Uncovered: assessing media and communications needs ... - ICAR

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low cost or up to £100 a day. Some expected travel to be paid too. ‘Others’ said it would have to befree or minimal cost.3.17.3 When?Of those responding under the ‘isolated rural’ category all said courses should be offered ona weekday. BME respondents who expressed a preference mostly said weekdays, although afew suggested weekends. Refugees and migrants mostly preferred weekdays with a few sayingweekends. The vast majority of ‘others’ opted for weekdays.3.17.4 DurationMost rural, faith and BME groups said the ideal duration would be a half to one day, while mostrefugees and migrant workers suggested up to two days.3.17.5 Other considerationsA few respondents in each category would require childcare facilities and accessibility for wheelchairs.One said accessibility would be appreciated. One BME respondent had a deaf member of staff;another said translators might be required. One refugee/migrant respondent asked for food includinga halal option to be provided and another said there should be a clean place for prayer.3.18 How to contactAcross all sectors, most organisations are happy to be contacted by e-mail although somerespondents in each said they prefer telephone or post. However experience from this research is thatemail alone, especially unsolicited, is ineffi cient.Our inquiries suggest personal contact is crucial both in setting up training courses and inencouraging people to take part. Individuals in all categories are hard pressed for time and money andmay need convincing that any training will benefi t their work.To ensure the widest possible take-up of training courses it is necessary to use a combination ofwritten publicity, email, text and personal phone calls. It is rarely suffi cient to rely on one form ofcommunication.“We wanted to advertise English language courses. We put a list on the door of the local Polish deliand asked people to sign up with their preferred time and place” – (BME support worker)Whilst many people now have email accounts some, particularly migrant workers and refugees,many depend on internet cafes and public libraries where access is limited and their priority will becommunicating with friends and relatives elsewhere through other means.This research suggests that for the more established groups such as rural, faith and BMEorganisations, email and/or hard copy communications can be an effective promotional tool in the fi rstinstance. They may require follow up phone calls -usually mobile -to ensure courses are fi lled.One rural training provider stressed the importance of training being locally available, and that theprovider should have a reputation, or recommendation in the area. The trick, he said, was gettingpeople to recognise the value of training and to do this it was necessary to work through infrastructureorganisations.“Rural marketing is about networks, and word of mouth” – (rural training provider)For refugees and migrant workers, mobiles are a more reliable method for reaching people and a textconfi rming arrangements is generally advisable as close to the course deadline as possible.30 Uncovered: assessing media and communications needs and capacity of marginalised communities
Local infrastructure organisations and networks should be consulted when drawing up trainingproposals. There is a sense that training opportunities have been quite disparate and random, and amore joined-up approach should be encouraged. This would avoid duplication and help to direct helpwhere it is most needed.3.19 Targets of influenceTargets or identifi ed stakeholders for communications and media work do not differ greatly amongstthe different groups surveyed, and interestingly internal communications are seen as equally importantas external communications, as illustrated by the high proportion choosing ‘your own members’ astargets.Internal communications do not however appear to be a priority training area (see 3.20), suggestingthat organisations feel more competent in this area.External communication needs appear to be broad and this should be refl ected in the focus of thetraining. A high proportion of organisations seek to infl uence newspaper journalists and readers,especially for refugee and migrant worker and faith groups, perhaps due to the perceived negativeportrayal of these groups in the print media.“Where there are issues around you as an individual or group or sector that can be interpreted indifferent ways it is very important to be able to communicate through the web or the media” –(Regional Development Agency Manager)Other targets cited include funders, mentioned by eight respondents, and the general public, quotedby fi ve. One added that they preferred to infl uence the public by experience rather than throughthe media. Others stated ‘infl uential people’, policymakers, volunteers and local service users. Tworespondents commented that they wanted to inform, not infl uence.Fig 11Uncovered: assessing media and communications needs and capacity of marginalised communities31
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Page 11 and 12: ABBREVIATIONSACRE Action with Commu
Page 13 and 14: 1.2.3 DefinitionsFor the purposes o
Page 15 and 16: A further recent report for the Cha
Page 17 and 18: 3 FINDINGS3.1 IntroductionThis sect
Page 19 and 20: Fig 2.3.4 Current sources of news a
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Page 23 and 24: “Publicity can be quite scary for
Page 25 and 26: Fig 8.3.11 Attitude to media and co
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Page 33 and 34: Fig 12Uncovered: assessing media an
Page 35 and 36: 3.21 Knowledge of Media TrustMost o
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Page 39 and 40: Isolated rural organisations• Und
Page 41 and 42: A common theme in relation to train
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Page 45 and 46: Appendix 2 - National organisations
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