Today, Thursday on 27 July 2023, the workshop activities of “accountability and media, tools and functions”, held by Ethical Charter for Syrian media, were concluded, and included 18 male and female journalists from inside Syria.
After recalling the information of the first day, the journalist trainer, Arwa Kooli, assistant professor at the Institute of Journalism and News Sciences in Tunisia, began to explain the short-term tools and mechanisms that could be a means for accountability, such as daily news content, verification and audit reports, and press interviews that, if done as required, can enhance the role of journalism in accountability.
The trainer added that keeping track of promises and the extent of adherent of politicians and government institutions to their promises is also considered a short-term mechanism for achieving accountability by journalism, as well as documentation, providing accurate information, and cooperation between the media outlets, through coordinating efforts towards a specific issue.
Participants then proceeded to discuss the topic of investigative reports, which is considered one of the most important mechanisms adopted by the media outlets to achieve the goal of accountability, because it proves with argument and evidence that there is a body or a person responsible for a defect, according to Kooli. She also added that in-depth data stories that depend on correlation, verification, stories of solutions journalism and media campaigns are one of the accountability tools and mechanisms in the media.
Regarding the role of social media, Kooli said that it has a space that allows to promote the media content and the involvement of the public, and is considered a space for pressure on the bodies that the media outlets seek to hold them accountable.
The first session concluded with a practical training during which each team identified three topics have importance that could be among the priorities of the media institution in which they work, and they put justifications for choosing these topics and identifies the tools that the media outlet can adopt in accountability regarding these topics.
In the second session, participants discussed the role and how to use the media outlets in media campaigns, by defining each of the social media platforms, and drawing an integrated image for the target audience, who is present on this or that platform. Kooli explained that each platform has audience, and referred to types of audiences and platforms they prefer, and the audience can be targeted by knowing these platforms.
Participants were briefed on a detailed explanation from the trainer about the use of each means of communication (Facebook – Twitter – Instagram – YouTube – TikTok) during campaigns, the possibility of using topics that can be raised through each platform, and the preferences and strengths that can be used in the campaign.
Kooli then moved on to discuss issues of verifying news, employing data, and designing media campaigns, in order to benefit from and employ them in the accountability issues that the media institution wants to raise and use. She explained that data is a powerful tool in promoting accountability by facilitating transparency and decision-making based on facts and ethical considerations.
At the end of the second session, participants carried out an exercise during which they chose a topic, and explained through their answers how news and data verification can be used to work on it.
In the closing session, the trainer focused on discussing the definition of the media campaign, explaining that it is an organized and coordinated effort to send specific messages to the public aimed for disseminating specific information and highlighting a specific issue, which could be on a local or international media level.
Participants discussed the steps of designing the media campaign and its requirements. And Kooli explained that the media campaign requires planning by defining the goal, the target audience, creating media messages, choosing the media outlets, setting a timetable for its completion, and then starting its implementation, and then measuring performance, evaluation and improvement, which ultimately leads to communication with the public.
The session concluded with participants implementing the design of a media campaign according to the topic they chose in advance, using various tools in planning these campaigns, with justifying the choice of these tools, and developing a strategy for the campaign on social media.
It is noteworthy that the “ECSM” regularly organizes forums and training workshops for workers in media institutions and civil society organizations, with the aim of developing and increasing the knowledge of member institutions, independent journalists, and Syrian civil society organizations, about the most important universal values of the principles of professional ethics that the media needs to play its role in accordance with these values and principles.
