Helen Castell :
The development sector doesn’t always have an easy relationship with the media.
Some nongovernmental organizations complain that journalists provide insufficient coverage of their work but are increasingly critical of their activities, while some journalists argue NGOs are not always media-savvy, can be opaque about their work and are often slow to respond to queries from reporters.
These and other issues were the focus of a forum organized last month in London by Bond, a network of U.K.-based international development NGOs, which brought together representatives from both sides to hammer out new strategies to enable NGOs to communicate better with the media and make sure their stories are told as widely, accurately and positively as possible.
Judith Davey, director of people, performance and accountability at ActionAid, opened the discussion, pointing to growing evidence that the public doesn’t understand what NGOs do or how they do it.
How to address this challenge? Organizations need to work on how they engage with the media and communicate the benefits of development aid, she said.
Mark Galloway, executive director of the International Broadcasting Trust, outlined the findings of a recent IBT report that investigated what British journalists really think about the aid sector. The results weren’t great, with the television, radio, print and online journalists polled expressing opinions that suggested the industry is increasingly critical of aid and the NGOs that deliver it.
Journalists confirmed in the poll that they were putting NGOs under greater scrutiny, partly because of their growing size and influence, and noted they should be placed under the spotlight just as corporates are. Specific criticisms included views that NGOs exaggerate what they can achieve, that they are too big, competitive and concerned with their corporate image, and that they pay their senior executives too much.
The IBT report also delved into what journalists want from NGOs and offered the following six recommendations on how aid groups can help improve their own coverage.
1. Be more transparent.
As NGOs become subject to the kind of scrutiny traditionally reserved for big business, they need to respond with ever greater transparency – especially about sensitive issues like CEO pay.
Although most NGOs can internally justify the amount they pay executives, the sector has been “awful” at explaining this to outsiders, according to Karl Wilding, director of public policy for the National Council for Voluntary Organizations.
“We think in the sector that we’re the gold standard in terms of transparency. We’re not,” he said.
Some charities fear that publishing executive pay in their annual report will deter donors. But while doing this can be “uncomfortable,” it can help organizations stay one step ahead of possible media probes, protecting them from the “we can reveal” type headlines, Wilding argued.
NGOs need to think carefully, though, about which issues they will be transparent on and which will remain private – and to make this clear to journalists, added Mayur Paul, head of communications at Bond U.K.
Médecins Sans Frontières, for example, has a clear policy that it will not comment on kidnappings.
“There are some issues on which transparency is not safe,” noted Polly Markandya, head of communications at the French medical group.
2. Engage more directly with journalists.
All organizations need a strong communications team, but the traditional “gatekeeper” approach doesn’t work in a social media world. Journalists interviewed for IBT’s report said they wanted more direct access to a broad range of NGO officials. CEOs also need to be on Twitter and talking directly to journalists, Galloway said.
“Those agencies that are out there and confident and that have got the tone right are reaping dividends,” he explained.
This extends to finance directors, whose public reports are under more scrutiny and who must also learn to understand the importance of spending on media, noted Media Trust CEO Caroline Diehl. Paul said communications teams need to work with every department in an NGO so that each staff member understands the organization’s media message. Even if they are not talking directly to journalists, he argued that “every staff member is a touch point for the organization” who needs to “live” its values and act as its representative to everyone they meet.
(To be continued)
The development sector doesn’t always have an easy relationship with the media.
Some nongovernmental organizations complain that journalists provide insufficient coverage of their work but are increasingly critical of their activities, while some journalists argue NGOs are not always media-savvy, can be opaque about their work and are often slow to respond to queries from reporters.
These and other issues were the focus of a forum organized last month in London by Bond, a network of U.K.-based international development NGOs, which brought together representatives from both sides to hammer out new strategies to enable NGOs to communicate better with the media and make sure their stories are told as widely, accurately and positively as possible.
Judith Davey, director of people, performance and accountability at ActionAid, opened the discussion, pointing to growing evidence that the public doesn’t understand what NGOs do or how they do it.
How to address this challenge? Organizations need to work on how they engage with the media and communicate the benefits of development aid, she said.
Mark Galloway, executive director of the International Broadcasting Trust, outlined the findings of a recent IBT report that investigated what British journalists really think about the aid sector. The results weren’t great, with the television, radio, print and online journalists polled expressing opinions that suggested the industry is increasingly critical of aid and the NGOs that deliver it.
Journalists confirmed in the poll that they were putting NGOs under greater scrutiny, partly because of their growing size and influence, and noted they should be placed under the spotlight just as corporates are. Specific criticisms included views that NGOs exaggerate what they can achieve, that they are too big, competitive and concerned with their corporate image, and that they pay their senior executives too much.
The IBT report also delved into what journalists want from NGOs and offered the following six recommendations on how aid groups can help improve their own coverage.
1. Be more transparent.
As NGOs become subject to the kind of scrutiny traditionally reserved for big business, they need to respond with ever greater transparency – especially about sensitive issues like CEO pay.
Although most NGOs can internally justify the amount they pay executives, the sector has been “awful” at explaining this to outsiders, according to Karl Wilding, director of public policy for the National Council for Voluntary Organizations.
“We think in the sector that we’re the gold standard in terms of transparency. We’re not,” he said.
Some charities fear that publishing executive pay in their annual report will deter donors. But while doing this can be “uncomfortable,” it can help organizations stay one step ahead of possible media probes, protecting them from the “we can reveal” type headlines, Wilding argued.
NGOs need to think carefully, though, about which issues they will be transparent on and which will remain private – and to make this clear to journalists, added Mayur Paul, head of communications at Bond U.K.
Médecins Sans Frontières, for example, has a clear policy that it will not comment on kidnappings.
“There are some issues on which transparency is not safe,” noted Polly Markandya, head of communications at the French medical group.
2. Engage more directly with journalists.
All organizations need a strong communications team, but the traditional “gatekeeper” approach doesn’t work in a social media world. Journalists interviewed for IBT’s report said they wanted more direct access to a broad range of NGO officials. CEOs also need to be on Twitter and talking directly to journalists, Galloway said.
“Those agencies that are out there and confident and that have got the tone right are reaping dividends,” he explained.
This extends to finance directors, whose public reports are under more scrutiny and who must also learn to understand the importance of spending on media, noted Media Trust CEO Caroline Diehl. Paul said communications teams need to work with every department in an NGO so that each staff member understands the organization’s media message. Even if they are not talking directly to journalists, he argued that “every staff member is a touch point for the organization” who needs to “live” its values and act as its representative to everyone they meet.
(To be continued)
