Episode 10 - New Goals 2 - Improve the health of the global communication climate

Over the past years, public support for global actions against poverty has been declining.

In order to understand this trend, the TVP partners interviewed, both in Europe and in developing countries, various experts and stakeholders working in development cooperation as also the trusted opinion makers, especially educators, journalists and local governments. We discovered that the opinion makers trusted by the public are little prepared, where it concerns knowledge and communication skills, to convey authentic messages in the most effective way. They usually convey what they hear in the media which is often negative observations. And they miss out the positive-impact stories.

The interviews revealed that although organized campaigns concerning world poverty do reach the public with touching slogans and images, the style that these campaigns adopt is usually an advertisement-style rhetoric. The public has little faith in these campaigns since they appear to largely justify the business niche of the campaigner. So, the ability of these campaigns is limited in changing the attitudes of the public towards issues and difficulties that developing countries face except perhaps in the case of humanitarian response to massive calamities and disasters.

The interviews also revealed that only few people are aware about the Millenium Development Goals, the most important commitment taken by the International Community to reverse grinding poverty, hunger and disease that affects billions of people; a commitment to bring social and economic justice to the most deprived and marginalised amongst us.

Responsibility and challenges of the journalists http://youtu.be/TVayifIybsA

Journalists, along with teachers and policy makers, are the main beneficiaries of TVP.

In order to understand their needs, we interviewed them extensively. And in order to understand their responsibilities and challenges, we worked together with them for the production of the videos.
During the course of implementing the project and making the media products, it became clearer that the international communication climate is shaped by the way journalists report the news about international agendas. It became ever clear that journalists are actors and not just spectators. And that no actor is ever "objective", since personal interpretation and articulation is central to news reporting.
On the ground, we have seen that the impact of projects depends as much on how tasks are implemented as on how actions are communicated. We collected many stories indicating that communication is the most important determinant of the success or failure of all cooperation activities. But journalists tend to have difficulty in acknowledging their moral and political responsibilities, hiding them under the self-framed justifications of "professional neutrality". We started by covering the activities undertaken within international cooperation initiatives but gradually we became ever more interested in the activities of journalists and opinion makers. The TVP documentary finally found itself focusing as much on communication as on cooperation. It became a reportage on how ways in which people communicate determines the ways in which people cooperate; and vice-versa.

Communication is an art rather than a science. And as an art, there is no guaranteed formula that once proven successful, can be repeated with the same success an indefinite number of times. We however know the power of social media in linking peoples and communities. And the efficacy of linking visual and written communication, virtual and physical communities, local and global commitments.

There is increased sense of tiredness about a kind of destructive journalism always searching for bad news, and nurturing a global climate of fear and mistrust. But media that lives on advertisement sponsors or political patronage is forced to continue riding the usual stereotypes even if these stereotypes contribute to building barriers and spreading a culture of fear and disillusion. The real news now is how difficult and important it is to narrate �good news�. And the most challenging communication adventure is to narrate the reasons why MDGs, the most important commitment taken by the International Community to reverse grinding poverty, hunger and disease that affects billions of people is so little known. This is mainly because the international communication scenario is largely shaped by the way journalists report news on international agendas. They tend to reinforce �stereotypes� about poverty and communicate about it in a �catastrophic� tone. They often claim that they do not tackle issues and challenges of cooperation stories on-the-ground because such topics do not sell on media channels. This is also because organisations working in development cooperation often communicate in advertisement-style rhetoric. The public has little faith in such organised communication campaigns that largely tend to justify the campaigner. The ability of these campaigns is limited in changing people�s minds about supporting developing countries in addressing issues and challenges they face. By choosing to move out of the rhetoric box and share news of why peace building does not have access to the news, we now have an opportunity to set a different communication agenda. And this difference has the possibility of making a communication impact. Especially, since we, the people of this new millennium, so rich in media tools and so poor in communication content, greatly need this communication impact to happen.

