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this guide is part of the complete action guide: https://cloud.extinctionrebellion.en/index.php/s/qBfSrX7y8nNyrSF
For information on how to impact social media read this guide (English/English).
How your action comes into view is essential to the success of an action. On the street, in a crowded place, you reach several hundred people. In the media tens of thousands.
Apart from the amount of people you see action, the quality of that attention is of course important. On the street you have deeper contact than via a photo, and a well thought out banner can make your message much clearer than a photo of the action itself. So think in advance about what story you tell action and what to add to it, and how this story fits into your strategy. You then translate this core message to the announcement on social media, flyers, banners, press releases and the talk.
Can you use Media help in preparation? Ask your question Action support.
The amount of attention you generate depends partly on happiness and timing, but partly in your own hands. There is no recipe to shape the perfect action, but the factors below can help to loosen emotions among people, to get the attention, and thus to get your message out:
Relevance. Is it relevant locally? Does this touch me, one of my beliefs, or something else that is mine or feels like public space?
- Renewal. Am I surprised by the form of action, the message, the target or the activists, or a combination of them? Does it teach me something I didn't already know, or does it help me make connections?
Impact. Does this action interfere with the day-to-day operation, or does it seem to do so?
Does it look like the action is really doing something about the climate and environmental crisis?
From ~February 2021 you will find our communication strategy with the main messages, communication goals, some stories, and a lot of background information that helps you communicate Extinction Rebellion.
¶ Preparation
In the communication for your action we distinguish roughly three channels: internal communication, social media, and press, of which (mainly) the last two are relevant to the Media & Communication team. Please take into account which audience you address via a medium, and possibly adjust your message accordingly.
In a civil disobedience act, agree with the action organizers what information should and should not be shared: Secret information sometimes leaks out very easily...
¶ Social Media
Rebels are the core of your action: The sooner you announce the action, the greater the chance they have time. Besides, there is nothing that mobilises bear but action: When you create an early hype around your action, you make it easy to find people who want to help organize. Some rules of thumb, in addition to these general directives:
- Create a Facebook event and share it on all your channels, so people can sign up and invite friends. Share it internally, so no one misses it.
- Be clear about the different levels of engagement: in preparation and during the action, arrestable or not.
- Use posts in advance to enable rebels to explain the action: Everyone is, consciously or unconsciously, the spokesman of the movement.
Is the action possibly relevant to rebels from all over the country? Align with Social Media
¶ Press
To get your action into the media, it's important to invite the press. So write a press release in advance (preview structure, tips of a journalist), and send this to the press nearby. Unfortunately, you don't always get the press coverage you're hoping for. Certainly national press gets a lot of press releases. Your action can be so new to you, that doesn't mean the press is gonna do anything with it. It also depends entirely on events further that day, so also take that into account in planning your action. In general, local media will be more likely to report about your action. Think to spread your chances not only to the local idiot but also to the regional media and for example professional and student media or neighbourhood newspapers.
Send your press release on time, but not too far in advance. Journalists often decide not until the day they start writing about or where they go. A press release can also very well be sent on the morning itself. If it really is a big action, you can send a short announcement a few days in advance and on the morning itself the longer press release.
Is the action possibly relevant to the national press? Ask Press & spokesperson for feedback and/or help!
¶ Role distribution
Point to at least one spokesperson who can tell the story, and who is willing to put it out to the camera (tips). Make sure they are ready throughout the action to accompany reporters, or to be interviewed. Better, even: besides the press release, let them proactively (telephone) contact some journalists or editors!
Remember that spokesmen in the middle of the action in more disruptive actions are also at risk of being arrested. In such actions it is therefore useful to have a spokesperson nearby who is not in the action, but who has a view and is nearby. They can contact the back office if, for example, everyone is arrested. If your action consists of a legal and illegal part, appoint another spokesman for both parts.
Need help with a bigger action? Question Press & Spokesmen for help!
Get a photographer or videomaker, make clear agreements about where (and when) they can deliver their content. If necessary, coordinate this with national Social Media team, and let them read this manual in advance.
For larger actions it is also good to set up a back office. Here a few rebels can coordinate the action from. They can communicate important messages to rebels, update social media, and possibly talk to the press by phone. For the back office you want to arrange a location that is separate from the action, so that the people there are not disturbed by what happens during the action.
¶ During
¶ Coordination
Whether your action has a back office or not, make sure all important (media) roles are clear at the beginning of the day. Are the spokesmen and are they in contact with the media? Are the photographers and videographers there, and do they know how to share their material?
¶ Imaging
During the action be alert to what the action looks like, and make it something beautiful for our own photographers and for the media present. Are the banners well distributed, and is any possible photo clear why you are taking action? Aren't there just young people out front?
¶ Social Media
Place before, during and/or after the action occasionally on social media, so people looking up your group know what you're doing. Journalists occasionally incorporate tweets in their articles, so possibly use them!
¶ Afterwards
Depending on your action, you can think of the following steps after the action:
- Send another press release, this time with photos: especially if the action had a higher news value than the media could estimate beforehand
- Send present journalists a follow-up message, for example a thank you. Maintain contact with them, also for next actions!
- Put a look back on social media. Provide perspective: future actions or opportunities for people to join. Share this review with the national social media too, they are always open to sharing local group content!
- Archive your footage in the Cloud, and possibly forward it to national social media or media@extinctionrebellion.nl.
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