In 2014, Physicians for Human Rights launched an interactive map tracking attacks on medical personnel and facilities in Syria. I was responsible for all aspects of the media campaign, including messaging, writing and issuing a press release, identifying media targets, and pitching news and editorial stories, op-eds and other pieces.

Coverage included the Associated Press, BBC, BuzzFeed, the Daily Star (Beirut), Global Post, the Guardian (stories here and here), The Lancet, La Presse (Montreal), Nature Middle East, The New York Times, Science Magazine, Syria Deeply, The Toronto Star and The Washington Post. On the editorial side, we got a mention in this New York Times editorial. PHR staff appeared on the Takeaway and Voice of America radio programs and two Al Jazeera shows (story link here). CNN International’s Christiane Amanpour referred to the report on her show (transcript), and one of our staffers appeared on another CNNI show.

In subsequent weeks and months, we continued to generate steady media coverage, with many of these and additional outlets regularly citing information from our map. These included Al Arabiya, Al Jazeera America, Christian Science Monitor, the Daily Star, the Dish, Le Figaro, Foreign Policy, Global Post, The Lancet, the Lancet Global Health blog, Newsweek, The New York Times (letters, opinion, graphics and news), NPR, Reuters/Yahoo, Think Progress, Voice of America, and the Wall Street Journal. We became widely viewed as the main source of information on these attacks.