Save the Date: Advocacy Evaluation Breakfast on April 25th, 8:15-9:45AM
So we’re back, folks, with another heavily caffeinated breakfast discussion on advocacy evaluation. On April 25th, Kimberly Scott of the Institute of Medicine (IOM), Serra Sippel of the Center for Health and Gender Equity, and Shira Saperstein of the Moriah Fund will join us at The Aspen Institute to chat about IOM’s fresh-off-the-press Evaluation of PEPFAR, including the role of advocacy in influencing policy changes. RSVP here by the 23rd and we’ll save you a croissant. A really yummy croissant.
Looking Backward at Fear
This week, The American Independent encouraged us to grapple with a particularly ugly episode in recent US history: the debates around the criminalization of HIV-transmission during the 1980s. Understanding why events unfolded the way they did, and the critical factors shaping decision-makers, can inform ongoing activism on the issue. After reading this piece, check out the editorial team’s statement on “impact journalism.” Oh yes, as ProPublica outlines in its latest white paper, journalism can have a deliberate and measurable impact.
Dirty Language
The Associated Press has just eliminated “illegal immigrant”—and, more broadly, the use of “illegal” to describe a human being—from its Stylebook. The AP Executive Editor presents the decision as a result of a natural evolution on appropriate terminology; Slate’s David Weigel, however, disagrees. He credits the advocacy of several folks, including journalists like Jose Antonio Vargas, with increasing the pressure. From where we stand, it’s hard to judge either way, though these days very few people live in caves.
