Croakey Health Media is a not-for-profit public interest journalism organisation with a focus on health equity and the wider determinants of health. These are challenging times for independent media, and we are reaching out for your support.
Our commercial arm, Croakey Professional Services, offers a range of professional services and also helps fund our public interest journalism activities. Below are eight ways you can engage with these services, and we are happy to discuss other ideas too.
For more information, contact Chief Operating Officer David Morgan.
1. Sponsored content
Sponsored content is published at the Croakey homepage and also appears in the weekly news bulletin, which is widely read by leaders in the health, community and research sectors.
Most federal, state and territory politicians also receive the weekly Croakey news bulletin. Sponsored content articles are also disseminated across Croakey’ social media channels.
Sponsored content can be produced in either of two ways:
- members of the Croakey Professional Services team research, write and edit the articles under the direction of the sponsoring organisation
- the sponsoring organisation provides the article to Croakey for editing and publication, working in consultation with the relevant Croakey editor.
All sponsored content articles are clearly badged as such, so they are clearly distinguished from independent editorial content.
Examples of sponsored content articles include:
- the #KidneyCareTogether series, sponsored by the Adelaide-based Aboriginal Kidney Care Together – Improving Outcomes Now (AKction) project
- the #SaferCare series, sponsored by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care
- the #NHLF series profiling Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workforce matters, sponsored by the National Health Leadership Forum
- the Indigenous Knowledge Translation series, sponsored by the Lowitja Institute
- the #CATSINaM25Years series, sponsored by the Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives.
This service is not available for organisations or products that do not align with Croakey’s mission.
2. Advertising
By advertising with Croakey, you or your organisation can reach our informed, influential audience.
Advertising is available:
- on our website
- in our weekly email news bulletin (reaching hundreds of leading health, social and research organisations and most Australian MPs)
- via Twitter and other social media channels. Followers include national and global health leaders.
Our team of skilled copywriters and designers can assist with producing your advertisement.
Download our advertising rate card here.
3. Writing and editing
Croakey Professional Services works with experienced journalists, authors, content specialists and editors. We can assist with writing and/or editing reports, articles and other projects, large and small. We also draft social media content and health communications materials.
4. Workshops
We provide workshops tailored to the needs of individuals and organisations. Some options are outlined below:
- writing for different audiences
- editing
- advocacy
- using social media for advocacy
- research dissemination
- community engagement
- policy impact
- strategic development
- professional development
- graphic design
- introductory and advanced skills development in Twitter impact.
5. Graphic design services
Croakey Professional Services offers design expertise that can assist with:
- presentations
- reports and documents
- memes
- graphics
- illustrations
- advertisements
- website design.
6. Mentoring programs
Members of our team can provide tailored mentoring programs for individuals and organisations.
Mentoring can support professional development in:
- writing skills
- communications
- designing documents
- social media engagement.
7. Tailored webinars
Croakey Professional Services can:
- organise webinars including identifying and recruiting speakers and developing a program
- host webinars via Zoom
- provide MC services
- provide a report on webinar discussions and outcomes.
8. Research dissemination and translation
We provide a range of services for researchers, research organisations and associated entities. Our services fall under two categories: independent public interest journalism and Croakey Professional Services. Packages are tailored to suit the needs of individuals and organisations.
Our services assist researchers and research organisations with:
- research dissemination and impact
- developing collaborations and partnerships
- skills development
- demonstrating leadership
- creating change.
Embedded public interest journalism
In addition to the options outlined above, Croakey Health Media has developed an innovative concept for embedding public interest journalism into research projects.
This involves a public interest journalism team being embedded into research projects as an independent discipline, preferably from the grant-writing stage. In this model, editorial control rests with Croakey working to an MoU with the research team governing ethics, processes and research integrity.
Outcomes include independent journalism about the research and related contexts.
A team from Croakey Health Media works on the project, taking on different roles throughout its life; for example, as writers, designers and editors (with works of journalism potentially including articles, video, photographs, images, publications and other content), as social media contributors, and as co-authors of academic articles.
The benefit of having a number of the Croakey Health Media team involved is that we all bring different skills and experiences to the work that will value add to the outcomes.
Croakey.org is the media publishing partner, publishing the related works of journalism. These are also available for publishing on the project website and newsletters etc, and Croakey works proactively to co-publish with other media partners to increase the impact of related works of journalism.
As well as producing works of independent public interest journalism, this model:
- develops new knowledge about the theory and practice of research translation and impact
- develops new knowledge about the theory and practice of social journalism and public interest journalism
- assists the research team to develop new knowledge
- provides significant works of journalism on matters of public interest relating to the research context, questions and outcomes
- contributes usefully to research processes and outcomes while maintaining editorial independence and research integrity
- develops new models to sustain public interest journalism at a time of crisis.
This model is NOT providing public relations or communications services.
In action
Examples of Croakey Professional Services projects include:
- a year-long campaign supporting the 25-year anniversary of the Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives. See here.
- writing and editing services for a book, ‘Minum Barreng: The Story of the Indigenous Eye Health Unit’, published by Melbourne University Press in 2022. See here.
For more information
Contact Chief Operating Officer David Morgan.
Also read: We are asking for your support. Here are 15 ways to help sustain healthy journalism
