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| July 8th - The Media as a Tool for Activism / Andreas Zumach, Tom Hyland and Didi Remez |
| The question on most activists' lips is how do we get
more attention? How do we get our message out? The answer is almost
invariably the media but the media is a tool which activists need
training to use. It was exactly such a training session which took
place on Peace Boat in the Mediterranean with three high profile journalists
and activists leading the session with six key representatives of
the NGO sector from conflict regions such as the Balkans and Israel/Palestine.
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Andreas Zumach, former activist and UN journalist
of the Year, presently works at the UN reporting primarily for Tages
Zeitung, a Berlin-based newspaper. Together with two activists, Tom
Hyland, the director of East Timor Ireland Solidarity Campaign, and
Didi Remez, the press spokesperson for Peace Now in Israel, Andreas
directed the group through controversial subjects surrounding this
subject.
"There is no such thing as unimportant media", said Didi Remez summing
up his view that NGOs have to woo the media in order to get the coverage
the organisation needs. Tom Hyland countered that "you do not have
to be a slave to journalists. This approach will inevitably erode
your organisations principles."
Whilst not being a slave to the journalists however, there are several
key issues which can be addressed to encourage the media to show up
to your organisation's events. Was your organisation quick enough
off the mark or is it old news already? How many people attended the
event? Was it visual enough to grab the attention of the photojournalists?
Is there a media bias operating which runs contrary to your organisations
principles?
"Journalists are hand-picked to cover a story based on their sensitivities
towards the official level of politics dished out by governments.
This is particularly true of foreign and security policy and events
relating to them," replied Andreas Zumach outlining the methods which
establishment media selects coverage. "This amounts to little more
than censorship." With recent commercialisation [read privatisation]
of the media this situation has become even more acute thus reducing
the chances of NGO coverage even further.
The final advice left for activists was not to dramatise, hype and sensationalise to such an extent that the issues being advocated are diluted. Despite the need to get coverage, making the event visual should not go to the extreme of violence because it displaces the coverage on a sidetrack and reduces the chance of issues being covered in any meaningful depth. Finally, collaboration is also essential. NGOs must make more links with each other in order to be able to show a united front and be 'large' enough for the media not to be able to ignore you. |
| Duncan Trevan |
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| This week at
sea |
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PEACE BOAT is an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. |
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