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		Over the past years, public support for global actions against poverty has been declining. In order to understand this trend, the TVP partners interviewed, both in Europe and in developing countries, various experts and stakeholders working in development cooperation as also the trusted opinion makers, especially educators, journalists and local governments. We discovered that the opinion makers trusted by the public are little prepared, where it concerns knowledge and communication skills, to convey authentic messages in the most effective way. They usually convey what they hear in the media which is often negative observations. And they miss out the positive-impact stories. The interviews revealed that although organized campaigns concerning world poverty do reach the public with touching slogans and images, the style that these campaigns adopt is usually an advertisement-style rhetoric. The public has little faith in these campaigns since they appear to largely justify the business niche of the campaigner. So, the ability of these campaigns is limited in changing the attitudes of the public towards issues and difficulties that developing countries face except perhaps in the case of humanitarian response to massive calamities and disasters. The interviews also revealed that only few people are aware about the Millenium Development Goals, the most important commitment taken by the International Community to reverse grinding poverty, hunger and disease that affects billions of people; a commitment to bring social and economic justice to the most deprived and marginalised amongst us.	One of the reasons why the public is so little informed about the Millennium Development Goals is because opinion leaders generally are ill equipped to tackle news related to the Global Partnership for Development; instead of doing research on this sector, they prefer to adopt a self-gratifying approach and exploit typical ethnocentric prejudices and moral scepticism. During our interaction with key stakeholders of international cooperation and trusted informers among communities, we also realised that the trusted opinion makers were little prepared, in terms of knowledge and communication skills, for conveying authentic messages in the most effective way. They usually directly conveyed what they heard - often the negative side of cooperation efforts and often missing out the positive-impact stories. So, we collected, compiled and produced resources and tools that opinion makers could use for better informing their audiences. While building your awareness, in this Manual, on issues related to the Millennium Development Goals, we will also share the learning, experiences and passions of our professional life, the challenges we face and the successes we achieve, the hurdles we cross and the frustrations we face. We believe that Manual will help you in making informed choices on what and how to participate in and support the Global Agenda for Development.
		Armadilla Office � seeing the TV results	Since we wanted to produce a media product that could be broadcast on television, we asked the journalists of RAI, the Italian State television channel, to join us in making the documentary. We facilitated the RAI journalists in visiting the projects that we identified, in interacting with people who worked in these projects and those whose lives changed because of these projects. Our approach was to let the journalists feel free to say what they wanted to and how they wanted to.
			There is increased sense of tiredness about a kind of destructive journalism always searching for bad news, and nurturing a global climate of fear and mistrust. But media that lives on advertisement sponsors or political patronage is forced to continue riding the usual stereotypes even if these stereotypes contribute to building barriers and spreading a culture of fear and disillusion. The real news now is how difficult and important it is to narrate �good news�. And the most challenging communication adventure is to narrate the reasons why MDGs, the most important commitment taken by the International Community to reverse grinding poverty, hunger and disease that affects billions of people is so little known. This is mainly because the international communication scenario is largely shaped by the way journalists report news on international agendas. They tend to reinforce �stereotypes� about poverty and communicate about it in a �catastrophic� tone. They often claim that they do not tackle issues and challenges of cooperation stories on-the-ground because such topics do not sell on media channels. This is also because organisations working in development cooperation often communicate in advertisement-style rhetoric. The public has little faith in such organised communication campaigns that largely tend to justify the campaigner. The ability of these campaigns is limited in changing people�s minds about supporting developing countries in addressing issues and challenges they face. By choosing to move out of the rhetoric box and share news of why peace building does not have access to the news, we now have an opportunity to set a different communication agenda. And this difference has the possibility of making a communication impact. Especially, since we, the people of this new millennium, so rich in media tools and so poor in communication content, vgreatly need this communication impact to happen.
