Title of paper

4.4 Participants as advocates – activity

Ask the participants to divide themselves into sectoral groups and plan a campaign or policy advocacy strategy. The groups have 40 minutes for discussion and planning, after which they will present to everyone. The presentations should not take longer than five minutes. After the presentation, draw the attention to the process within the groups. What were the different steps they took to plan the campaign or advocacy strategy? What have been the greatest challenges and obstacles? Where will they need external support? How much can be done without always asking and waiting for money?

4.5 Creating awareness in Namibia – activity

Peculiarities for a specific location need to be understood, e.g. the vast distances in Namibia, the vast human resources deficiencies in, the incredibly vast gap between rich and poor, that Namibia is vastly a youthful society, that the Namibian Constitution is hailed as one of the best in the world and much more. What are the policies and strategies currently in place? In this regard a visit to the Ministry of Mines and Energy might be useful, additionally, other stakeholders must be consulted, possibly even research undertaken.

This contextualisation is necessary to structure any campaign and exactly to know how to start and what to consider when designing the overall advocacy.

4.6 Advocacy is not a once off event

During this exercise on the one side general overarching matters and on the other side organisational matters related to the specific campaign need to be addressed. They can include the following:
General overarching matters:

Which documents need to be known, which subject matters need to be available?

What is the envisaged outcome of the campaign, what does one want to achieve, immediately and long-term?

Why is this being done, now?

Which partner and allies do we have and who are the opponents and resistances? Who can be public role model or champion?

What would the rough rollout plan of the campaign entail?

Organisational matters and specific tasks:

How is the income secured and who looks after the invoices and receipts (bookkeeping)?

What are the different tasks and those are associated to whom?

Which media is to be contacted?

How is social media going to be used and who does it?

How are the personal networks exploited?

What is a good symbol and/or slogan for the campaign? Should it be foreign orientated as this is an international campaign or should it rather be guided by local considerations?

If transport, venues etc. are needed, has permission been obtained and is the funding secured?

Below is a newspaper clipping of an event related to the advocacy training that was part of the training programme this book is based on:

5. Further reading recommendations

Andrews, D. 2008. Plan Be. Australia. Authentic Lifestyle.
Kaare, S / N. Chowdhury / V. Kazi. 2007. The Power of Evidence in Advocacy: Resource pack for trainers on evidence-based policy advocacy in East Africa, at http://www.odi.org.uk/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odi-assets/publications-opinion-files/251.pdf; last accessed 1 March 2013.
World Economic Forum. 2013. Energy Vision 2013 – Energy transitions: Past and Future, at http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_EN_EnergyVision_Report_2013.pdf; last accessed 1 March 2013.
LAC / Legal Assistance Centre. 2007. Advocacy in Action: a guide to influencing decision-making in Namibia. Windhoek. LAC.
Handling the Media

By Unomengi Kauapirura

1. The news media defined

Messages (e.g. news) are carried by a medium, that is, the means of sending information. Sound waves are the medium that carries our voice to friends across the table, the telephone is the medium that carries our voice to friends across town.
When the medium is a technology that carries messages to a large number of people - as newspapers carry the printed word and radio conveys the sound of music and news – we call it a mass medium (the plural of medium is media) (Baran, 1999: 6).
The mass media we use regularly include radio, television books, magazines, newspapers, movies, sound recordings and computer networks. Each medium is the basis of a giant industry; other related and supporting industries are advertising and public relations, for example.

2. Journalism defined

Journalism can be defined in numerous ways but the one that has explained this profession inclusively and comprehensively is that by the Missouri group which describes journalism as “culture’s conversation with itself”. They state: “The conversation that holds a culture together includes talk of crime, politics and world affairs, of course, but it also includes talk of everyday life. It includes humour and gossip. All of that can be news (Missouri, 2003: 6).”
In our society, in Namibia, as in other parts of the world, we need that news to live our lives, protect ourselves, bond with each other, identify friends and enemies. It is our responsibility as a society to generate a system, a culture’s conversation with itself, that can reliably supply this much needed news. It is also very important that we, as consumers of news, must care about the character of the news and journalism we get.

3. The raison d’etre of journalism and news media

“When the flow of news is obstructed, a ‘darkness falls’ and anxiety grows. The world in fact, becomes too quiet. We feel alone.” John McCain, former U.S. senator.
This quote underscores the importance of a robust free independent news media that every society, every democracy should have in place.
Why so? Because journalism – the system through which people get free uncensored, undistorted, abundant information – influences the quality of our lives, our thoughts, and our culture, hence the importance of understanding the role of it in our society or any other given society.
Journalism is the profession or practice of reporting about, photographing, or editing news stories for one of the mass media. Journalists therefore must find news that people want and need to know to report about. But what makes something news? Journalists look for three basic elements.

News must be:

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  Timely
  
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  Important
  
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  Interesting
  

Just as the word implies, news must be new. Something no one knew about yesterday. It could be the war that just broke, the election just ended, the fact, event or development that provides journalists with the reason to publish or broadcast news. Like vegetables, news is a perishable item and goes stale quickly. So the news must be that fresh. It’s what you didn’t know when you last turned on the television or went online. It is the latest word!

News must matter. News people that readers and viewers will be asking: “So what? Why should I care?” It is the responsibility of the journalist to help the reader understand why the information matters.
Journalists must talk to people about what they care about. They must use themselves, their friends, and colleagues as a barometer of interest. At the centre of the news gathering process is discovery. The reporters must be on the hunt for information that will interest people. The “Hey, listen to this!” rule must be used in the newsroom to write stories that make readers, listeners, or viewers take notice and want to spread the word to a friend.
Timeliness, importance and interest are thus the broad guidelines for judging the news value of any event, issue, or personality. Within those broad standards, journalists look for specific elements in each potential story. The most important are these:

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  Impact: How many people are affected by an event or idea? How seriously does it affect them? The wider and heavier the impact, the better and more important the story is.
  
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  Conflict: Struggles between people, among nations or with natural forces make fascinating reading.
  
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  Novelty: People or events may be interesting and therefore newsworthy just because they are unusual or bizarre.
  
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  Prominence: Names make news. The bigger the name the bigger the news. Ordinary people have always been intrigued by the doings of the rich and famous!
  
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  Proximity: Generally, people are more interested in and concerned about what happens close to home. They often want to know how that particular news relates to their own community.
  
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  Timeliness/Currency: Timely reporting gives people a chance to be participants in public affairs rather than mere spectators. For example, it is more useful to write about an issue facing the city council before it is decided than afterward.