Saturday 27 November 2010
Wednesday 24 November 2010
Thursday 18 November 2010
The Week That Was
Last week was rather busy but so worth it. If the aim of Community Media Week was to spread the word about Citizens Eye and attract people to the opportunities available to people as a Community Reporter then it has been a success.
Sixteen venues across the city and county hosted the travelling Community News Café and by end of the opening day we had signed up 38 people.
I enjoy meeting new people and explaining the Citizens Eye community news agency and its origins, that were shaped in conversations back in 2007. Community groups and organisations have historically found it difficult to access the local mainstream media and if truth be told, it’s not always been the media’s fault. What is important to us and our particular part of the community is very personal and therefore not really news to the outside world.
So the question is when does your publicity, as an awareness raising exercise, become news?
From my discussions with professional journalists the answer is when either there is nothing else going on of more general news interest or the national news agenda of the day makes them seek out local examples, in order for them to give local comment.
Example… You run a teenage pregnancy drop-in clinic and are having a summer fundraiser. The football team are at home, the Mayor is causing a stir with his tweets and a public building has a black hole in its finances. What chance does your ‘good news’ story stand, although it’s a worthy subject, the whole ‘sell more papers’ battle for survival. In all honesty… Zero!
However, if the government of the day has launched a new strategy to deal with the issue of teenage pregnancy, then suddenly your event has ‘newsworthy’ context and you become a useful source for quotes. Sometimes you just have to realise the value of your event to the mainstream media and be prepared to be patient or target your message.
Read more
Sixteen venues across the city and county hosted the travelling Community News Café and by end of the opening day we had signed up 38 people.
I enjoy meeting new people and explaining the Citizens Eye community news agency and its origins, that were shaped in conversations back in 2007. Community groups and organisations have historically found it difficult to access the local mainstream media and if truth be told, it’s not always been the media’s fault. What is important to us and our particular part of the community is very personal and therefore not really news to the outside world.
So the question is when does your publicity, as an awareness raising exercise, become news?
From my discussions with professional journalists the answer is when either there is nothing else going on of more general news interest or the national news agenda of the day makes them seek out local examples, in order for them to give local comment.
Example… You run a teenage pregnancy drop-in clinic and are having a summer fundraiser. The football team are at home, the Mayor is causing a stir with his tweets and a public building has a black hole in its finances. What chance does your ‘good news’ story stand, although it’s a worthy subject, the whole ‘sell more papers’ battle for survival. In all honesty… Zero!
However, if the government of the day has launched a new strategy to deal with the issue of teenage pregnancy, then suddenly your event has ‘newsworthy’ context and you become a useful source for quotes. Sometimes you just have to realise the value of your event to the mainstream media and be prepared to be patient or target your message.
Read more
Wednesday 17 November 2010
Friday 12 November 2010
Thursday 11 November 2010
Wednesday 10 November 2010
Tuesday 9 November 2010
2 Down, 4 To Go!
The end of Day 2 has arrived.
I'm 48 hours into the longest 6 days of my life. The timetable has been planned to ensure ease of movement between venues as Simon Parker and myself attempt to take the Community News Cafe to 16 venues across the city and county.
I've so far attended 12 seperate events since Monday morning and the thing that strikes me the most is the enthusiasm of our Community Reporters and the willingness of public members to find out more about Community Reporters 2012. This is the project where the aim is to recruit 2,012 members of the public to become Community Reporters by the year 2012.
The full timetable of events can be found at the top of the Citizens Eye website and I would encourage you to come along and get involved.
Our intention is clear! Take the Community News Cafe to all 22 wards of the city and across the county to as many people that want us to visit. With the help of the Leicester Mercury and BBC Radio Leicester we should be able to engage with the public to start raising the profiles of their communities through the use of social media.
I'm giving a talk about the Big Society tomorrow. While thinking about what to say and what to discuss with this particular charities trustees, it struck me that it is really what we have already been doing for years but with less money. Therefore to survive 'it' assuming we actually know what 'it' is, organisations must ensure they work together but more importantly 'shout' together ie communicate the sectors needs and fight for support if its really needed.
Nothing less will spell the end of many community groups because they are reliant on grant funding from central government and they are getting hammered.
The future is uncertain but you can plan to let people know what you do better. Its the loudest & most effective who will get fed first!
I'm 48 hours into the longest 6 days of my life. The timetable has been planned to ensure ease of movement between venues as Simon Parker and myself attempt to take the Community News Cafe to 16 venues across the city and county.
I've so far attended 12 seperate events since Monday morning and the thing that strikes me the most is the enthusiasm of our Community Reporters and the willingness of public members to find out more about Community Reporters 2012. This is the project where the aim is to recruit 2,012 members of the public to become Community Reporters by the year 2012.
The full timetable of events can be found at the top of the Citizens Eye website and I would encourage you to come along and get involved.
Our intention is clear! Take the Community News Cafe to all 22 wards of the city and across the county to as many people that want us to visit. With the help of the Leicester Mercury and BBC Radio Leicester we should be able to engage with the public to start raising the profiles of their communities through the use of social media.
I'm giving a talk about the Big Society tomorrow. While thinking about what to say and what to discuss with this particular charities trustees, it struck me that it is really what we have already been doing for years but with less money. Therefore to survive 'it' assuming we actually know what 'it' is, organisations must ensure they work together but more importantly 'shout' together ie communicate the sectors needs and fight for support if its really needed.
Nothing less will spell the end of many community groups because they are reliant on grant funding from central government and they are getting hammered.
The future is uncertain but you can plan to let people know what you do better. Its the loudest & most effective who will get fed first!
Monday 8 November 2010
Friday 5 November 2010
Soar Community Blog - Preparing for Community Media Week
Well, it’s been rather hectic preparing for the biggest event in the Citizens’ Eye calendar – Community Media Week 8-13th November.
Citizens’ Eye is having a week of events which will be spread out across the city and county, covering the subject of Citizens Journalists and the wider Community Media.
The Community Media Week involves events hosted by many partners and the full timetable of venues is available for you to view on the website home page, so I won’t waste any space by reproducing here and if you are on facebook (is there still anyone not on it?) please check out the group.
One of the exciting developments is the opportunity to take part in interviews across many of the region’s excellent community internet and FM radio stations. They have been helping us in the build up to Community Media Week and many will be broadcasting regular interviews and news updates throughout.
Read the full blog
Citizens’ Eye is having a week of events which will be spread out across the city and county, covering the subject of Citizens Journalists and the wider Community Media.
The Community Media Week involves events hosted by many partners and the full timetable of venues is available for you to view on the website home page, so I won’t waste any space by reproducing here and if you are on facebook (is there still anyone not on it?) please check out the group.
One of the exciting developments is the opportunity to take part in interviews across many of the region’s excellent community internet and FM radio stations. They have been helping us in the build up to Community Media Week and many will be broadcasting regular interviews and news updates throughout.
Read the full blog
Wednesday 3 November 2010
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