"Online communication is widely used by NGOs, but the full potential of social media is not always realised. The most effective use of online communications requires an organisational culture that values social media as central to its overall strategy. However, there is frequently a lack of integrat
...
ion of digital technologies within NGOs. The social media landscape is fast-moving and changeable and demands creative management. There is a danger that NGOs think too much about the platform and not enough about the message and the audience. NGOs need to move away from a predominantly broadcast model to a more dialogical model that encourages two-way communication. Measurement is essential to build an evidence base for future decision-making and the increasing availability of analytical tools facilitates this. But NGOs should be wary of simply aiming to gain followers or likes. “Going viral” raises awareness, but does not necessarily lead to sustained commitment. Listening has been undervalued and is vitally important in order to understand supporters and monitor public debate about development issues." (Executive summary)
more
"Through a case study of Kiva.org, the world's first person-to-person microlending website, and other microfinance organizations, the book argues that international development efforts have an affective dimension. This is fostered through narrative and visual representations, through the performance
...
of development rituals and through bonds of fellowship between Northern donors and Southern recipients. These practices constitute people in the global North as everyday humanitarians and mobilize their affective investments, which are financial, social and emotional investments in distant others to alleviate their poverty. This book draws on ethnographic material from the US, India and Indonesia and the anthropological and development studies literature on humanitarianism, affect and the public faces of development. It opens up novel avenues of research into the formation of new development subjects in the global North." (Publisher description)
more
"This article examines the discourse surrounding Kibera, a highly populated low-income community in Nairobi, Kenya. Based on 11 months of fieldwork and interviews with 56 Kibera residents, this article discusses the disconnect between the lives experienced by residents and the hyperbolic and essenti
...
alised discourse that depicts Kibera as a community defined by sickness, crime and despair. While residents do not deny many of the hardships that are central to the Kibera discourse, they articulate maisha mtaani [life in the neighbourhood] as complex, diverse and contextual. Sadly, several groups that claim to serve the good of Kibera are partially responsible for perpetuating this harmful discourse. In fact, some NGOs, journalists and residents benefit from reproducing a discourse that actively marginalises Kibera and its people." (Abstract)
more
"Based on analysis of 17 in-depth interviews with professionals in 10 UK-based international NGOs engaged in planning, designing and producing humanitarian communications, this article explores how intimacy figures in NGOs' thinking about and practice of humanitarian communication. Drawing on discus
...
sions of 'intimacy at a distance' and the 'intimization' of the mediated public sphere, the analysis explores three metaphors of intimacy used by interviewees to articulate the relationships they seek to develop with and between their beneficiaries and UK audiences: (1) sitting together underneath a tree; (2) being there; and (3) going on a journey. The article situates the governance of intimacy of practitioners' thinking and practice as NGOs' attempt to respond to criticisms from the humanitarian and international development sector, policymakers and scholars. It concludes by calling for a revisiting of the centrality of intimacy in humanitarian communication and the logic of emotional capitalism within which it is embedded, outlining its implications for both academic scholarship and practice." (Abstract)
more
"ILRI is working in 'a crowded field of providers of knowledge, technology, and capacity development'. It is crucial therefore that the organisation is crystal clear about the unique brand of knowledge and services it delivers in the field of science 'at the intersect of poverty and livestock' - and
...
up-front about its track record in delivering results. Purposeful and strategic communication around issues that ILRI has the reputation to speak about, and that resonate with current - and emerging - debates, is the key to being heard and advancing the position and potential of livestock farmers globally. The organisation has established for itself a professional brand and impressive publishing record for communicating its diverse research products and thinking 'in real time'. A two-pronged process of embedding strategic communication in all research programmes (through a combination of incentives and quality assurance protocols) and being more focused and strategic on key target audiences and issues, will create the necessary conditions for ILRI to effectively communicate its research. This process requires not so much radical overhauls as clear stewardship, leadership and support from management to enable more strategic communication to be required where it is absent, and to flourish where it is latent." (Executive summary)
more
"Das vorliegende Buch vermittelt Grundlagenwissen über PR-Kampagnen und erklärt am Beispiel von Case Studies, wie man erfolgreiche Kampagnen plant, durchführt und bewertet. Es gliedert sich in die drei Teile Theorie, Praxis und Ausblick. Nach drei Beiträgen zu grundlegenden Fragen von Kampagnen
...
folgen acht Case Studies aus der Kampagnenpraxis, die nach einem einheitlichen Raster aufgebaut sind: vier aus Unternehmen sowie jeweils zwei von politischen Institutionen und Nichtregierungsorganisationen. Dabei werden auch Schwierigkeiten und Probleme bei der Durchführung der Kampagnen beschrieben. Der letzte Block mit vier Beiträgen wirft einen Blick auf die Zukunft der Kampagnenpraxis – auf die wachsende Bedeutung von Social Media und auf die USA. Ziel des Bandes ist es, eine Brücke zwischen Theorie und Praxis zu schlagen und in Form einer kompakten und zugleich lesefreundlichen Einführung handhabbares Wissen zu PR-Kampagnen zu vermitteln." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
more
"1. Es posible ofrecer una nueva visión optimista sobre la realidad de las ONG y el trabajo profesional periodístico aportando numerosas pruebas, datos y referencias, que justifican el uso de la comunicación social y periodistica con el objeto de conseguir, a través de la sensibilización de la
...
opinión pública y de cambios de actitud, un mayor desarrollo humano y una sociedad más justa y solidaria. 2. La disciplina más adecuada para estudiar los efectos de la comunicación en la sociedad y elaborar teorías de comunicación relevantes en este tema, es la "psicología social" que nació en los años 30 del siglo XX. Ésta se centra en los efectos, integra varias disciplinas y ofrece cierto orden en temas de comunicación. 3. La comunicación produce efectos sobre los pensamientos y actitudes de las personas y el uso de los medios de comunicación puede provocar cambios de actitud en las personas que no estén motivados por intereses económicos, políticos, religiosos…etc., sino, por la única intención, por parte de los emisores y responsables de los medios de comunicación, de favorecer la posibilidad de construir entre todos un mundo mejor [...]" (Conclusiones)
more
"This study, ‘Media Operations during SALW Control Interventions’ attempts to encapsulate best practices for dealing with mass media outlets when implementing SALW [Small arms and light weapons] control projects. It draws on a number of communication and media operation’s studies, but draws it
...
s major lessons from case studies of communication during SALW control programmes conducted in South East Europe from 2001 to 2003. The first section of this report sets out the principles for effective media work during SALW control interventions, and offers useful tools for applying them. The case studies from which the principles are derived have been included in Section Two. They summarise the experiences of project staff that have worked with the media during the recent micro-disarmament interventions in the region." (Page 1)
more