			Responsibility and challenges of the journalists http://youtu.be/TVayifIybsA Journalists, along with teachers and policy makers, are the main beneficiaries of TVP. In order to understand their needs, we interviewed them extensively. And in order to understand their responsibilities and challenges, we worked together with them for the production of the videos. During the course of implementing the project and making the media products, it became clearer that the international communication climate is shaped by the way journalists report the news about international agendas. It became ever clear that journalists are actors and not just spectators. And that no actor is ever "objective", since personal interpretation and articulation is central to news reporting. On the ground, we have seen that the impact of projects depends as much on how tasks are implemented as on how actions are communicated. We collected many stories indicating that communication is the most important determinant of the success or failure of all cooperation activities. But journalists tend to have difficulty in acknowledging their moral and political responsibilities, hiding them under the self-framed justifications of "professional neutrality". We started by covering the activities undertaken within international cooperation initiatives but gradually we became ever more interested in the activities of journalists and opinion makers. The TVP documentary finally found itself focusing as much on communication as on cooperation. It became a reportage on how ways in which people communicate determines the ways in which people cooperate; and vice-versa. Communication is an art rather than a science. And as an art, there is no guaranteed formula that once proven successful, can be repeated with the same success an indefinite number of times. We however know the power of social media in linking peoples and communities. And the efficacy of linking visual and written communication, virtual and physical communities, local and global commitments. There is increased sense of tiredness about a kind of destructive journalism always searching for bad news, and nurturing a global climate of fear and mistrust. But media that lives on advertisement sponsors or political patronage is forced to continue riding the usual stereotypes even if these stereotypes contribute to building barriers and spreading a culture of fear and disillusion. The real news now is how difficult and important it is to narrate �good news�. And the most challenging communication adventure is to narrate the reasons why MDGs, the most important commitment taken by the International Community to reverse grinding poverty, hunger and disease that affects billions of people is so little known. This is mainly because the international communication scenario is largely shaped by the way journalists report news on international agendas. They tend to reinforce �stereotypes� about poverty and communicate about it in a �catastrophic� tone. They often claim that they do not tackle issues and challenges of cooperation stories on-the-ground because such topics do not sell on media channels. This is also because organisations working in development cooperation often communicate in advertisement-style rhetoric. The public has little faith in such organised communication campaigns that largely tend to justify the campaigner. The ability of these campaigns is limited in changing people�s minds about supporting developing countries in addressing issues and challenges they face. By choosing to move out of the rhetoric box and share news of why peace building does not have access to the news, we now have an opportunity to set a different communication agenda. And this difference has the possibility of making a communication impact. Especially, since we, the people of this new millennium, so rich in media tools and so poor in communication content, greatly need this communication impact to happen.
		Backstage - Africa 4 - Debate among Sierra Leonian & Italian journalists
			Backstage - Africa 3 - Team work difficulties
		Backstage - Africa 1 - Stefano e Francesco sulla spiaggia
			Backstage - Bulgaria - Challenges of public education in Europe
		Backstage - Africa 2 - Team Dialogues at N�2
		Syria - SKILLS - Training Young Syrian Journalists	� What to ask in order to obtain information about a project/action (checklist) � What to do in order to obtain information about a project/action (checklist) � What to do in order to obtain information about a project/action (checklist) � � List of things to do in order to illustrate a project/action
		RAI Italian television use of TVP Outputs
			� RAI Italian television use of TVP Outputs Scena Documentari (template, italiano)
		How the videos linked to this Manual have been produced	How the videos linked to this Manual have been produced
			� Europe - Media - Catherine Ray (video) -
			� Europe - Policy Makers - Silvia Costa (video)
			� India - Film Festival on MDGs
			� Syria - GOV - Muhsen Bilal (Video)
			� -Syria - Syrian Television
			� India - MDG Festival Goal 10

			� India - Media - Megan Willams (video) - �
			� India - Media - Pietro Cocco (video) -

Da registrare o cercare		Riflessioni di Stefano	Our challenge is to bring these stories to the attention of the world leaders when they gather in 2015 to decide whether they fulfilled their commitments to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. In 2015, policy makers will debate whether Governments made sufficient efforts and whether the results were worth the price they paid. And when World leaders will set new goals for the international cooperation agenda, we want them to have considered the voices we collected of those who, on the ground, carry on the projects of international cooperation for development.	Da registrare

REPERTORY 3 - Vrinda' s Introductions to WIKI chapters 04:29 - 04:29		Vrinda facing the camera	The Vrinda project We really hope that we have been able to record and communicate the values of those who fight for the rights of the underprivileged and the sense of joy they experience while cooperating for justice and peace.