COMMUNICATION VALUES

Poverty exploitation has been defined as "any type of media, be it written, photographed or filmed, which exploits the poor’s condition in order to generate the necessary sympathy for selling newspapers or increasing charitable donations or support for a given cause.” The next slide includes examples of the kind of ‘Poverty Exploitation' imagery and language that in the last few decades has been used in the UK. Do you recognise it? Have you seen it in communications?

Do you recognise these types of images? Have you seen it in around?

What are some of the issues in using DISCUSSION: What are some of the issues in using this kind of imagery and language? Discussion: What are some of the issues in using this kind of imagery and language? In terms of international development charities, they’ve historically build fundraising propositions around poverty porn style framing, the notion that £2 can save a child’s life, the situation is always emergency life & death, very disempowering language and imagery, and the giving act is framed as producing instant, life-saving results. The reality of what charities do and the results they deliver is completely different. Nobody in the UK is talking to supporters as a partner, as an integral part of the organisation and therefore privy to its triumphs, uncertainties, long term plans, daily grinds, mistakes and learnings. In the US this is starting to happen…. Here are two really innovative examples…  

We’re trying to move to a new style. Example: In poor countries, millions of children still miss out on the opportunity to go to school and learn. We can make a difference by training teachers in the poorest parts of the world, saving children from ignorance and poverty. With a helping hand, communities in the poorest parts of the world are taking control of their own futures. Through education and hard work, women and girls are able to reach their full potential and improve life for themselves and their families. Tash to read out

We’re trying to move to a new style. Example: Without an education, Alice will be trapped in poverty just like her mother and father. Every day she is forced to walk two hours to and from school. Alice walks two hours to school every day because she is determined to get an education and achieve a better future for herself and her family. Tash to read out. All this thinking has helped inform our communications values which underpin all the work we are producing

ADD INTERNATIONAL’S COMMUNICATION VALUES

Be a channel for direct communications. Wherever possible our communications will highlight directly the voices, experiences and perspectives of disabled people in their own words via written, audio, photographic, video and social media. We want disabled people to tell their own stories in their own words. They are the heroes of our work, not ADD International.

Show the independence of disabled people. We will represent disabled people as active agents over their own development with the desire and the potential to take control over their own destinies.

Be honest and accurate. Our communications will avoid exaggeration and seek to present an accurate picture of the issues facing disabled people based on their guidance. We will be open about complex or hard hitting issues; we will strive for accuracy in story details and clearly communicate our intervention.

Explain causes and consequences of poverty. We will contextualise our communications and focus on the causes of poverty not the symptoms. We will explain how our work works so that there is a clear sense of what ADD contributes and our long term mission.

Urgency & solution. We will communicate both urgency and effectiveness to show that solutions are possible and realistic.

Celebrate positive success. We will demonstrate impact; evoke empathy not pity; humanise success and communicate it.

Be excellent Stay excellent. Be excellent: We will ensure that our communications are produced to a high standard while being continuously mindful of value for money and using mediums that are impactful and cost effective. Stay excellent: We will build an evolving communications practise that continuously reviews output and embeds learning in its future endeavours. We will work alongside our key audiences and stakeholders to monitor the impact of what we do, capture feedback and make improvements.

Tell rich stories. Telling richer stories about the work we do will deepen connections with our audiences, this means going deeper into issues, telling stories from different angles and unusual voices and bringing people closer to the work.

Richer, transparent stories. We will deepen connections between our audiences and ADD International by telling richer stories about the work we do across the different parts of the organisation. We believe that there is a growing public demand for increased transparency, we will therefore aim to be more open in our dialogue about operational needs, organisational structures, DPOs, how we work, successes and failings/learnings and bring people closer to all aspects of the work.

Accessible. We strive to make our communications as accessible as resources and budget permit. See more on accessibility in the Visual Guidelines.

DISCUSSION: Do these communications values capture everything? What is missing? What do you think will be the challenges in implementing them in practise?