Getting Organizedg

From Media for Social Change: A Resource Guide for Community Groups (Revised edition, 1986), published by the Community Forum on Shared Responsibility, Toronto.


You decided you want your group to grow, or that there ought to broader public support around an issue, or you have some piece of information about which you feel the public should know. Perhaps your group has developed some expertise in a particular area and you want to share that with others. This section will help you choose a strategy that meets your needs and to look at other resources.

It is useful to consider efforts to use mass media and to create your own mass communications as a form of public relations -- :PR." The term sounds ghastly, yes, but the difference between commercial and noncommercial use of media is that when a non-profit group does PR, it is promoting a service which will satisfy a need in the community, whereas commercial advertisers often attempt to manufacture a need or provide popular entertainment.

PR is a long term program aimed at building a relationship between your group and the community. Although your group must project an image, it should be more concerned with helping the community understand the issues with which you deal.

At the end of this chapter, we have included a table taken from Robbie Gordon's useful book, We Interrupt this Program: A Citizen's Guide to Using the Media for Social Change (Citizen's Involvement Training Project, University of Massachusetts, 1978; 138 Hasbrouck, Amherst, Mass. 01003). This book addresses topics such as media strategies, audiences, print media, electronic media and cable TV. The chart, which sets out the advantages and disadvantages of each medium of mass communication, is reproduced here to stimulate discussion on what media approach is appropriate for your specific needs.

We have also included a chart depicting what nonprofit groups can learn from profit groups about public relations strategies.

One resource which might be helpful is a set of four videos produced by the Parallel Institute of Montreal in the mid-70s on the topic of public relations for community groups. The tapes can be obtained from the Cross Cultural Communication Centre, 965 Bloor St. W,.Toronto, M6H 1L7, (530-4117). The titles are: Bad Publicity and More Bad Publicity; Getting Better Publicity; Making Your Own Publicity; and Research.

Critiquing your group's PR

Before starting a new project, your group should spend some time examining your previous PR. If there are any old news releases, pamphlets or the like lying around, their weaknesses should be evaluated. Have you used poor language? Were your graphics effective? Did you include too much copy?

If you don't have any previous PR, you might begin to brainstorm and compile a list of possible projects. Also, examine successful PR produced by other groups.

Finally, to make the critique a positive experience, you can take your list of problems and turn it into a list of goals.

Choosing your audience

Your next task is to decide to whom you want to talk and the message you want to give them. It is important to realize that your issue cannot touch everyone the same way.

Moreover, as community organizers, readers of the commercial media may not be the audience which we want to address. If, for example, we want to reach the working class, we might try using union papers, not the Toronto Star or the Toronto Sun.

If you are trying to address a particular segment of the population, then research their needs and ask yourself a few questions: What are their needs? How will the information I want to get to them affect their needs? What kind of language or pictures do I need to use in order to relate best to my audience?

We must also be clear about our message. We must be clear about what we want from our audience. Do we want to inform them? Educate them? Have them action such as a demonstration, protest letter, donation or boycott? Do we want them to join a mailing list?

Using mainstream media

Over the past two decades, many alternatives to the mainstream, commercial media have developed and met with varying levels of success. Community organizers may heed Max Allen's advice and use the alternative media or create their own media, but there may still be occasions when you want to deal with the mainstream media.

Should you decide to get involved with the news industry, consider for a moment the advantages and disadvantages of dealing with this complex beast. Graham Crawford, in a media committee, sketches the pluses and minuses succinctly.

On the plus side:

It gives us widespread coverage (national, regional and/or local); it is often the only way groups can reach thousands of people; it is cost effective (cheap: the price of a phone call or a postage stamp); it often helps legitimize our cause or position it is a persuasive means of affecting public opinion.

On the negative side:

Our message is subject to a reporter's biases (it's difficult for anyone to be truly objective and reporters are no exception); the message can become filtered (why do they always seem to leave the most important things out?).

Hostile columnists can turn news into attacks the media are tied directly into the power groups (political parties, corporations, shareholders); therefore, maintaining the status quo is in their best interests (don't have unrealistic expectations of what they can do for you); they thrive on conflict and controversy (which sell newspapers); you will often be contrasted in the report by some opposing faction, often a reactionary faction (reporters claim it's "balanced."

