictious)
For Immediate Release
BEYOND BLUE IS NOW HOSTING AN EVENT ON PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH
ON CREATING AWARENESS TO PROMOTE “BIG BLUE TABLE”
(MELBOURNE, 13 July)- “Elevate Your Mind, Elevate Your Life.” This perfectly expresses
the purpose of the upcoming psychological health event being organised by Beyond Blue to
be held at 10th October between 10.00am to 4.00pm at Federation Square, Melbourne, aiming
to create awareness about mental health and breaking stigma surrounding with mental health
and promote “Big Blue Table 2024” campaign event. This campaign event can take place in
office, kitchen, picnic in the park during the month of October. This event is designed to
motivate host meals with guests and create a safe space for expressing themselves about their
mental health anytime, anywhere.
The aim of the psychological health event is to call for insights from various mental health
professionals and advocates of psychological well-being by offering scope of interactive
session and talks on various methods of caring for mental health using resilience, stress
management and mindfulness. The event is aimed at mobilising community efforts towards
promotion of mental health awareness and reducing stigma associated with mental health
issues. The event has been approved by the Council of City of Melbourne and aligns with the
broader goals of fostering a healthy and supportive community environment.
“BeyondBlue’s mission is to ensure that all people in Australia achieve their best possible
mental health and collaborate with community to improve mental health and make it easier
for people to feel better earlier, get well and stay well.” The mission and values which echoes
in the words of Ken Wyatt, Board of Directors and Lana Burton, Head of Brand and
Marketing.
Big Blue Table 2024 is more than just an event involving enjoying time with people and food,
it is a progressive movement towards creation of psychological healthier community and
future in Australia. By sharing personal experiences and stories and gaining professional
insights, we hope to inspire individuals to engage in collective actions and understanding,
“Join Big Blue Table and raise funds and awareness for mental health. We’re inviting you to
fight the stigma of mental health — one meal at a time.”
Join Us in the efforts towards mental health awareness, creating community support and
creating a psychological safe place for everyone around us. Let us work together and “elevate
our mind and lives”, paving way for a more compassionate, understanding, and informed
society for now and forever.
For more information about the event, please contact STUDENT NAME at Beyond Blue at:
NUMBER or via Email: < https://www.beyondblue.org.au/about/contact-us > or official
website: for more details.
Rationale
The media release centers around Beyond Blue's responsibility towards raising awareness
about mental health and breaking the stigma surrounding it through the "Big Blue Table
2024" initiative. Promoting mental health awareness through media outreach and public
events is one of Beyond Blue's central policy objectives (Beyond Blue, 2024) The title of the
media release – 'Elevate Your Mind, Elevate Your Life' – underscores the importance of
mental health and aims to mobilize community efforts to promote mental health awareness.
Aligned with the arguments of Hallahan (1999; p. 207), my news release involves valence
framing wherein the issue of mental health is being presented in a specific light to create
sense of exigence in the society, suggesting mental health issues are not receiving adequate
attention and backing in society. In this rhetorical converse (Shen & Bigsby, 2013), my media
release calls for a proactive attitude from the community and stakeholders. Accordingly, this
is a combination of modern and conventional rhetorical situation, which triggers a specific
discussion on the issue being highlighted in “the news release.”
As per Mahoney (2017), it is through framing can a reporter or journalist identify how and
which new piece must be highlighted. This is a crucial aspect of mass media. Persuasive
correspondents emphasise on framing actions to achieve agreement with anticipated goals.
My media release, as such, corresponds with assertion of Hallahan’s (1999, p. 219) and uses
“responsibility framing”, which aims to influence public view on mental health. Most of all,
it highlights the concept of “sense of duty.” At a time when mental health issues are
becoming increasingly prevalent, my media release contends that society has an obligation to
both individuals facing mental health challenges and to the community at large to foster a
supportive environment.
My media release similarly draws upon Eggensperger & Salvatore (2022) assertion that
emotional appeals as well as publicly accessible testimonies can effectively influence and
convince the readers and audiences. Specifically, it highlights the fact that a significant
portion of the population experiences mental health issues, thereby proving a personal
association with the audience. Simultaneously, my media release uses evocative phrases
(Malone, 2024), such as “breaking stigma” and “creating a safe space,” to convey the
seriousness of mental health issues and the need for collective action to address them.
This news release is targeting The Age. Stiff & Mongeau (2016) maintains that messages
from high-credibility sources are assessed and accepted more positively by the readers. There
is no question that The Age along with The Sydney Morning Herald is widely reputed
newspaper, having a substantial readership. Given that Melbourne is a major city with a
diverse population, the media release will likely gather more public footing if it is published
in a prominent newspaper from this territory. Additionally, The Age has formerly covered
topics related to mental health and community support, indicating that it is an excellent media
outlet for Beyond Blue to publish its media release about the upcoming psychological health
event.
The correspondent pursued to publish my media release is Sarah Berry. She is a senior
reporter/journalist for The Age and published various articles on mental health awareness and
community health initiatives. Most recently, she reported on various mental health campaigns
and has, thus, spent considerable time investigating and studying issues related to mental
health. In short, Sarah Berr would be an ideal reporter to write about Beyond Blue's initiative
and the importance of promoting mental health awareness through the "Big Blue Table 2024"
event.
References
BeyondBlue. (2024).MBig Blue Table 2024. Www.beyondblue.org.au.
https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-involved/events/big-blue-table
Eggensperger, J., & Salvatore, J. (2022).MStrategic Public Relations Writing. Taylor &
Francis.
Hallahan, K. (1999). Seven Models of Framing: Implications for Public Relations.MJournal of
Public Relations Research,M11(3), 205–242. https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532754xjprr1103_02
Mahoney, J.S. (2017),MPublic Relations Writing, 3rd edn,M Oxford University Press,
Melbourne.M(Chapters 1, 2, & 3)
Mahoney, J.S. (2017),Public Relations Writing, 3rd edn,M Oxford University
Press,MMelbourne.M(Chapters 5 & 6)
Malone, M. S. (2024).MThe Craft of Professional Writing, Second Edition. Anthem Press.
Melbourne.vic.gov.au. (2024).MAbout Council - City of Melbourne.
Www.melbourne.vic.gov.au. https://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/about-council/Pages/about-
council.aspx
Shen, L. & Bigsby, E. (2013,) 'The effects of message features', inMThe SAGE Handbook of
Persuasion: Developments in Theory and Practice, eds J.P. Dillard & L. Shen,M2nd edn,
SAGE, California, pp.M20-35.
Stiff, J. B., & Mongeau, P. A. (2016).MPersuasive communication.MGuilford.
