How to use modern media in campaigns against discrimination, intolerance, racism and xenophobia

1
How to use modern media in campaigns against
discrimination, intolerance, racism and xenophobia

• Dr. Rosen Petkov, SCAS
• www.scas.acad.bg

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What is a Campaign?

• Some of the more useful definitions are as
  follows
• Campaigning is speaking up, drawing a communitys
  attention to an important issue, and directing
  decision-makers towards a solution.
• Campaigning involves putting a problem on the
  agenda, providing a solution to that problem and
  building support for action to solve the problem.
  
• Campaigns can involve many specific, short-term
  activities to reach a long-term vision of change.
  
• A campaign is a series of actions directed at
  changing the policies, positions or programmes of
  any type of institution.
• Campaigning involves working with other people
  and organisations to make a difference.
• Campaigning consists of differing strategies
  aimed at change at the local, provincial,
  national and/or international levels.

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Types of Campaigns

• Mobilising and involving people for example,
  anti-crime campaigns or the polio campaign
• Presurising decision makers for example,
  marches to councils / police stations demanding
  national or global action.
• Informing and educating the public for example,
  voter education campaigns
• Changing behaviour and attitudes for example,
  HIV/AIDS campaigns such as the TAC campaign
  detailed at the end of this section.
• And finally, campaigns that build a positive
  image for an organisation or a brand for
  example, the campaign to market South Africa as a
  tourism destination.

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Campaign Tools

• Using the Media
• Building networks and coalitions
• Advocacy and lobbying government
• Direct Action
• Action Research
• Using Formal Political Processes
• Using the Law

5
Using the media

• Once you have done your research and analysis,
  you have to develop a clear communications
  strategy.
• Communication is at the centre of any campaign
  strategy.
• A successful organisation and campaign needs to
  build a profile to which people can relate. A
  good communications strategy will ensure that the
  right information reaches your target audiences
  (supporters, decision-makers, opponents, public)
  both inside and outside the campaign.
• Media is the most common tool supporting any
  communication strategy.

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How to develop a campaign and communication
strategy

• Your communication strategy should include the
  following elements
• Identify the key message themes that you want to
  communicate to your target audience.
• Develop a communications strategy to get your
  message across to the audience.
• Develop a slogan and a media design identity like
  a logo.
• Draw up a media plan with budgets and
  time-frames.
• Develop a public relations plan.
• Develop a campaign and training strategy that
  focuses on
• Reaching and mobilising your target audience
• Training and developing capacity among the key
  players in your organisation who have to
  implement the campaign.

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Critical success factors

• Understanding media bias to create stories and
  hold events that are tailored to specific media
  interests.
• Follow up all stories and interviews. All media
  is under-funded and almost no media outlet has
  the time and resources to investigate all the
  news it needs or wants to cover.
• Build personal relationships with as many media
  outlets as possible. Trust and relationships are
  crucial to working with the media. Give them
  reliable and good information?
• Provide clear simple information to minimize the
  risk of your message being diluted. Most media
  forms require simple, clear messages.
• Tell stories. Be sure to translate your
  information into something that is understandable
  to the general public.

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Example 1

• A human story about tuberculosis
• Fact 11 million children under five die each
  year of preventable illnesses.
• Translate it to story ?

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Example 1

• Story Virgilio lives in East Timor. He is two
  and has tuberculosis. Tuberculosis is one of the
  major public health problems faced by people in
  East Timor. Around 500 people in every 100 000
  are infected, with 4 000 new cases per year. In
  England, Wales and Ireland there are only 12
  cases per 100 000. (Source information fact
  file)

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Example 1

• Provide a story that has drama.
• As far as possible, try to plan media events to
  occur when there is no other major event likely
  to dominate the news.
• Always be responsive to the media. There is no
  such thing as no comment.
• Follow up on media coverage. If reporting is
  inaccurate, respectfully call the reporter and
  correct the information.
• Be creative. The media likes something
  interesting.

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Media actions

• Press releases
• Media alerts
• Media events or conferences
• Go-and-see trips
• Photography
• Websites
• Email messaging
• Cell phone messaging
• Community meetings
• Goodwill ambassadors

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Advantages and disadvantages of different media-
example

• Display media posters, calendars, wall charts,
  etc
• Advantages
• popular, visualz
• longevity, public relations potential
• Disadvantages
• limited space for information
• audience must be able to read and understand the
  language

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Advantages and disadvantages of different media-
example

• Mass electronic media radio, television
• Advantages Disadvantages
• direct
• reach large audiences
• accessible
• Disadvantages
• require production skills
• time-bound
• can send mixed message

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Modern media usage examples

• SMS technology in the Philippines
• In January 2001, thousands of Filipinos, unhappy
  with their corrupt government, took to the
  streets to demonstrate against President Joseph
  Estrada, ultimately forcing him to resign.
• Mobile phones played a key role in stimulating
  and organising the protests using not voice
  communications, but short text messages (SMSs)
  sent from one phone to another, or from one phone
  to many others. First they were used to send
  political jokes later they spread the word on
  where demonstrations were being held.

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Modern media usage examples

• Using email lists to work together
• Email is the simplest and most readily available
  form of online communication. A mailing list is
  an automatic message-sending programme that
  stores a list of email addresses for all the
  people who need to be linked into the campaign.
  In order for the list to work effectively, the
  people on it must all have a common purpose and
  be committed to using email regularly, and it
  must have a facilitator who is responsible for
  updating everyone.

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Some concrete modern media tools for campaigns

• Bulk Email Software Mass Mailer
• Blogs, discussion forums
• SMS
• Easy to communicate tools directories with
  phones, e-mail addresses of specific target
  groups
• E-voting tools
• E-games
• Building digital communities

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Some sensitive issues related to using modern
media against discrimination, xenophobia,
tolerance

• access of disadvantaged people
• Language barriers
• skills to use the media
• confidence to use new media
• abilities to access (of disabled people)