Mission and Vision


The mission of the Council on Communications and Media is to ensure that children, families, and the pediatricians who care for them, have the knowledge and tools to make informed, health-promoting choices regarding the communication of messages to or about children through media, health education, and other sources.

The Council will achieve this mission by serving, energizing, and organizing AAP Members for effective advocacy, education, research, policy development, and dissemination.

Vision: Children and families will be better prepared to balance the messages they receive so they can make choices that promote health and well-being. Pediatricians will accomplish this through their clinical practices, while also advancing pediatrics as spokespeople for the Academy and by becoming better medical communicators.

Goal Statements: In an effort to achieve its mission and vision, the Council on Communications and Media will focus its efforts in three overarching areas:

  1. Service to members and education
  2. Public education
  3. Policy development and implementation

Value Statements:

  • Media can transmit anti- or pro-social messages.
  • Exposure to all media is an expected event for all children.
  • Children learn what they live and they live in two worlds: the non-screen and the screen world.
  • Excessive screen time displaces children from a myriad of real-life experiences that better promote emotional, social, physical, and cognitive development.
  • Children are impacted by their environment. Although they are vulnerable to media messages, they are inherently resilient.
  • Family time and communication within the family are essential elements of child health, growth, and development.
  • Children live up to or down to the expectations set for them.
  • The Council will to seek to call attention through education and advocacy to the negative influences and promote the positive influences of media.
  • As a trusted source of health information pediatricians must be part of this process.
  • Pediatricians serve their patients by using all modes of media to communicate with families, the public, and legislators, and are best prepared to do so by being trained in communication skills.
  • A diverse group of media trained spokespeople advances child health
  • The Council supports pediatricians who work as authors or print or broadcast journalists.
  • Council Member participation in all phases of media policy development and propagation increases the AAP's effectiveness.

This Council Serves:

  • Children and Families
  • Pediatricians/Members at all stages, from residency on

Educational Programs

COCM has created a number of exciting educational projects for AAP Members interested in media issues. As experts in media related issues, we strive to develop educational programs to benefit all AAP Members interested in media issues. By doing so, we hope to continue to amplify the voice of the Academy nationally and locally and help pediatricians be more skillful in dealing with the media on all levels.

Recorded webinar now available! Pediatricians' Newest Battle: Combating Food and Beverage Marketing in the Digital Era 

Hosted by the PSOOb and Council on Communications and Media.  Joy Spencer from the Center for Digital Democracy and Don Shifrin, MD, FAAP, discussed how food and beverage marketers are using cutting edge digital techniques to target children and adolescents for products linked to the youth obesity crisis, strategies for counseling at the point of care, and various advocacy opportunities.

 

Educational programs we've presented at previous NCEs:

STRATEGIES FOR VACCINE NEWS STORIES - SAN FRANCISCO -10/22/01 An unlisted program promoted only through our email list that attracted 50 people.

CHILDHOOD INJURY: COMMUNICATING THE COMPLEXITY WITH SOUND BITES - BOSTON - 10/22/02 A collaborative program between SOM and the Section on Injury and Poison Prevention, unlisted in the program as the SOM had no official status at that time

ADVERTISING AND CHILDREN - NEW ORLEANS - 11/1/03 A two hour session featuring Jean Kilbourne.

MEET THE PRESS: MEDIA TRAINING FOR PEDIATRICIANS - SAN FRANCISCO - 10/10/04A media training program designed for the growing journalistic and media needs of pediatricians

SEX, DRUGS AND VIOLENCE: IMPACT OF THE MEDIA ON CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS - WASHINGTON - 10/9/05 A collaborative program with the Section on Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics and the Council on Community Pediatrics.

KIDS FOR SALE; JUNK FOOD AND ADVERTISING IN SCHOOLS - ATLANTA - 10/8/06 A collaborative program in conjunction with the Section on School Health.

GRAND THEFT AUTO TO MYSPACE.COM; THE DANGERS AND PLEASURES OF VIDEOGAMES AND THE INTERNET - TECHNOLOGY IN PERSPECTIVE - SAN FRANCISCO 10/27/07 A collaborative program in conjunction with the Council on Clinical Information Technology.

COMMUNICATING YOUR PEDIATRIC AND SCHOOL HEALTH ISSUES - SAN FRANCISCO 10/29/07  A collaborative program in conjunction with the Council on Schoool Health and the AAP Department of Communications.

MEDIA LITERACY CAN SAVE KIDS AND OUR NATION: HOW PEDIATRICIANS CAN PROTECT CHILDREN FROM HARMFUL EFFECTS OF MEDIA AND HELP CREATE HEALTHY, ACTIVE CITIZENS - BOSTON 10/11/08   A special presentation by Bob McCannon, founder of the New Mexico Media Literacy Project and recipient of the 2008 Holroyd/Sherry Award.

WHERE THE RUBBER MEETS THE ROAD; CHILDREN, MEDIA, & THE FIRST AMENDMENT – WASHINGTON – 10/18/09 A panel discussion on what options are available for regulating media to decrease any adverse impact on children

HOLLYWOOD AND ITS IMPACT ON BODY SELF-IMAGE: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY - SAN FRANCISCO 10/3/10 A session with a famous Hollywood actress and a world-class photographer, showing how make-up and photography can make nearly anyone look glamorous.

CAN PEDIATRICIANS INFLUENCE THE MEDIA/COMMUNICATING SCIENCE TO THE PUBLIC - BOSTON 10/16/11  Three current and controversial topics – vaccines, obesity in children, and smoking in movies – and what the AAP can and should be doing about them Three current and controversial topics – vaccines, obesity in children, and smoking in movies – and what the AAP can and should be doing about them.

Future Programs:

New Orleans LA 2012

SOCIAL MEDIA: THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY - New Orleans, LA 2012
As social media come to dominate electronic communications, these new formats present pediatricians and their patients with unprecedented opportunities and unique risks. Yet pediatricians may feel unsure of how to best utilize these tools or how to provide patients with focused, effective, evidence-based counseling. Nationally recognized experts Dr. Wendy Sue Swanson, Dr. Gwenn Schurgin O'Keeffe, and Ed Donnerstein, PhD, take attendees on guided tour of the fast-changing landscape of social media. Blogger Wendy Sue Swanson explains how social media can amplify your health messages and help patients engage actively with your practice. Groundbreaking media, sex, and violence expert Ed Donnerstein, PhD, discusses the dangers that social media pose to children and adolescents. Cybersafe author and blogger Dr. Gwenn Schurgin O'Keeffe discusses how pediatricians can quickly and effectively help families get the most out of their social media experience while minimizing the risks.