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Ivan, take heart. Karen, our daughter, arranged for she and I to be
interviewed by the Wiscasset weekly the first of this week. The article was
published Friday , April 30.  A good story was written about PD and it's
effect on those afflicted. Like your Biddeford reporter, this reporter
wanted a connection to his reading territory. He used Karen's experience
since being diagnosed less than three years ago. He then went into the
general subject of PD and the group formed last year, the Maine Parkinson
Society.

Turn your anger about lack of media coverage into cultivation of reporters.
Many of the weeklies are looking for news items. They want personal
experience tied to the story of the disease. Once the reporter has done the
story, they quite often become an advocate and will arrange for PD
announcements to be printed. Since the founding of Maine Parkinson Society,
we and Karen in particular have had articles published in the state wide
Maine Times, Lincoln County News in Damariscotta, Business Monthly
published in nine regions of Maine and the Wiscasset weekly. The Lincoln
County News did a comprehensive two issue story. I believe this is more PD
coverage in Maine than there has been for a long time.

This is only a beginning. Cultivation, not anger, is needed to bring
Parkinson's Disease information to the same level as other diseases. One of
these weeklies has run a series of articles weekly, over a year, on cancer.
It is written by a woman with terminal cancer who tells of her struggles
with treatments, medications, her up and down moods, etc. This could work
with Parkinson's , but we need to build respect and confidence in the
media. We have to be careful not to be accused if crying "wolf" without any
real news.

Media coverage is vital , but the bottom line in what the PWP's want is
responsible research by NIH and the national PD organizations.

Harold Jones