Ask Charity Weblog

Adam Sampson of Shelter made many interesting points when he spoke last week at the Campaigning Effectiveness conference. He spoke a lot about the importance of protecting case studies, and only giving case studies to journalists you trusted etc. But he also sounded a note of caution - that programmes might bypass charities altogether in looking for case studies. He had heard from the Today programme that they get a lot of case studies via the programme's messageboards http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mbtoday/F5963509
since they can e-mail posters and check whether they are interested in taking part. I think Adam is right though the phenomenon of finding case studies via other routes is nothing new. When I worked at Woman's Hour I often tried to find case studies by contacting people in forums and following up case studies quoted in newspaper articles. It was much easier and less bureaucratic to find case studies this way. Now journalists can use real life study agencies to find what they want. So I would go futher than Adam in saying that I think charities need to be readier to offer up good case studies if they don't want to be ignored and still want to use this rout to get their message across. I'm not saying charities should not protect their clients...but that if the procedures involved are very bureaucratic, the media will go elsewhere.

Posted by Charity at 04:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Adam Sampson, Director of Shelter spoke about campaigning yesterday. He brought up quite a few interesting issues about the relationship between campaigners and the media. He is all for charities putting forward their clients to talk to the media and empowering them through good preparation and training. But he pointed out that even in these circumstances there can be difficulties. Shelter helped the BBC find a family who were homeless for the Cathy Come Home anniversary season. The teenager of the family was filmed saying that she had been called names at school because she was homeless. When the film aired she was again bullied at school - because some of her peers had seen the film the night before. So being in the film had bad repercussions for the teenager. Shelter never again put forward that teenager for public/media appearances but they have no control over the original film. Now it's in the hands of the BBC, they have the right to repeat it whenever they want...

Posted by Charity at 09:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Help the Aged is running a campaign against elder abuse "enough is enough". They point out that the media devotes far more coverage to the abuse of a child, than to that of a vulnerable adult. In a survey of the press the Climbie case had been mentioned 303 times in the press, compared with only five references to Margaret Panting - an old lady who died after suffering 49 injuries from her carers. Research firm Metrica found that Panting, who suffered wounds including cigarette burns and razor blade wounds, was mentioned only twice in the national press, three times in regional papers and was never named in a headline. However, Climbie, who suffered 128 injuries, was mentioned in national newspapers 237 times, 66 times in regional papers and made headlines 110 times. Its an interesting point and one that is echoed by those who promote awareness of runaways and those with learning difficulties. If the focus of your campaign is a non disabled child below 11, their story is much more likely to get coverage http://www.helptheaged.org.uk/en-gb/Campaigns/News/news_elderabuse_120307.htm

Posted by Charity at 08:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

A freelancer who sent a request out through askCHARITY has been saying how guilty she feels when a charity calls to sell her a story she thinks she couldn't sell on. This spawned a discussion among journalists about the guilt inspired when they turn down a worthy story. Some are quite hard - they "never feel guilty about telling people their stories are not strong" but others are softies "I feel guilty even about telling PRs that their clients are of no interest whatsoever". What the exchange reveals is that many journalists do have a soft heart for a good cause, but if they are freelance they still can't work miracles in terms of selling every story. I think targetting carefully is the key and being willing to listen when an experienced freelance says your story will not sell.

Posted by Charity at 05:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)