Media and Communication

Media and Communication Strategic Action Plan

Purpose of Media and Communication Strategic Action Plan.  

This Strategic action plan supports the mission and the vision of Security and Justice for Tigreans in Ethiopia (SJTE) through a timely interactive internal and external communications among different stakeholders.

 

It summarizes the overall communication objectives and establishes some general principles to which communications will be made.

The Communication Strategy identifies the stakeholder groups and corresponding communication needs. It also identifies key messages to be presented and broadcasted together with some specific deliverables and communication channels.  

 

Basic Objectives of Media and Communication of SJTE

The key communication objectives are to: 

• Raise awareness of the importance of communications regarding the Security and Justice for Tigreans in Ethiopia. 

• Ensure that all key internal and external audiences are fully informed and engaged with SJTE

• Ensure that internal and external stakeholders understand the vision of SJTE, its key activities, challenges, opportunities.

• Increase the willingness of concerned people to engage with SJTE and motivate Board- members to perform their assigned jobs in a timely manner.

• Exploit innovative and existing communications channels and techniques to maximize awareness of and promote understanding of the SJTE.

• Ensure that each communication is consistent with the principles and vision of SJTE.

Communication Principles

The communication strategy will be developed according to the following principles:
 

 • Visibility and Accessibility - Key Executive members should deliver the general awareness messages while Board members are encouraged to communicate with the the vast majority of the public to create awareness about the work of SJTE.

• Communicate the vision – SJTE’s vision should be clearly communicated and delivered to the public through all means communication channels

• Competent and professional - Use of a wide range of communication methods and channels to deliver the messages, however, communication should be face-to-face where possible;

• Relevant, open and honest - information should be up to date and consistent and should reflect the position and principles of SJTE accurately.

• Timely, flexible and appropriate – the information must be available when it is needed, and the right information must be given, using the right methods and to the right people, avoiding duplication and overload.

• Comprehensive and focused – communications should address all the issues that audiences want.

• Clear, direct and two-way – it is essential that there is a provision for feedback so that audiences can ask questions and raise issues of concern; plain language will need to be used, jargon-free and without abbreviations, clear short messages should be the norm. 

Key Messages

Putting in mind that different audiences will require different messages, communications must deliver simple, explicit and easily understood by the public.

When communicating with staff the focus will need to be on ensuring that they know what is expected of them and how the changes will impact them; and ensuring that they are provided with relevant and timely information. 

It also needs to recognize that people will not always absorb information completely at first hearing, and messages will need to be repeated where necessary – using different media and messages where appropriate.  

• Awareness - communicating effectively with our target audience to build a positive reputation for SJTE by delivering its core vision and principle.

• Listening and understanding- expect both positive and negative reactions from the audience and plan an action to resolve the feedbacks. 

• Action – what, when and how things will happen; how to address them

• Ownership – what else do staff need to know; how can they help ensure success in the mission of SJTE.

Identifying the Target Audience

A key benefit of conducting an audience analysis is that identification and analysis of audience groups allow for targeted messages to each group, making communication more efficient and effective and accommodating the respective needs of different groups.

Our target audience will be both internal (within the USA) and external (across the globe). Some of the target groups;

ü              The decision-makers

ü             High influential persons

ü              Civil societies

ü            Celebrities

ü             Scholars and experts

Methods of Communication

A range of tools and activities will need to be deployed to ensure effective communication. These will include:

Ø            Developing a website for SJTE

Ø            Creating social media like the Facebook page, Youtube channel

Ø            Collaborating with TMH, TG TV, DWET TV

Ø            Developing a free blog, currently this sub-committee developed a free blog for approval.

Ø            Bulletin and message boards;

Ø            Briefing papers for specific audiences;

Ø            Media briefing sessions as required;

Review Procedures

Collecting feedback and measuring the effectiveness of communication efforts validates that messages are received and understood by the audience/public. This allows the Communications Team to assess whether our development and deployment strategies are effective in achieving stated goals.

In addition, feedback from all concerned body will help the team assess the timeliness and appropriateness of messages, improve communications by updating the communications strategy to incorporate what was discovered during the feedback process, and assist in identifying key deployment issues, stakeholder concerns, and possible resolutions.

Feedback mechanisms will be put in place to support two-way communication, stakeholder engagement, and communication effectiveness.  To ensure the success of the communication strategy, feedback from stakeholders is imperative. Mechanisms to collect feedback to measure performance can be both formal and informal.  Formal mechanisms may include surveys, a suggestion box, or focus group sessions. Representatives may also be appointed to collect feedback whenever necessary.   

Informal mechanisms may consist of in-person discussions, e-mails, text messages. 

Plan of Action

The following main and basic plans will be implemented in a timely manner.

Ø            Developing a website, Facebook page, Youtube channels as soon as possible

Ø            Preparing interviews about the mission and vision of SJTE in different languages, mainly in    Tigrigna, Amharic, and English

Ø            Identify influential policymakers and inform them about SJTE

Ø            Reaching out different civic societies, supporters of different political groups

Ø            Preparing first-hand interviews from the victims of the current Government

Ø            Translating interviews of Victims into English and use it as the main source for our purpose

Ø            Collect important data of victims every day and use it accordingly

Month	1st week/work	2nd week/work	3rd week/work	4th week /work	Feedback
April	-Creating a website, free blog, Facebook page and Youtube channel -Collect important data of victims every day for our use	-Preparing interviews on SJTE in different languages  -Collect important data of victims every day for our use	-Identifying influential policymakers and inform about SJTE  -Collect important data of victims every day for our use	-Reaching out to different civic societies and supporters of different political groups -Collect important data of victims every day for our use
May	-Preparing first-hand interviews of victims by the current government -Collect important data of victims every day for our use	-Translating interviews of victims into English -Collect important data of victims every day for our use	- Advice experts both who live in the US and in Ethiopia on to join in our mission - Collect important data of victims every day for our use	-
June

Opportunities and Challenges