Learning to shape the media agenda in Ethiopia
The speaker’s face wore a pained expression. “How do we get coverage for our ‘good news’ development stories?”
It’s the $64 million question and there’s no easy answer. How do you get your message to ring above the digital noise in a world where everyone is a content producer and people’s attention spans are short and fickle?
One thing is for sure: if you don’t produce professional, engaging content, you will struggle to make a mark. That’s a serious problem because visibility is no longer a nice-to-have. It’s a must-have that can have concrete financial implications for NGOs and charities.
I was asked the above question at a media and communications workshop that photographer Karel Prinsloo and I ran for staff of the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia last December on behalf of Arete.
Our aim was to enable the 18 participants — from across east Africa — to produce compelling, focused multimedia content to inform and engage the public and increase the visibility of FAO’s mission to end hunger.
Over two days, we instructed the participants on topics ranging from storytelling to photography, press releases to social media, and from interview techniques to issues of consent and ethics.
But before any of that, we talked about purpose. It may seem an amorphous concept but it is critical. What do you do? What is your ultimate goal? Once you nail it down, this purpose must be reflected across all communications, both internal and external.
We asked the participants to describe their mission in one sentence. It’s a simple idea but you might be surprised how tricky it can be. Once you’ve boiled your mission down to its core purpose, you can make sure that everything you produce drives you towards that goal by raising awareness, mobilizing support and ultimately attracting donors.
One of the most effective ways of getting a message out is by telling a story. Since the dawn of time, stories have been used to transmit values and knowledge. Stories establish trust and engage emotions, helping to build communities and enabling people to make sense of the world. This is why stories are so effective as a communications tool.
But producing a compelling, engaging story, which reflects your organisation’s purpose, is a skill and one that all too often we take for granted.
The good news is that this skill can be acquired. You can learn how to craft a perfect first paragraph, how to write a newsy press release, and how to grab your audience’s attention with a photo-story that brings your work, and the people you help, to life. You can learn how to produce a short video that will take your audience on a fascinating and ultimately uplifting journey.
Karel used fascinating stories from the Arete archives to outline the five different types of photographs needed to tell a complete story. He showed how to get the best shot and how to use available light.
The enthused participants were then divided into groups and instructed to take five pictures to illustrate the workshop, the nearby kitchen and the catering staff cleaning up after lunch. Karel provided feedback on all the photos, reinforcing the message that a variety of pictures are needed to tell a full story.
I believe in learning by doing so the participants were also asked to rewrite a press release and work on a “success story” to illustrate FAO’s work. In a section on case studies, I assumed the identity of a displaced pastoralist and participants were asked to question me as they would if they met me during a field trip. The exercise was designed to encourage them to go beyond standard questions to capture the individual, unique elements that will bring characters to life.
One of the best things about the workshop was the lively discussion. Participants shared their own media experiences, they brainstormed problems they had encountered and offered each other advice. That’s what communications is all about, after all.
Our aim at Arete is to give communications staff the tools they need to make the most of the massive opportunities available in this digital world. The plethora of social media sites, websites and digital news outlets means that getting your message out is, in some ways, easier than ever. With the right content, you can and should shape the agenda.
Content is still king and knowing how to successfully translate your organisation’s successes into compelling stories, whether that be through photographs, video or text, is of paramount importance. We are all storytellers. It’s simply a question of learning the best way to tell your best story.
Arete can provide bespoke workshops for your organisation, tailored to your needs and objectives. If you’d like to discuss a workshop idea with us, just drop us an email.
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