Communications planning for national human rights institutions Richard Carver ppt 6

COMMUNICATIONS PLANNING FOR NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS INSTITUTIONS

Who do we communicate with? The public Clients (people who file petitions) Government Parliament Judiciary Donors

Why does communication matter? That is how we get our message across That is how we persuade people to change That is how the public know that we are here That is how we learn That is how we are held accountable

What means do we use to communicate? Mass media Reports Public events Private meetings Letters Joint activities

We communicate the whole time - why is it necessary to make a plan?

To make the best use of available resources To make sure we are all saying the same thing To communicate our messages the most effectively

What are the eight steps in communications planning? Define the purpose of communications Analyse your strengths and weaknesses Define your message Define your audience Develop a media strategy Develop techniques of media relations Create a timeline Evaluate the impact

1. Defining the purpose Education Influence Change

2. Strengths and weaknesses External strengths (opportunities) For example… Favourable media Good public reputation

External weaknesses (threats) For example… Hostile media Little public profile

Internal strengths For example… Human and financial resources (including staff with media experience) Good communication skills

Internal weaknesses For example… Few resources Lack of skills and experience

This can be expressed in the form of a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats). Like this…

3. Defining your message One message or many? Do they change over time? Are they different for different audiences?

4. Defining your audience The public Clients (people who file petitions) Government Parliament Judiciary Donors

5. Developing a media strategy Based on analysis of strengths and weaknesses Depends on audiences: what media are most effective for reaching them? Depends (to an extent) on messages: how simple/complex are they? How varied? Reactive or proactive? Or a mixture?

6. Techniques of media relations Techniques are tactics - they are subordinate to strategy Most can be prepared in advance - proactive Need for specialist skills: media or communications officer, or department

Some examples of media techniques: Interviews Press conferences Press releases Advertisements Op-ed articles

7. Timing When do these things happen? Reactive or proactive (how far is it possible to plan in advance?) Must create a calendar of events

8. Evaluation How can we tell if our communications strategy is effective? Evaluation must be built in at the planning stage.

Monitoring media coverage Tells us if the media have covered the NHRI, but not the public impact.

Public opinion surveys - difficult to design and probably too expensive Qualitative indicators focus groups partners