About Us

One Voice: Media United Against Drugs (MUAD) is a collaborative effort comprised of four local network affiliate television and radio representatives and substance abuse prevention specialists. This public –private collaborative, created in 1999, recognizes that (a) there is a drug problem in our community, (b) media play an important role in impacting people’s attitudes, perceptions and behavior. Media can advance the prevention message by increasing awareness and helping gain support for prevention policies and (c) describing the problem does not work; prescribing solutions is a more effective approach.

MUAD has created a yearly coordinated television media strategy to “diminish alcohol/ drug use and its consequences for community members living in Lane and other Oregon counties” (mission of MUAD). MUAD has and continues to meet this mission by utilizing television, radio, newspaper, the worldwide web and other information dissemination tools to frequently target the listening and viewing audiences of parents and caregivers with usable and workable tips to enhance their communication skills to increase the chances of keeping children away from drugs.

Here are some outcomes of MUAD’s efforts:

• Since 1999, MUAD has annually organized, produced, co-hosted and aired six hour long, commercial free, road-blocked television prevention specials to provide prescriptive information to thousands of Oregonians in five Oregon counties to prevent, treat and diminish alcohol and drug use and its consequences.
• Since 2000, Media United partners have written and produced more than nine thirty-second television prescriptive prevention PSAs promoting tips on how to talk with children to keep them drug free as well as the efficacy of drug treatment.
• In November 2002, Media United received a 2 nd place national award for its January 2002 television town hall, entitled “Connecting with Kids: What you need to know. The Nancy Dickerson Whitehead award was awarded by the national non-profit organization: Drug Strategies Research Institute. The Nancy Dickerson Whitehead award is the first in the nation to recognize excellence in reporting about drug and alcohol problem.
• During February 2003, Media United’s town hall garnered a 17-rating share, meaning that of all the households watching television between 6-7 PM on that evening, 17% of them were viewing the television town hall.
• In April 2005, Media United Against Drugs Prevention Special was nominated for an Emmy Award!!
• Each prevention special in which a phone number for public contact was provided, averaged 50 telephone callers, most of whom were seeking information and referrals.
• From 2001 – 2004, the www.mediaunited.org website generated on average 400-500 website visits, with the majority of visitors seeking information and referral.
• In 2001, MUAD created a pamphlet about drug prevention, treatment, and enforcement. Over 3,000 pamphlets have been distributed to the general public by the three participating television stations during the summers of 2001-2004.
• Since 1999, Media United has provided hundreds of thousands of in-kind dollars to bring these objectives to Oregonians.

MUAD Members include:
KVAL, KEZI, KMTR, KLSR and KEVU, Lane County, Eugene Area Radio Stations (a consortium of 20 radio stations in Lane County), Internet Marketing Services, LLC., and substance abuse prevention specialists.

If you are interested in forming a Media United Collaboration in your community send us feedback and we will send you “the recipe”.