Radio is the administration’s weapon to sell the Affordable Care Act.
The Obama administration officials have been doing radio interviews to drive up enrollment on HealthCare.gov, according to Yahoo News. That’s despite the hype surrounding social media as an outreach tool.
Valerie Jarrett, senior advisor to President Obama, participated in more than 80 radio interviews over the past week and some of the DJs didn’t have health insurance before the advent of the Affordable Care Act, but have now signed up, according to Yahoo. More than 6 million have enrolled so far.
At last count, top administration officials had done more than 300 radio interviews on the topic, including some with top show hosts like Ryan Seacrest, Steve Harvey and Joe Madison.
Public radio stations are being called as well, including Iowa Public Radio and NPR Alaska, reports Yahoo.
What is radio’s appeal? They like their drive-time station choice and “tend to trust it more than the bewildering array of news sources online or on television,” according to the account. “And several strategists underlined that radio hosts are better than their cable TV news colleagues about letting a guest say what they want to say.”
Ben LaBolt, national press secretary for Obama’s 2012 campaign, says radio is a necessary part of any robust, comprehensive outreach.