Collective productions

As people involved in social change, some of us have felt a need to work in a collective or democratic process, rather than in a hierarchical or individual one, believing that such an approach allows for more creativity and a diversity of ideas. Toronto film-maker Glen Richards suggested that when one makes a film individually, one gets too close to the material and one's ego gets in the way. A collective of graphics artists, Mondo Graphia, believes that a group effort produces a broader spectrum of ideas and a richer quality in the final product.

Perhaps this method of working is not appropriate for all situations (such as writing one-page news releases), but it may be an approach some groups will want to consider.

Media consultants

For those who wish to put time and a bit of money into a media project there are media consultants who are willing to discuss your problems and campaigns with you. Some have a sliding scale of fees for groups with small budgets:

Jim Adams
Ontario News Services
Box 142, 55 McCaul St.
Toronto M5T 2W7
Public relations consulting, newsletter/newspaper production.

Canadian Centre for Philanthropy
185 Bay St., Ste. 504
Toronto M5J 1K5
364-4609
Publishes material relating to communications and fundraising, along with a directory of Canadian charitable foundations and corporate donors.

The Copywrite Company
120 Pembroke St.
Toronto M5A 2N8
928-0430
Can help with advertising copy and layout, graphic design, artwork, direct mail, logos, posters, speeches and newsletters. Publishes a promotions guide ($4.95) outlining low-cost advertising methods.

Grassroots Network
366 Adelaide St. E., Ste. 321
Toronto M5A 3X9
362-2926
Monthly luncheons and papers relating to community groups and communications. (Formerly the Brown Bag Forum.)

Kai Visionworks
Box 5490, Stn. A
Toronto M5W 1N7
964-1278
Slides and slide shows for social change. All topics including sexism, pollution, violence, peace, nature, Third World, gay/lesbian etc. Also has workshops on making slide shows.

Wendy Priesnitz & Associates
195 Markville Road
Unionville L3R 4V8
477-3641
Freelance research, writing, editing, publicity, research, publishing association management.

Stephen Thomas Associates
2249 Queen St. E.
Toronto M4E 1G1
690-8801
Canada's direct mail firm for all progressive causes.

Ken Wyman
366 Adelaide St. E., Ste. 321
Toronto M5A 3X9
362-2926
Progressive fund-raising (including direct mail); consultant on electronic and print media campaigns; volunteer mobilization.


More training

Centennial College in Scarborough offers a two- or three-year program dealing with 16mm film, video, cable, advertising and layout. It also has part-time courses in some of these journalism and a two-year program in book editing and design.

George Brown College (St. James campus downtown) has a two year program in graphic design with an optional third year. It also has part-time photography courses.

Humber College has a three-year course in public relations; a two-year program in advertising and graphic design; a three-year program in journalism; a two-year program in photography; and it has part-time courses in public relations, fund-raising and promotion. Humber has the most comprehensive audio-visual (a/v) training courses (two years) in the Toronto area, and it has courses in advertising and graphic design, computer graphics, writing, reporting, typesetting, film, photography, television, tapes and radio broadcasting.

Network for Learning (formerly the Skills Exchange) has courses in photography, video and writing. For more information: 967-7640.

Ontario College of Art has full and part-time courses in printing, graphic design, computer design, video, audio and photography

Ryerson Polytechnical Institute has two-and three-year programs in journalism; a four-year program in photographic arts and several part-time programs, including a six-course certificate in magazine journalism. It also has various part and full-time courses in graphic arts, video, 16mm film, photojournalism, still photography and slides.

Seneca College in Willowdale has two and three-year programs in design and courses in photography a/v, radio and TV.

Sheridan College in Oakville has a three-year program in graphic design; a two-year program in photography; and two-and three-year programs in media arts and writing. It also offers courses covering video, film, a/v, radio, cable, still photos, slide tapes and advertising.

Toronto School of Art has a full time arts program and part-time courses in drawing, life drawing, painting, illustration, printmaking, colour and design, art history and photography.

York University has a respected film program of three or four years in length. There are some evening and summer courses as well.


Other Resources:

Sources - The directory which connects organizations with messages to get out to journalists looking for spokespeople and experts on the issues they are covering. Both the online and print versions of Sources are widely used by reporters, editors, producers and freelancers working on stories.

HotLink.ca - Web site featuring practical articles about media relations and public relations.

Media Names & Numbers - Print and online directory with listings and contact information for all print and online media in Canada. Also available as a database and mailing list.

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