FAQs about publicity

• How does Cancer Research UK benefit from publicising my family's story?
• What would getting involved with publicity involve?
• Will my number be given out to lots of journalists?
• Does getting involved in publicity mean that I will be featured in the media?
• Will I get to approve anything that is written about me or my child?
• What if there are sensitivities surrounding my child's story?
• Will I get paid for telling my story?

By highlighting the experience of families dealing with cancer, such as yours, we can communicate the impact cancer has on ordinary people. We can add a human interest angle to our work and put our scientific advances into perspective, making our work relevant, compelling and interesting to the widest possible audience.

Being identified by name, town and age, possibly being photographed and/or recorded, speaking about your child's illness and treatment, and discussing your family generally. We recommend that you speak to your family members about this to ensure that everyone is comfortable with sharing your story.

No. We will only pass on your numbers to individual journalists with your express consent. We work closely with journalists and do our best to ensure that they understand the sensitive nature of working with families affected by cancer.

We very much hope that it will, however this is something that we can not guarantee. Sometimes families give interviews and these are not printed or broadcast. This does not mean that you are not special, interesting or that you have not given a good interview; it might be that another major event has happened at the same time. For this reason we are always conscious not to disappoint any of our Little Stars and would ask that families bear this in mind too.

 

We are keen to make sure that anything we write about you is factually correct and is approved by you. We then provide this information to journalists as background about you and your story, however we have no control over what they write. Some journalists will phone you up to read through their ‘copy’, especially if you insist on this as a condition of giving an interview. However, some media outlets are unable to commit to a copy read-through, largely due to very tight deadlines.

If there are any sensitive issues surrounding your family situation, it does not mean that you cannot help with publicity. If you can let us know what your concerns are, we can try to address them and steer any potential focus away from them.

It is unusual for newspaper or broadcast journalists to pay families for telling their story - however some magazines may offer payment. If you are offered money for sharing your story, this is an agreement between you and the media title and not something that we get involved with.