Three-quarters of a million people clicked on YouTube.com to watch a video of a college student breaking up with his sweetheart on Valentine’s Day. It was a heart-wrenching sight, the young woman caught off guard in front of thousands of students, many wielding video cameras. Though it turned out to be a hoax fabricated by two communications students, the point remains: 750,000 people around the country tuned in within a matter of days.

UUP is hoping to tap into the popularity of Web sites such as YouTube.com by embarking on a “new media project” designed to use the Internet to spread the word that Upstate Medical University in Syracuse is vital to the 15-county community it serves. The project is spearheaded by prwrk, a Virginia-based strategy, media relations and advertising firm, in collaboration with the union’s Communications and Legislation departments.

“The threats against Upstate Medical University are urgent, and UUP will do everything in its power to get the governor to see that privatizing Upstate is detrimental to the communities it serves,” UUP President William Scheuerman said. “This is one battle we must win.”

During a recent meeting of chapter presidents and vice presidents, John Rohrbach of prwrk outlined the “basic tools” to be used in the multimedia campaign. Rohrbach is an experienced Internet director for political and issue campaigns.

‘New media’ campaign

As The Voice went to press, prwrk had begun production of a video of a firefighter who is concerned that Upstate’s Clark Burn Center will be closed if the hospital is privatized, and of a parent whose child received life-saving treatment at one of the clinics.

“We want the people of central New York to realize — and reiterate — that they are getting the wrong end of the stick if Upstate Medical University is privatized, and that they’re willing to fight back,” Rohrbach said.

The streaming video will be distributed via e-mail to members of UUP, NYSUT, the AFT and the AFL-CIO. The e-mail includes a link to fax a letter to Gov. Spitzer, urging him to “take a detailed look at the implications of the changes (outlined in the Berger Commission report) … and amend them before they cause irreparable harm.” The same letter is available from the UUP Web site at www.uupinfo.org. Look for the “Call to Action” link on the home page to send a computer fax to the governor.

“Once our members and allies have been alerted by e-mail, we’ll encourage a viral campaign, where we ask recipients to forward the e-mail to family, friends, neighbors and colleagues,” Rohrbach said.

In addition, prwrk will place banner ads on relevant health care Web sites and adjacent to related online newspaper articles, with the hope of generating an additional 300,000 e-mails.

The video is available on the UUP Web site at www.uupinfo.org.

Traditional campaign

Meanwhile, UUP hasn’t given up on traditional advertising.

As The Voice went to press, the union was putting the final touches on a

30-second television spot to run in Albany and central New York.

The ad urges the governor to do the right thing and keep Upstate Medical University Hospital within SUNY in order to preserve its vital public health mission.

The ad states: “The state wants to take University Hospital in Syracuse out of SUNY. That would jeopardize your health care. You could lose the regional trauma center, the stroke center, the Clark Burn Center. … New York could lose affordable medical education. … University Hospital is also the area’s largest employer.

“Tell the governor to keep University Hospital part of SUNY, your public university. Don’t let the state pull the plug on your public hospital.”

— Karen L. Mattison