Ethical Charter for Syrian media “ECSM” concluded a workshop on “Communication Strategy”, which lasted for three days from 1 to 3 September 2023 in Gaziantep/ Turkey, with participation of many representatives of the General Assembly members and the Board members of ECSM.
The workshop’s activities included reviewing and updating the communication strategy in ECSM, identifying and addressing gaps in it, in addition to presenting suggestions from a gender perspective, and integrating gender into the institutional system.
On the first day of the workshop, the trainer, Mona Abdelmaksoud, presented information about the concept of gender, highlighting the importance of mainstreaming and taking gender into account in projects that can be submitted by media institutions and civil society organizations.
The workshop participants discussed the necessity of taking gender into account in the project cycle, along with best practices for taking it into account within policies of institutions, and how to implement these policies and their practical application on the ground.
The trainer divided the participants into groups during which they discussed activating the gender perspective in the policies of their institutions and presented a set of suggestions and practical steps that could be taken to achieve this.
The second day witnessed an introduction by the trainer about the communication strategy that must be prepared and implemented by each institution through clear steps, goals, and data, through which she explained the importance of the communication strategy, and the basic steps for its preparation and implementation, reviewing the strategy of ECSM as an example.
The participants expressed their opinions on the current strategy and put forward their suggestıons for its development, after they received information from the trainer about the analysis of the situation and the stakeholders (journalists – media institutions – civil society organizations – donors), during which she explained the necessity of creating a map of stakeholders that shows the main players and the common issues between them and The institution or organization, and the orientations of both parties.
The trainer also stressed the need to diversify strategies, review methods, and measure their effectiveness, by defining roles and responsibilities based on implementation.
On the third day, the participants moved on to a practical review of each media organization’s communication bodies, and how to benefit from them in communication, whether with the public or donors. The trainer gave examples and models about communication messages, through which she discussed with the participants the means of communication of ECSM.
The participants showed interaction in the sessions of the third day by drafting a work plan that must be implemented to avoid negative comments that could be in the communication strategy, and focusing on the windows that the institution can benefit from, by following up on the evaluation indicators that the institution undertakes in the future.
Reem Al-Halabi, Executive Director of Radio Nasaem, said that “the workshop on Communication Strategy was of great importance to me, and to my current work in my institution, as I learned the importance of understanding the concept of gender correctly, through the trainer guidance, and this concept has become clearer through examples and tips she provided”. She pointed that “the workshop added a lot to her personally, in terms of realizing the importance and how to cooperate with civil society organizations, and benefiting from many ideas that can be worked on in joint projects with these organizations to achieve common goals between the two parties”.
Osama Mahmoud Ahmed, the Board member of Radio Fresh, said that “the Gender Mainstreaming Workshop confirmed that gender consideration is an urgent need for the possibility of success in our institution”, and he added that “the workshop drew my attention to the importance of having a reference sheet for gender consideration at every stage, in addition to stimulating the development of social communication policy”. He declared that “the most important points that were firmly established in his mind regarding the communication strategy were audience analysis and classification in terms of strength and engagement, identifying tools and their suitability to the target audience, monitoring and evaluating the strategy, in addition to participation in developing policies in his organization and media institutions in general”.
As for journalist Haifa Al-Milli – Editor-in-Chief of Radio Naseem, she said that “this workshop stressed the importance of cooperation between Syrian media institutions in Turkey with civil society organizations and Syrian local organizations, especially in the event that there is a large umbrella such as ECSM”. She added: “Personally, I would like to attend such workshops because the ECSM attracts trainers from the world level, or Arab countries, like Mona Abdelmaksoud, and benefit from their very important expertise, experiences and suggestions, because they come from countries that give a lot of space to freedom of the press, in contrast some areas where mouth-sleeving occurs”. She pointed that “in my personal opinion, attending this type of workshops will provide us the benefit greatly from the trainers and enrich our experiences through the practical exercises carried out, in addition to getting to know new colleagues, working on networking and opening discussions and topics of interest to the journalist and the media institution, especially cooperation with civil society organizations”.
