Greg,
I am just starting to go down the same road that you are with the media, so I thought we could share ideas. My mother passed away last week from SCLC, so now I'm refocusing my energy from her to getting the word out on lung cancer.
Since ALCASE did not list Wisconsin as a state that recognized Lung Cancer Awareness Month, we wrote our governor. He signed the proclamation and sent copies to my family. However, that isn't even half the battle since no one knows about it. The trick now is getting the word out through the media.
My thought is to take the opposite approach that you did. Reporters, newspapers, TV, etc are looking for "stories." I think if you personalize it, show how it affects a person, a family, a community, someone may grab on to it and do a story. Even if you know of a local "celebrity" that has dealt with lung cancer in some form or fashion.
Plus, I plan on focusing on the fact that our governor signed the proclamation recently.
I'm hoping to get the word out here as well, so I'm interested to hear any thoughts, others that have been successful etc.