Top 10 Ways to Improve Social Work Portrayals in the Entertainment Media

1. Post a comment on SocialWorkersSpeak.org. With hundreds of hours of broadcast programming and thousands of print publications available, NASW staff can’t see/hear/read everything that affects the profession. But 600,000 media-aware social workers can help keep us informed.
2. Recommend a show, film or news outlet you think we should follow. Send your ideas through the Feedback Page or upload them to the Media Watch section.  If you are a fan of a program, please provide additional context for your comments.
3. Agree to be interviewed for a SWS.org story that relates to your expertise area. We try to include perspectives of at least three social work experts in each feature.
4. Tell us who you know.  Social workers often travel in interesting circles. For example, one NASW member is an aunt to the producer of a hot daytime talk show. Others have consulted on popular TV dramas, produced films, and have media personalities on their non-profit boards. Please tell your contacts about the SWS.org site and let NASW know if they are interested in promoting social work.
5. Attend or coordinate free screenings of socially important movies and TV programs.  Studios, networks and stations like to engage viewers early in creating buzz for their projects, and often want to connect people with local resources.  NASW can help you contact the public relations or marketing departments of media production companies to request information about advanced screenings.
6. Write a letter or e-mail to a producer, reporter or blogger.  In the news media, writing a letter to the editor may get your opinions read by thousands of other readers. But sometimes, correspondence directed solely to the person you would like to commend or correct is just as powerful—and may create a future ally.
7. Regularly watch, read, and listen to the media content you are evaluating.  Comment on how the depiction of social work (or a social issue) in a creative project enhances or detracts from their work, not just the profession’s image.
8. Suggest story ideas to media people that help them entertain or inform audiences. Remember that the first priority of most television shows, books, movies and music is to entertain, although many of them want to be accurate as well.
9. Direct interested media to standard social work tools such as the NASW Code of  Ethics, NASW News, SocialWorkers.org and HelpStartsHere.org
10. Say you are a social worker. Requiring acknowledgement as a social worker when you are credited as an expert increases public awareness of the profession.